694AN: I got a flame! Lol. Or two. . . but one's not as flame-ish. ^_^ Yup. Enjoy the chapter, and happy New Year people!
Chapter Thirty Five-Façades
"Can you go somewhere today?" Aaron asked.
Lately that'd been a question I dreaded. I was always spending time with Dea, or I was just too tired to do anything.
"Um… I'm really tired, Aaron. I just went to the pool for three hours, and I have to baby-sit Dea tonight. I've got homework to do," I said hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't get mad at me.
"That's okay. I'll just… uh… do something with Shane."
"Sorry," I muttered.
"It's fine. I have to go," he replied a bit rashly.
"Are you sure you're—"
"Bye, Tina."
I turned off the phone, frowning. Perhaps Dea was a godsend, because she showed me that something good came out of my dad's horrible deeds, but sometimes I wondered if she was. She did take time out of my life, and Aaron and I had been growing apart over the past few weeks. I could tell he was getting tired of hearing about Dea, instead of going out, but there was nothing I could do. And deep down, I was glad about the distractions, in a way, because I didn't want to get too close to him. I didn't want to get hurt.
Maybe dating Aaron wasn't such a good idea after all. His family was connected to mine, and not in such a great way. We had a past. Not a wonderful past. I realized that I could forgive my dad for his deeds, though. Or at least quit dwelling so much upon them, and see that something good came out of them. That no one's perfect. Maybe his letter to my mom taught me something, that perhaps I shouldn't be too hard on people.
But I knew that getting close to anyone wasn't something I wanted. I just didn't want to wake up one day and realize that my illusions about Aaron were just illusions. I didn't want to be deceived again. And there was nothing to do but break up with him. It wouldn't have worked out anyway, I told myself.
Hopefully he was still home. I needed to break up with him sooner rather than later. It'd hurt less.
Looking at Dea playing happily with my old toys, I wished my naiveté had never faded from my childhood. Hearts were so much harder to keep from breaking rather than knees from skinning.
I picked up the phone and dialed the ever-familiar digits.
"Hello," I heard his voice answer tiredly.
"Hey, Aaron? Can you… uh… come over here?" I asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Thanks."
I sighed, letting the phone fall gently to the ground from my hand. Dea smiled at me, before returning to her games. If only she could fix everything with that smile.
Five minutes later, I heard the doorbell ring, and dashed downstairs to answer it.
"Aaron. Hey," I said, opening the door.
"Hey. What'd you want?"
"Oh… um… here, come sit down," I offered, gesturing towards the living room.
"Okay…"
I looked down at my pale hands, biting my lip. "Aaron… I don't think this is going to work out."
"Wait… what?!" he asked exasperatedly.
"I just don't think that this thing… we… are going to work out. We're too different."
"No."
"What?"
"No. That's not what you think. You're running, because I'm getting too close to you, and you're too goddamn afraid of that. And you don't want to get hurt."
I turned away, hoping he wouldn't see the recognition in my eyes. He grabbed my wrist, and turned me towards him, placing both hands on my shoulders and forcing me to look at him.
"Look, Christina. I won't hurt you. Why can't you trust me on that?"
"Because I've been hurt before, Aaron!" I screamed, lifting an arm and pushing both of his off my shoulders. "Aaron, we used to be enemies. What happened?"
"People always say there's a fine line between hatred and love," he muttered.
I bit my lip, trying not to let that touch my heart. "Yeah. And sometimes there's not. Sometimes people aren't meant to fall in love."
"Is that what you really believe?" he whispered, with a deadly look in his eyes.
"Yeah."
"No it's not. This is just a front you're putting up because you're so scared. But guess what? I'll go along with your façade and pretend like none of it ever happened. I'll just act like this was a mutual decision and that I don't know how you really feel."
I looked away from him.
"Come on, Christina. Think about this," he pleaded.
"I have. I've made my decision. Don't let the door hit you on the way out," I muttered, staring down at the ground the entire time.
He grasped my hand, and squeezed tightly in reassurance.
"I guess sometimes things just don't work out, huh?" he mumbled.
"Guess not."
I watched him walk out the door. The door hit him.
I wondered if I made the right decision. Sometimes life was just about risks and making decisions without knowing what's right.
Sometimes there were chances for everything, but whether that would work out is quite a different story. Sometimes there were chances for romance.
Grasp them.[the end]
AN: Well, that's the end. Pretty bad ending, but guess what? I don't care. This story is annoying me, and it's probably annoying you guys, too. Just wanted to give a HUMONGOUS THANK YOU to people who have reviewed, as well as anyone who took the time to read this. I feel SO SO SO lucky that anyone took the time to review. THANKS! And please keep an eye out for my next story. .: swt hugs :. ~julia 1.3.2004
|Thanks for Reviewing|
Reviews from Chapter 33
A-Light-From-Your-Darkness: Do you have me on author alert, or something, because you always seem to review extremely fast? Hehe. yes, Aaron is quite the romantic. Thanks!
DSLuverGurl123: Yup, no typos! Lol. Well, nice motto. haha. Thanks!
NeWriter: Okay, I'd just like to say that actually, the "spelling mistake" you told me about wasn't a spelling mistake. It wasn't a mistake at all. It's "he", not "him" in the phrase "my voice growing in intensity while all I could think about was he." Despite the way people usually talk in everyday life, that's the correct way. It just sounds strange. As for what you said about me always being able to count on you to check my chapters and give me constructive criticism. . . I don't mean to be rude, but did it ever occur to you that I don't really want your constructive criticism? I mean, I think I can handle my story myself, especially when all your past reviews have been not-so-friendly. Maybe you don't mean to offend, but what you say is rather rude. Also, you told me that I should try to get the chapters longer than the part where I answer my reviews. I think I'll be the judge of how long I want my chapters, and I don't think that should relate to my review replies. It's not my fault people give me reviews and I want to answer them. Thank you for your supposed constructive criticism, but I don't need it. Not because I think my writing's good (which I don't) but because I can't use it, considering it's not too constructive.
Hearts: Well, you ask how many more chapters until it's over? Does this chapter answer your question? Heh. thanks!
Teea: Yeah, he is sweet, isn't he? Where can you find a guy like him? mars. . . venus. . . not here. Thanks!
Raine0211: Haha, you have TOO many reviews! I'm sticking to that. I might have more than you, but in a LOT more time! Thanks!
Perfectly-Insane33: Thanks!
Cutie Eskimo: Yeah, wasn't Aaron sweet? Gawd, u always prefer Dea. Hmmph. Well, thanks!
ck: Glad you liked the chapter. yeah, it was kind of long. Thanks!
BlearyEyes: Thank you for the encouraging thoughts! Glad you like the story!
Amanda: Haha, you think Aaron's one of the sweetest guys ever? could be. But then. . . he's not real, is he? Yeah, naming a star after her would've been sweet, but too "A Walk to Remember". Yeah, I said there were sweet guys like him out there, but they're not so common. I mean, some don't seem like they would be, but then they are, and you just have to get them to open up. Heh. Thanks!
differentlyhappy: Yeah, kinda stoopid she forgot bout their anniversary, but ya can't blame her. Thanks!
StarsignLeo: Yeah, Januarys are KIND OF like that where I live. I was picturing something really beautiful, though. Couldn't quite describe it well. Thanks!
Ti: I know, Aaron is SO swt. Now if only he was real. . . heh. Yeah, I'm still in that 'hopeless romantic' stage, too. When WILL mai prince charming come? *sigh* Thanks!
Perfectly-Insane33: Hahaha, I'm SO SO glad you love this story. heh. Thanks!
booklover114: Aww, thank you! It's flattering that you said my story was page-turny. Thanks!
HaveFaithInMe6: Thank you, glad you like the story!
BlueShadow: Thank you for reviewing!
ItalianQT: Yup, that's definitely a big one-month anniversary gift, but what can I say? Heh. Thanks!
animecrazy3: Yeah, isn't he swt? Hehe, thanks!
Reviews from Chapter 34
A-Light-From-Your-Darkness:Hehe, really glad you liked the chapter! And yeah, thanks for all the good things about the chapter. Awesome! Thanks!
BrokenIce:Hey, glad you liked the update! Ttyl! Thanks!
Cutie Eskimo:Hehe, yeah, I thought it was nice of Tina to get Dea a present. Thanks!
Ti: Thank you!
ck:Heh, you hope she doesn't do anything stoopid? Um. . . would you consider what she did stoopid? Hehe. Thanks!
Marzie1212:I'm so glad my story captured your interest. Thank you!
Someone in the Shadows:Actually, I agree with you. I started out with a point in this story. Well, my original plot had one. And yup, I think it's rather annoying as well. Thank you for taking the time to review.
taffytaf:Yeah, I know I have some typos, but that's just me writing at two in the morning. Heh. Thanks, and I'll try to look at some of your stories!
HaveFaithInMe6:So glad you liked the chapter. Thanks!
Differentlyhappy:Thank you! Great that you liked the chapter!
StarsignLeo: Hehe, wonderful that you got a break from cleaning your room with this story. hehe, okay, that was a misplaced modifier, but hopefully you know what I mean. thanks!
lil-star-goddess: Thanks a bunch!
NeWriter:Glad you liked the chapter. Thanks!
lOvErcHicK20o0:I'd just like to say that if you want to flame me, fine. You're entitled to your opinion, and I'll respect that, but I think you should show a little respect and flame me CIVILLY. If you're going to tell me about how horrible my writing is, you might want to send me a review with PROPER GRAMMAR in the first place, and just seeing your review isn't going to make me want to read your story. Don't say that your story is better if you're telling me to read it in a review with incorrect grammar. That's enough to make me not want to read it, along with how rude you are. Thanks for taking the time to read my story.