Status: Completed
Let Me Count the Ways I Fell in Love With You
Nothing lasts.
3 months and 3 weeks went by with a blink and the ‘graduation exam’ was the week after that. Shane had been studying his ass off with Tania but, he could not help feeling like something bad was about to happen.
“Oh, for the love of pepperoni pizzas, stop worrying! You’ll do fine!” Tania chided him one day.
Well, what was he to do? It was a graduation exam and anything could happen. Like, maybe he might fall sick. Or fall and trip down a flight of stairs. Or fall down a hill while fetching a pail of water. Or worse, Fail. What was he to do? Shivers would rake his body as soon as the thoughts conquered his mind.
Oh, crap.
So, on that Friday morning – the last day of the week before his exam – as they walked towards the school’s entrance, the grave feeling grew into a big, ugly mushroom. Then, they entered the school’s entrance and the feeling exploded into real fear. Yes, real.
At first, Shane did not know what was the fear about, until it was break time… As he searched through the crowd for Tania, he saw some of the students in the cafeteria giving him either weird looks or mocking looks. But, what caught his attention were the sympathy looks that he got from the majority of them. Then, he glanced at the one table that he sat on before Tania came. His real fears took over when he found the table to be empty.
“Shit!” He cursed as he rushed out of the cafeteria and searched frantically for Tania and his ex-crew all over the school. Finally, as he was about to give in to his frustrations, he remembered the secret spot he used to go with Louis and Darren when they were either making out with girls or just skipping school: The place behind the school building.
No one goes there because of the thick bushes. With a determined resolution, he dashed towards the place and true enough, he saw them: Those terrible foursome and Tania, backing against a wall.
Anger fuelled him to charge towards the nearest guy, Darren. He took Darren by shock and punched him once, twice. He heard Tania calling for his name, asking him to stop but, he would not hear any of it. These bastards were about to hurt her.
As he was about to throw in a fifth punch, Louis grabbed his arm and yanked him off of Darren. His eyes burned with fury as he watch Darren spit out the blood.
“Shane! Stop!” Tania stepped in front of him, “Enough already…”
With a grunt, he pulled his arm free from Louis, grabbed Tania’s hand in a firm hold and dragged her to his car where sat in there in silence before starting up the car and driving recklessly towards god-knows-where.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even though he prompted Tania to tell him what they did, she refused quietly. She was more stubborn than a mule.
“Damn it! If Louis had not stopped me back there, I would hav-”
“You wouldn’t have nothing Shane…”
He looked at her.
“Can you just bring me home Shane..? I’m tired…” Tania muttered as she continued to stare off into the distance.
With a curt nod, he started up the car and travelled back to their houses in awkward silence.
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Evans knocked on his daughter’s door and waited for a reply. Unfortunately, there were none and he had no choice but to open the door without her permission. He peeked inside and saw his daughter sitting in the middle of her bed with her head slumped onto a pillow. Her cries came out as muffles.
He approached her carefully and sat at the edge of her bed. He stared off into the distance, thinking about what he should say next.
“Aih Fwink Aih’m gwoing to bweak up wi’im,” She said into the pillow.
It took him a few minutes before he was able to comprehend what his daughter had just said. His paternal instincts instantly kicked in.
“What did that asshole do to you?! I am going to crack his fa-”
“Nothing dad… He did… nothing,” Tania looked at her father.
“Huh? Then why? I thought you loved him?”
“I…do, but… I think I’m not being fair to him. He does not know about my condition and I…”
“Oh, honey… He does not seem like those other people…” Evans said as he tucked his daughter close to him.
She sniffled against his shirt, “Yes… And that’s the reason why I think I should let him go. He’s too good to be true. A-a-a-and,” Her voice cracked, “I think he might take pity on me. But, I don’t want pity. I want his love dad,” She whined. “I love him!”
Another sob raked through her.
Evans rubbed her back as he tried to comfort her. He yearned for his daughter to be happy. And when she does, everything just crashes onto her. She’s only 17 for pete’s sake. Why, is life being unfair?
He cradled her against him and felt a tear slipping down his cheeks. He would do anything for her yet, he was not even sure what. It was one of those life decisions. It was either you make it, or you break it.
Tyler knocked on her sister’s door and saw his father cradling her. He rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes and wobbled towards them. His father smiled down at him and held out a hand, indicating that he joined them. He did. They all huddled on Tania’s bed and fell into a silent slumber.
“Oh, for the love of pepperoni pizzas, stop worrying! You’ll do fine!” Tania chided him one day.
Well, what was he to do? It was a graduation exam and anything could happen. Like, maybe he might fall sick. Or fall and trip down a flight of stairs. Or fall down a hill while fetching a pail of water. Or worse, Fail. What was he to do? Shivers would rake his body as soon as the thoughts conquered his mind.
Oh, crap.
So, on that Friday morning – the last day of the week before his exam – as they walked towards the school’s entrance, the grave feeling grew into a big, ugly mushroom. Then, they entered the school’s entrance and the feeling exploded into real fear. Yes, real.
At first, Shane did not know what was the fear about, until it was break time… As he searched through the crowd for Tania, he saw some of the students in the cafeteria giving him either weird looks or mocking looks. But, what caught his attention were the sympathy looks that he got from the majority of them. Then, he glanced at the one table that he sat on before Tania came. His real fears took over when he found the table to be empty.
“Shit!” He cursed as he rushed out of the cafeteria and searched frantically for Tania and his ex-crew all over the school. Finally, as he was about to give in to his frustrations, he remembered the secret spot he used to go with Louis and Darren when they were either making out with girls or just skipping school: The place behind the school building.
No one goes there because of the thick bushes. With a determined resolution, he dashed towards the place and true enough, he saw them: Those terrible foursome and Tania, backing against a wall.
Anger fuelled him to charge towards the nearest guy, Darren. He took Darren by shock and punched him once, twice. He heard Tania calling for his name, asking him to stop but, he would not hear any of it. These bastards were about to hurt her.
As he was about to throw in a fifth punch, Louis grabbed his arm and yanked him off of Darren. His eyes burned with fury as he watch Darren spit out the blood.
“Shane! Stop!” Tania stepped in front of him, “Enough already…”
With a grunt, he pulled his arm free from Louis, grabbed Tania’s hand in a firm hold and dragged her to his car where sat in there in silence before starting up the car and driving recklessly towards god-knows-where.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even though he prompted Tania to tell him what they did, she refused quietly. She was more stubborn than a mule.
“Damn it! If Louis had not stopped me back there, I would hav-”
“You wouldn’t have nothing Shane…”
He looked at her.
“Can you just bring me home Shane..? I’m tired…” Tania muttered as she continued to stare off into the distance.
With a curt nod, he started up the car and travelled back to their houses in awkward silence.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evans knocked on his daughter’s door and waited for a reply. Unfortunately, there were none and he had no choice but to open the door without her permission. He peeked inside and saw his daughter sitting in the middle of her bed with her head slumped onto a pillow. Her cries came out as muffles.
He approached her carefully and sat at the edge of her bed. He stared off into the distance, thinking about what he should say next.
“Aih Fwink Aih’m gwoing to bweak up wi’im,” She said into the pillow.
It took him a few minutes before he was able to comprehend what his daughter had just said. His paternal instincts instantly kicked in.
“What did that asshole do to you?! I am going to crack his fa-”
“Nothing dad… He did… nothing,” Tania looked at her father.
“Huh? Then why? I thought you loved him?”
“I…do, but… I think I’m not being fair to him. He does not know about my condition and I…”
“Oh, honey… He does not seem like those other people…” Evans said as he tucked his daughter close to him.
She sniffled against his shirt, “Yes… And that’s the reason why I think I should let him go. He’s too good to be true. A-a-a-and,” Her voice cracked, “I think he might take pity on me. But, I don’t want pity. I want his love dad,” She whined. “I love him!”
Another sob raked through her.
Evans rubbed her back as he tried to comfort her. He yearned for his daughter to be happy. And when she does, everything just crashes onto her. She’s only 17 for pete’s sake. Why, is life being unfair?
He cradled her against him and felt a tear slipping down his cheeks. He would do anything for her yet, he was not even sure what. It was one of those life decisions. It was either you make it, or you break it.
Tyler knocked on her sister’s door and saw his father cradling her. He rubbed his sleep-deprived eyes and wobbled towards them. His father smiled down at him and held out a hand, indicating that he joined them. He did. They all huddled on Tania’s bed and fell into a silent slumber.
♠ ♠ ♠
--sighs--