After taking a taxi home and using up all my pocket cash, I ran into my backyard, in flooding tears... There was no way that I was gonna go inside and be shamefully questioned by my parents on why I had returned. The backyard here in Westchester was a pretty large size, but there was one problem. There were no big oak trees to hide myself under as a �sitting place�. It was considerably dark outside by now, but I didn�t care. I had a flashlight in my bag anyway from the sleepover. Finding no other place to sit, I plopped myself down next to our fence that separated our house from Eva�s. It was getting chilly outside, but all I had with me was my lighter hoodie sweatshirt. Talking to myself- �Great job, Val�there goes another boyfriend�this one didn�t even last a full week! U must be a pretty sucky girlfriend to be losing guys so quickly�� I continued sobbing and tormenting myself for another 20 minutes�or so it seemed in the ever-constant coldness. A little later, out of nowhere, I thought I heard footsteps approaching me. Grrrrrrreat, my parents had found me newayz�.. Voice- �Aww, Val, don�t get so down on ureself�� It wasn�t my mom or my dad. OMG! If that was Jesse I dunno what crazy thing I might�ve done�However, it wasn�t my ex�it was Chris. Me- �Chris! Ure here?! And ure not mad?� Chris- *sighing* �Well, I figure that everyone at least deserves a chance to explain themselves. This is yours�� Me- �Ok, but��u wont tell neone about nething here, rite?� Chris- �Nope, not a soul. I really mean it.� I guess it was the best thing to do. Tell him about it. Maybe then sum of my guilt would disappear�. Me- �Ok, from the beginning?� Chris- Tell it all sister, I�ve got plenty of time.� Me- *wiping away my wet eyes* �Well, maybe u should sit down then�� Chris- *setting his sleeping bag down next to mine* �Alright, hit me with it�� Jeez! Chris was really calm about this whole thing! Maybe he was an emotionally stronger person than I had thought�Or maybe it was becuz he didn�t know yet� Me- �Okay, well, first let me say that this is only from what I understand�and I�ve only lived here for about a week now�� Chris- �Proceed�� Me- �Rite. Well, Gabby and Cate are gonna kill me for saying this but�..when I first moved in, one of the first things that I learned here was that both Cate and Gabby had major crushes on u�� Chris- *laughing* �Okay�haha, now I can c where there mightve been a problem�.keep talking�� Me- �Rite. So both girls really liked ya. So when we went out for pizza last Monday, u can only imagine how furious Gabby was, and Cate was too when she found out later about u and Eva.� Chris- �oops�� Me- �SoOoOoo, then, alright, *taking a deep breath* they had a plan. They just had to get u back sumhow�It was after school that I had gotten a phone call. They didn�t tell me their idea until after I had already gotten to Gabby�s house�and after they told me, I dunno, I sorta felt like I had to go along with it�Chris, I don�t wanna sound like a complete loser here���but I wanted to fit in. I wanted them to like me.� Chris- �I�m afraid to ask, but�what was their plan?� Me- �Ummm, to tell ya straight out�..they made a blackmail tape of Eva and Ryan. Actually,�..I shouldn�t exclude myself�.I did it also. We all called Ryan, Eva, and Chelsie too�.except we lied and said that we were making a romance flick for reading class.� Chris- *shocked; mouth-open* �U guys�???�.Eva really didn�t�??? It was all��.??? Omg.� Me- �See how fucked up everything is now??? And I coulda stopped it! I could hav----.� Chris- �Wait. Val, stop. Just give me a second. I gotta think.� Me- �But Chris I------� Chris- *raising his index finger to my lips* �Shhhh�� As I sat in the cold darkness, I watched Chris, awaiting his next words to come. Lying down on his back, looking up towards the sky, Chris seemed to be sorting everything thru his mind. I still couldn�t help noticing how well he seemed to be reacting to all this. I had expected him to be furious, yelling, and out of control. Instead, he just sat there. He appeared to be thinking very hard. Chris- �Val, have u ever taken any time to just sit & look at the stars?� Me- *kinda confused* �Um, not very well, how come?� Chris- �I have. They can tell u so much. Take those stars rite over there for example�.� *points up towards the sky* Me- �Which ones? There are a lot of them�� Chris- �Wait, come over here with me. Lay down and I can show u where I mean�� Um, ok? What was he doing to me here? Then again, why was he even HERE? A lot of these questions were swimming thru my head�but all I could do was listen and do what he said�.and wait for answers to come� Me- *moving onto my back down next to Chris* �Ok, which ones?� Chris- *taking my hand and guiding it* �Those ones, rite there�u c?� Me- �Yes.� *still confused* Chris- �That group of stars form the constellation Leo the Lion. It is made up of 11 balls of burning gases.� Me- �impressive.� Chris- �Thank u, but that�s not my point. See, without all eleven of those stars, this constellation could never have existed. *taking my hand again* U see that little star on the right? Towards the bottom foot in the corner?� Me- �uh-huh�� Chris- �U can tell that it�s a newer star, probably formed within the last 20,000 years�� Me- �That doesn�t sound so new�� Chris- �Compared to some of those other stars it is. Sum of those other stars were probably formed, like, a million years before that one!� Me- �ok, so whats ure point here?� Chris- �My point is, before that little new star was formed, the other ten stars were just a big group, tho satisfied, still lacking. But now with the 11th star, they could together form a constellation, and be complete. Tho the little star may not know it, it is needed and required to make everything work��*pauses*��like u Val.� I could feel my eyes start to fill again with tears. Me- �Chris, that was the most beautiful simile that I have ever heard�thank u.� *giving Chris a huge hug* Chris- *noticing my tears* �Oh, don�t cry.� *pulling away from my hug and bringing my face closer to his to wipe a tear* �But I wanted u to know that. Know that u are a part of our constellation. With Matt, Chrysta, Ryan, Greg, Frankie, Cate, Gabby, Eva, Jesse, and I����.u r our eleventh star. U didn�t need to be part of that stupid video to fit in���its almost as if��.as if���..u�ve belonged here forever��..� By now our faces were just an inch apart. I couldn�t tell whether Chris was really telling the truth or if he was just sweet-talking me up. But I didn�t care becuz what he had said had been incredible to me. I couldn�t stand it; I had to displace that last inch. |
| Chapter 15>>* Fessing Up |