Midnight Rider

Chapter 18

“UUGGGGHHH!!”  I was sleeping so well….woke up thinking I was going to have a good day and then I see the text from Tanner. I got ready and left for work. I met Ciara in the parking lot and showed it to her.

“Oohh yea that doesn’t sound good,” she shook her head.

“Yea well it’s not like I didn’t know it was probably gonna be bad.” The knots in my stomach had come back.

“So what are you gonna do just ignore him?”

“No I’ll call him later, I think I have a pretty good idea of what he’s going to say anyway.”

“Ok…………..how was the party?”

“I had a great time, it was a lot of fun.” The work day started like usual. In the afternoon I went over to help Ciara with the infusions and noticed I didn’t see Jay. I texted Gabriel to find out what was going on.

Hey! I don’t see your grandpa at work today, everything ok?

Hey beautiful, I think the party last night may have taken a lot out of him. He couldn’t make it in today.—Gabriel

Oh..ok well I hope he gets better. Let me know if he needs anything.

I will, oh I have some pictures that people took at the party. Want me to send them to you?—Gabriel

Sure!

He sent me several pictures. There was some of us dancing, me and Jay dancing, him and his grandma dancing, and just us talking with everyone at the party.

“These are adorable pictures,” Ciara said after I showed them to her.

“Angel!” I turned and saw Stella waving me over. She pointed to the chair next to her and I sat down. “What are you girls looking at?” she asked.

I showed her the pictures from Jay’s party. “Aw. You guys do make such a cute couple,” she smiled at me, “oh I have good news! The newest grandbaby arrived over the weekend!”

“That’s great! Did they tell everyone the name?”

“They decided on Levi. They’ve already sent me pictures of him in his blanket,” she said will getting her phone out and showing me the pictures.

“He’s adorable.” I left Stella to finish with all the patients for the day.

I called Tanner on my way home from work, he sounded nervous when he answered.

“Hey Angel……”

“Hey…can you come by and we can talk?” I asked.

“Yea I’ll be there soon.”

I went inside and changed out of my scrubs. Dru was in the kitchen when I came back down the stairs.

“You ok?” she asked. She started handing me things to help her make dinner.

“No not really, Tanner is gonna be here soon for us to have a talk.”

“Oohhh……..yea I can’t see that being a fun conversation. Do you want me or Christian out there with you? You know like moral support?”

“No,” I laughed, “I’m a big kid I’ll be ok.” Christian came inside and we sat down to eat. I had just finished and was putting my plate in the sink when we heard knocking at the door. I turned around to look at Christian and Dru. “That’s probably Tanner, I’ll just be outside.”

I went and opened the door. I was a little shocked at what I saw. Tanner looked like he’d been crying, his face was red and puffy. He had a defeated look on his face. I walked out onto the porch and shut the door.  I sat down on our porch swing and motioned for him to join me.

He sighed, “Angel……I’m really sorry about what Jason said the other night. I just want you to know that the things I’m about to tell you all happened in the past. Ok?”

“Ok……so I have a pretty good idea of what Jason meant but I want to hear it from you.”

“Well you already know that in high school Jason and I were ‘players’. So we both liked you but he made the first move so I backed off, but I never stopped liking you. After a little while of you two dating Jason told me about how you didn’t want to have s*x yet and that he did. I told him you know that it’s your decision and if he really wanted to be with you then he’d have to be ok with that.”

I crossed my arms and leaned back on the swing, “but obviously he wasn’t ok with that.”

“Right you now know that he actually wasn’t….so at first I thought he’d break up with you and then maybe I would shoot my shot but that’s not what happened. Apparently he thought that meant it would be ok to just get what he needed on the side. He told me he had no real feelings for these girls like he did you only that he wanted s*x. He swore me not to tell and that if I did he’d just tell you that I knew and you’d be mad at me too.”

“I still don’t understand where the sloppy seconds comment comes in at?”

“So after some time these girls started catching feelings for him and wanted to make him jealous because they were jealous of you. To do that they started hanging out with me, to be honest I was young and didn’t want to be alone so I didn’t care. I knew what they were doing but I just didn’t really care. So they also ended up sleeping with me too. That’s why he said sloppy seconds.”

I was very agitated, “so, you knew this whole time that Jason was cheating on me and didn’t say anything?”

“While I lived here yes, when I left for the military I assumed he’d still be doing it but I couldn’t be sure. At that point I didn’t want anything to do with him.”

“Yes but you could of told me about it when you left!”

“I should have but I didn’t know if you’d believe me or if he’d just deny it.”

“Is there anything else I should know?”

“There’s one other thing that has to do with Jason and I in high school but I don’t know if you really want to know it.”

“Well we’ve gotten this far so why not?”

“So like I said Jason only wanted one thing from these girls….they wanted to make him jealous with me but they couldn’t because he didn’t care……but there were a few times that more than one person was involved.”

“If you mean he slept with multiple girls I already know that.”

“Yes but I also mean at like one time……..together in like one room……..”

I held up my hand to stop him, “ok yea I get it.”

“I was also included in that a couple of times…..” I tried hard not to let my mouth fall open. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this at all. And he continued, “like I said I didn’t want to be alone and I guess you could say I’m similar to Jason in that I didn’t care because I wanted the s*x too.”

“So those girls that always hung around because I thought they were your girlfriends? They were actually just sleeping with both of you without me knowing?”

“……….Yes……..” he lowered his head down and wouldn’t look at me.

“Wow…just wow….look I know you said this was in the past and all but this does affect us now. I don’t honestly know if I can trust you. You said that you didn’t think you could tell me but in my opinion if you really had feelings for me then you would have. You should have.”

“What do you mean you don’t think you can trust me? I just came over and told you everything! That should count for something.”

“The whole reason I couldn’t forgive Jason is because once I knew he had lied to me about something that big, something that would hurt me, I knew that from then on out I’d always be wondering if he was doing it again. You can’t just pretend something didn’t happen! I understand that we weren’t in a romantic relationship then but you were still me friend, and you lied to me! You could of saved me from a lot of hurt down the road.”

Tanner stood up and walked off the porch and turned to face me again. “Well if that’s what you think then I’m not the only one lying to you about their past.”

“What’s supposed to mean?”

“You told me you were seeing another guy named Gabriel….I didn’t think anything more about it at the time, I only wanted to make sure I came out on top. But when I saw him pick you up I realized you were seeing Gabriel Rodriguez.”

“Excuse me? What does Gabriel have to do with anything?”

“Because in high school Jason came to me one day telling me that some guy named Gabriel Rodriquez was stalking you. He told me to help him make sure Gabriel left you alone, so we did, we got him in trouble so he had to leave the school. And of all things now he’s back and trying to date you!”

I jumped up from the swing, “You’re lying. I don’t remember him from school at all!”

“That’s because he didn’t want you to! And because we kept him from it. If you don’t believe me then ask him for yourself.” And with that last comment Tanner got in his car and drove off.

I was shaking I was so mad and hurt. I can’t believe all the things he just told me! Are they even true?

“Angel what the hell is going on?” Dru came outside with Christian right behind her.

“How much did you hear?”

“Everything,” Christian answered, “If I found out that Gabriel was stalking you I’m gonna knock his teeth down his throat.”

“What about Tanner lying to her? Your not gonna go after him about that?” Dru asked.

“I don’t like that either but stalking seems like a bigger offense you know?” he turned and went back into the house.

“What are you gonna do?” Dru asked me. She walked over and gave me a hug.

“I’m gonna call Gabriel and tell him we need to talk, like right now.” I went to grab my phone out of the kitchen. I sat back on the swing while calling him.

“Hey beautiful! I was getting ready to call you! I’ve thought of another surprise date!”

“Gabriel, I need you come over, we need to talk.”

There was a pause on his side of the phone. He sounded nervous and concerned, “is everything ok?”

“I just need to talk to you. Are you busy? Can you come over, right now?”

“Oh ok, yea I’ll be right there.”

My stomach was once again in knots. Could Gabriel really have been stalking me in high school and me not know it? Could I trust anything that would come from Tanner and Jason? Maybe I should of listened to the rider when I had the chance about these two. When Gabriel pulled into the driveway I came out to the truck to meet him. He got out and pulled the tailgate down for us to sit on.

“Christian!” suddenly Christian came from out of the house with Dru trailing behind trying to stop him. He was in front of Gabriel in  seconds and was in his face.

“Have you been stalking my sister!?” he yelled.

Gabriel first had a shocked look on his face which turned to anger, “What the hell are you talking about?” He pushed Christian away from him and looked at me.

“What is going on here?” he asked.

“Tanner just left here. He was explaining to me some things that happened between me, him and my ex during high school. Then as he left he told me that he wasn’t the only person who had lied to me and that you were too. According to him you were stalking me in high school. Is that true?”

His face was still angry but showed a little bit of hurt. He ran his hand through his hair and then shoved them in his pockets. “What EXACTLY did Tanner say when he told you?” he asked.

“Does it really matter?” Christian butted in.

“Yes actually…it does. What EXACTLY did he say Angel?” he asked again.

Everything Tanner said will probably forever be ingrained in my memory. “He said that Jason came to him one day and told him that you were stalking me and that Tanner needed to help him keep you away from me. I told him I didn’t think that was true because I don’t’ remember you from school and he said that was done on purpose and that they got you kicked out of school so you couldn’t stalk me anymore,” I answered.

Gabriel didn’t move he kept his hands in his pockets looking at me. “And what do you think about what he said?” he asked.

“Well…..I know that Jason lied to me a lot throughout the years, and I’ve just learned that Tanner did also.” I answered.

“So what’s that have to do with it?” Christian asked.

“It has to do with it because Jason has never changed,” Gabriel said, “he was lying to Tanner just like he lied to everyone all the time. I never stalked you. They did get me kicked out of school though, but not because of ‘stalking’ you but because Jason was pissed at me and wanted me to go away.”

“Why would he be mad enough to get you kicked out of school?” I asked.

Gabriel and Christian both seemed to relax. “So when I was in high school so was my older cousin Roman. I tried out for football because he was doing it but I only made second string so I didn’t hardly play. That’s how Jason first knew me. During high school and especially right after Roman would sometimes sell weed to people, nothing major. Well I always hung out with Roman, he’s my best friend, I soon saw Jason occasionally buying from Roman. Now at this time I knew you and Jason were dating because I would see you guys together all the time and I like most guys thought you were cute and a nice girl. During one exchange with Roman, Jason was boasting about all the ‘action’ he was getting while still having a ‘good girl’ on his arm. I’m not gonna lie it pissed me off, I didn’t think that was right so I confronted him about it. I told him if he didn’t admit to you what he’d done I’d tell you myself. I gave him a week. During that week I watched the two of you and tried to see if he’d told you. It became obvious that he hadn’t so I tried to find a way to tell you myself. He must of already told Tanner the lie of me ‘stalking’ you at this point because they were always with you, I could never seem to get you away from them to tell you.”

“So how did they get you kicked out?” I asked.

“Our football coach let it slip during practice one day that the next school day the K9 cops were coming to check lockers for the drug program. I never had weed in my locker, I never had a reason to because Roman was the one who sold, not me. I don’t know if Jason kept some left over from the last time he bought from Roman or if he went and got it somewhere else but he planted it in my locker……”

“So the K9 found it in your locker..” Christian finished.

“I don’t get why Jason would go through all the trouble though of doing that,” Dru questioned.

“Because Jason always wanted things his way. He didn’t want anyone standing in his way of having his cake and eating it too,” I said. I rubbed the side of my temples. All of this craziness was giving me a headache.

Christian walked over to Gabriel, “Man I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to think when I heard that someone could be stalking my sister.”

They shook hands, “It’s ok I understand. I’d do the same thing.” Gabriel answered. Christian and Dru went into the house and left us alone in the driveway.

“So you knew Jason was cheating on me in high school?” I asked.

He sighed, “yes, and I tried to tell you, really I did, but after I was kicked out things at home didn’t go well, and I couldn’t find you. I didn’t where you lived or your phone number or anything.”

“What do you mean things didn’t go well?”

“My parent’s thought it would be a good idea to move away, they thought it would keep me out of more trouble.”

“Did it?”

“No it didn’t, but Roman and I have both grown up A LOT since those days.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before now?”

“Honestly I didn’t think it would matter now. You caught Jason cheating and I probably would of told you about getting in trouble but at this point you already knew about Jason so I wasn’t giving you anymore information that you didn’t have.”

“How do I know I can trust what you’re saying?”

“I don’t know Angel. I don’t have a way of proving any of this to you. It’s your decision if you want to trust me or not. And whatever your decision is I’ll respect it, I might not like it, but I’ll respect it.”

“I think I just need a few days away from everyone to clear my head.” I said on the verge of tears.

He walked over to me and wrapped me in a hug. A couple of tears escape my eyes. “I understand,” he said, “if you need anything you know what to get ahold of me.” He let go of me and got into the truck. He looked sad but gave me a small wave as he backed out of the driveway. Once I couldn’t see the truck anymore I went inside.

As soon as the door closed Dru was there hugging me. “It’s going to be ok,” she said.

I grabbed her tight and cried, “it doesn’t feel like it.”

Christian came up and hugged both of us, “I know it doesn’t now but she’s right. Everything happens for a reason, we just don’t always know why.”

“I’m going to go take a hot bath and lay in bed.” They nodded at me. I laid in the tub trying to think of what I wanted to do. I couldn’t think straight. I laid there until the water turned cold. When I got out Christian and Dru were in bed. I tried to sleep but just stared at the ceiling. I couldn’t take it, I texted the one person who I knew would be up.

Hey are you busy?

It took a few minutes, I almost thought he wasn’t going to answer.

For you I’m never too busy. What’s up?—Rider

I need to get away and we need to talk.

Ok, I’ll be there in 30. – Rider

I took my time getting some jeans and his hoodie on. I snuck out quietly and waited for him at the end of the driveway. I didn’t even let him stop the bike, I just jumped on as soon as he reached me. We rode through town and stopped at the lookout. I stood waiting for him to get off the bike. He kept is helmet on.

He stood up to look at me, “So, it doesn’t seem like you texted me for just a fun ride.”

“No I didn’t,” I huffed. I went and sat on one of the rocks. He slowly came and sat beside me.

“Did they tell you?” he asked me.

“Yes…….I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you and accused you of being jealous,” I started to cry again.

He put his arm around me and let me cry on his shoulder.

“I’m not here to tell you ‘I told you so’. But you were kind of right, I am a little jealous of them right now.”

“What? Why?” I asked shocked.

“Cause, they can walk down the street with you without a helmet on. You were also right that I’m like them because I can’t tell you certain things, which makes it out like I’m lying to you. I don’t like that.”

“You’re really jealous of them?”

“Yes”

“And you’re not about to tell me who you are yet?”

“No…..not yet. But I’d like to.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“The way I see it you have a few options.”

“Like what?” I sniffed.

“Well you can do nothing for now……you can forgive them both….or only forgive one………or neither of them and move on….”

“What about you?”

“What about me? Angel as much as I want to I can’t be one of the options. Not right now anyway.”

“I know…..”

“I’m sorry,” he hugged me tight.

“I know…” I repeated

“This is all your decision, but it’s not like you have to make one tonight.”

“Yea….I think I need a few days to think. I do know one thing though.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“I think Tanner’s lie was worse……”

“Why’s that? They both lied.”

“Yes but Tanner’s just seems worse, you know?”

“It’s whatever you think Angel. It doesn’t matter to me what you choose, I’ll be here for you.”

“Thanks…”

“Come on it’s getting colder, I’ll take you home.” He helped me up and back onto the bike.

The cold air felt good on my face. Maybe it will make the redness on my face from crying go away. He stopped at the end of the driveway to help me off.

“I’ll see you around….” He said hugging me.

“I’ll see you around.” He watched me walk into the house before he left. I pulled on some sweatpants and laid back in bed. I don’t know how long I stared at the ceiling, but eventually I drifted off to sleep.