Save Me

Eighteen

Dinner was awkward.

The tension all around us could be clearly felt as we all sat for dinner. Danielle had called Rachel to tell her that we were bringing two guests over. At first Rachel was excited to have guests in her home but once we arrived with Patrick and Will’s car following us, her excitement had vanished once she saw who got out of the bright red Mustang.

“Danielle,” she had said and it was the first time that I had heard her call her daughter by her real name and not her second name, “What are they doing here?”

“I invited them over for dinner,” Danielle replied.

It was clear in Rachel’s face that she did not expect Danielle to invite the Marshall’s for dinner, especially with what happened before, “But Danielle, you know your father and your siblings wouldn’t like this.”

“I tried telling her that, Ma,” Patrick said, stepping unto the porch where we were all huddled to for our whisper conversation, “But she’s stubborn as hell.”

“I don’t see the point unto not inviting them, Mom,” Danielle said shaking her head, “It was the past. And it’s not like you guys hate having Mariah around. She’s my friend, she still is, despite what her brother did.”

“Mrs. Rivers,” Will greeted, stepping on the porch, Mariah following suit, “It’s nice seeing you again.”

Rachel flashed him a small smile, “You two, William. Mariah! Dear, it’s so nice seeing you again after years!”

Will licked his bottom lip as Rachel just focused on his sister. DJ was squirming beside me while Patrick and Danielle were arguing in front of him. I turned back to them, “DJ, he left you. Don’t go near him, okay?”

“Patrick, you just can’t tell my son who and who not to go to!” Danielle said, shaking her head, “He’s still my friend, Pat, despite all that happened.”

Patrick frowned, “Why are you so keen on giving him a second chance?”

“I’m not saying I want to give him a second chance,” Danielle said exasperated, glancing over to me nervously, “I’m just saying that he’s my friend. So Daniel can just speak to him if he wants.”

Once we got into the house, that’s where everything went out of control. Shaira was the first one to see us with Will, she was holding an empty bowl then and she almost dropped it. It was a good thing Sam was beside her, he saved the bowl before neither of them could clean up the mess. Monica’s eyes narrowed upon seeing the guy, and Scott restrained her from slapping him though he kept on glaring at Will. Edwin looked like he was going to throw a chair on Will; it was good that Shanna was able to stop him from doing so. And Gerry was surprised to see the guy who hurt her daughter, and he looked at his wife for an explanation.

So after all that, here we were now, sitting at the dining table for dinner. I was seated beside Danielle who sat across Mariah who was beside Will who sat across from me. It was silent for the first few minutes, until Rachel started a conversation. Turned out that the Marshall’s owned the boating rent here. So Arisa must’ve been their cousin.

“So Mariah, you’re the only one who’d take over your father’s business here?” Edwin asked and Mariah nodded, “So what’s he doing here?”

“Edwin,” Gerry scolded, “Be nice.”

“He wasn’t nice enough to not hurt my twin,” Edwin said harshly, glaring at Will.

“Esh!” Danielle said wearily, sighing, “Please.”

Everybody was quiet until Scott let out a low whistle, “This is awkward,” he mumbled in which he got a smack at the back of the head from Monica who was sitting beside him.

We finished dinner without any more tension between us which basically meant that we were all quiet except when the girls would ask Mariah something. The guys managed to shut their mouth, for fear of saying something rude to Will which would cause them trouble. Will kept on staring at me, which really made me want to snap at him.

Monica was the one assigned to wash the dishes tonight and Scott offered to help her dry. I felt something weird going on between them, because one, they haven’t talked to each other ever since their breakup or so Edwin tells me. But it seemed like they were talking again and that there was something going on between them. I sat down on the sofa where Danielle and the rest were.

“I think we should get going,” Will said lamely, standing by the front door with Mariah.

“Thank you guys so much for dinner!” Mariah said, hugging each one of us, well, she shook my hand, “It’s nice meeting you, Falen.”

I just smiled at her in response and Danielle stood up, pulling me with her and holding my hand, “We’ll walk you to your car.”

We walked them to their car silently and when we were near the car, Danielle let go of my hand to hug Mariah. She nodded at Will and I held her hand again, “It was nice seeing you both.”

“It’s nice seeing you too, Cam,” Mariah said with a smile, “Especially this happy.”

Danielle smiled and I felt her squeeze my hand and I watched as she shifted her gaze from Mariah and to Will who seemed to freeze once their eyes met, “It was nice seeing you again, Will.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Elle,” he said in his deep voice and then he opened his arms and smiled slightly at Danielle, “For ol’ time’s sake?”

Danielle seemed to hesitate for a moment and I squeezed her hand. She glanced at me and smiled softly, before dropping my hand and wrapping her arms around Will’s waist. I stared at them and I felt all the anger and jealousy flare up inside me. Mariah patted me on the shoulder as if to console me. Will and Danielle were talking to each other but I couldn’t make out the words except for Danielle saying sorry. When they finally pulled away, we bid them goodbye and watched as they drove off.

She glanced at me, “I’m going to put DJ to bed, help me?”

I nodded silently as the three of us mounted the stairs. DJ went to have a bath as I sat on the small sofa near her window. I heard the bathroom door open and saw DJ wearing his pajamas and diving to bed. Danielle sat beside him and I followed suit. They still shared a room though Gerry was turning the guest room as DJ and Landon’s bedroom. Once DJ fell asleep, Danielle stood up and went to the balcony, motioning for me to follow her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked once I stepped foot.

I wrapped my arms around her, a gesture that I’d been doing for a few days now and it felt so normal already. She placed both her hands on mine, “Nothing.”

“I caught the way you looked when I hugged Will,” she said then turned to face me, “You were jealous.”

She placed both her hands on my chest and I took them both in my hands, pulling them close to my lips and blew them since they were cold, “How could I not? You guys have history. You guys have a kid.”

She sighed, “We do have history but that was history.”

“I remember you saying that he’s your ideal guy.”

“He still is,” she said and I frowned. She giggled and stroked my cheek, “Will’s just the man of my dreams.”

I dropped her hand, “You want me to call him back to you’d get your fairytale?”

“Would you listen first, Rose?” she said laughing and I sighed but complied, “Will’s the man of my dreams but do you remember what they say on the right one for you? He’s supposed to be the guy who, you’re not really into, the one’s who’s not really your type. And well, I’ve only met two of those guys in my life. You’re one of them.”

“I am?” I asked as she smiled shyly and tucked a hair behind her ear, “So I’m not your type?”

She pushed me gently and laughed, “Nope.”

I feigned hurt until I realized that she also said something else, “You said that there were two of us. Who’s the other guy?”

She turned back and looked at the stars and sighed, “Seth.”

I swallowed, “So what’s the story between you two? I mean, I really thought you hated him. Scott said so himself.”

“I don’t hate him because of Scott’s reasons. I mean, I just dislike those personalities of Seth. I actually saw it in you when I first met you in the hospital. Do you know why I remember him because of you?”

“Why?”

“It’s not just because of the fact that you two have the same mysteriously alluring gray eyes but you two have the same attitude. Carefree, annoying sometimes but gentle too.”

I stared at her, did she seriously think of me as that? “But Seth Andrews, though he is nice as what my friend says, he’s still a jerk?”

“Aren’t you sometimes too?” she said grinning and I playfully glared at her, “You know, I met Seth when I was a sophomore in college. I was already with Will back then. But at the night Seth and I met at the library of the university, it was a bad night for me because Will and I got into a fight. And Seth offered me a handkerchief and the chance of really getting to know the real him.”

And at that instant, I remembered her. She was the girl that I tried desperately to forget because I didn’t want to fall in love.

“Here,” I said, handing my handkerchief to the girl who had her face buried on a huge book. She sniffed and stared at my hand.

“I don’t need that,” she said and she had the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Sure you don’t,” I replied, sitting in front of her. She glared at me.

“I know you,” she said haughtily, “You’re Seth Andrews.”

“Well, there’s no point in denying it.”

“What are you even doing here?”

“Um, I go to this school?” I said laughing and shrugging, “Yeah. And I need to pass my exam so I’m cramming.”

“Seth Andrews actually studies? Wow, that’s a treasure right there.”

I rolled my eyes, “You know you’re pretty different from the girls I’ve met.”

“If you thinking of getting laid, not gonna happen,” she replied rolling her eyes, “How many girls have fallen for that line?”

“A thousand?” I said grinning, “Lost count.”

Her stomach grumbled and I grinned wider, if that was possible, as she blushed and hid her face on the book again, “Want to eat something? I’ll pay.”

“No,” she replied stubbornly but her stomach protested, “Fine.”

I grinned, “Don’t worry, it won’t be a date. Unless, you think that it’s one of course.”

She glared at me, “I’d rather be caught dead that be caught on a date with you, Andrews.”

“Our first meeting wasn’t exactly that nice or romantic,” Danielle said shaking her head and a smile slowly made its way on her lips, “But it was the first time I’ve seen him so, free. And after that, we secretly started hanging out. It went on for weeks until, until he kissed me and everything went downhill from there.”

“How?”

“He stopped talking to me suddenly and I guess it was because something happened between us and I seriously thought that he got what he wanted from me. I was so hurt because, well, I actually thought that maybe I was the girl who could change him, make him be a better man and not just live in his father’s or brother’s shadow. He told me all his hopes and dreams and coincidentally, you guys have the same dreams too,” she said with a small painful smile, “But I guess nobody could really change Seth from who he is. His father can’t. And I was a fool to think that I could when the truth was, I was just another girl.”

“You and Seth, you rushed into things with him, right?” I asked although I already knew the answer.

She nodded, “I never told Will until, until I did.”

“Is this why you don’t want to rush into things with me?” I asked.

She touched my face and trailed my features with her hand, “You remind me so much of him. I just, I don’t want to feel like what I felt again if I rush into with you.”

I nodded and pulled her closer to me, kissing her head, “I won’t hurt you.”

Not again.