The Story Left Untold

“I can’t believe you’d go this far to hurt me, Jack.” Tears started pouring like rain but I wanted to hold them back badly. I didn’t like crying in front of people. It made me feel weak. Right now, that’s hardly what I want to feel. I wanted to be the strong one – the winner in this argument. But my emotions thought otherwise. Maybe it was fine to show a little weakness to get the point across but I’m beginning to think that maybe my tears are a way of showing my strength.

“What in the world are you talking about?” he exclaimed a little too loudly, as he rubbed the cheek that I bitch-slapped.

I might’ve slapped him a little too harshly but I couldn’t say that he didn’t deserve it. He deserved every ounce of pain that I shot through his body.

“Don’t try and act like you don’t know what’s going on! You did this! You made him break up with me and you’re just gonna stand there and pretend like it’s nothing?!” I breathed in heavily, “This, by far, is the most pathetic thing I think you’ve ever done.”

He stopped and stared at me with wide eyes. I didn’t know if they held pain or anger. I wasn’t in the mood to really care about his feelings since he barely cared for mine. I don’t even know why I try to put up with him.

All of a sudden, he started to compose himself. He breathed out harshly as if he were annoyed by me. I wanted to lash out at him completely but I was more rational than that. I wanted to hear an explanation from him to see if he was worth my time or not because right now, heading home sounds like such a good idea. I mean hey, it’s only been a week. I could probably go for some extracurricular or something.

“Listen, I didn’t ask him to break up with you,” he mentioned sternly. I lifted an eyebrow in disbelief and I crossed my arms over my chest. “He really isn’t the guy for you-”

“Oh, and you are?” I blurted out, “What kind of a selfish jerk would do this to his friend?”

“I’m trying to protect you from getting hurt! Why can’t you see that?” Jack started to get kinda upset with me and I wasn’t taking his attitude lightly. Maybe another slap on the cheek would get him to think straight.

“Maybe because I’m already hurt, Jack!” I exclaimed in the same tone. “I thought he and I had something that you and I could never have but you broke us apart before anything ever happened! I really cannot believe that you could rip him away from me like a fucking band-aid! And what’s worse is that you don’t even care!”

He gnashed his teeth furiously as he tried to stay calm. I hadn’t noticed that I was yelling until I saw a bunch of people get out of their rooms. Once they saw the two of us heated up, they made their way back inside their doors, giving us the privacy we needed.

Jack sighed heavily as he looked from left to right. I was about to walk away when he began to speak. “It’s good that nothing ever happened between you two because he doesn’t care about you like I do.”

“And it all just comes down to you, doesn’t it? Who the hell are you to speak for him like that? Are you like his spokesperson or something? Let him speak for himself! You can’t brainwash him into doing what you what him to do!” I couldn’t believe how angry I was. It’s surprising, really.

I walked away from him by heading back to the room I shared with Alex. I know that it was going to be awkward but I didn’t care. All I wanted was to get away from Jack and whatever he was going to lie to me about.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he whined. I stopped and turned to look at him. He was shaking his head as if everything about me was wrong.

“Tell me Jack, what do you think I’m joking about? Do you think I like to joke around like this and-”

“He fucking cheated on you, okay?!” he exclaimed loudly so that everyone on this whole floor could hear.

My mouth dropped open but I was quick enough to shut it. I looked at him and saw truth in his eyes but I couldn’t believe him. It seemed impossible, in a way.

“You’re lying,” I muttered as another batch of tears soaked my cheeks.

I ran back to the room which I left open and closed the door slowly so it wouldn’t make a sound. Alex was sound asleep and I didn’t want to have to wake him. I knew that what I was going to do next was totally reckless and spontaneous but I had to get out now before it was too late. I’m glad it’s still early in the tour because it wouldn’t be hard to actually say goodbye to anyone. But in this case, I don’t think I’ll need to say goodbye at all.

I grabbed my bag from the floor and left the key on Alex’s bedside table. I walked to the small entryway that led to the door and opened it slowly so I could sneak out. But once I opened the door widely, I shrieked just a little to see a shirtless Zack right in front of me.

I closed the door behind me and was about to make a run for it but he stopped me by pulling on my bag. Knapsacks are a bad choice for sneaky getaways.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Zack asked in a whisper.

“Why are you still awake?” I countered.

“I asked first.” He twisted me around so I was facing him. I didn’t look into his eyes though since I hate it when people see me cry.

“I’m going home, Zack. This whole thing is too overwhelming for me. I thought I could handle it but I was wrong. It’s just too much,” I rambled as I sobbed. He wrapped me up in a hug and tried to comfort me but my thoughts wouldn’t let me settle down.

“You can’t just head home,” he said, rubbing beneath my knapsack. “Sleep on it and it’ll be fine in the morning.”

“I can’t just sleep-”

“You’re tired; it’s been a long day. Take my bed and I’ll sleep on the ground,” he offered.

“I can’t,” I told him as I hid myself in his bare chest. He smelled so good. You could tell by the way his hair was all ruffled that he just got out of the shower.

“You can, and you will.”

He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me towards the room he shared with Flyzik. I wanted to slip out of his grip and make my escape but I was too tired to make a run for it. I felt like I was going to pass out sometime soon so running is definitely not an option.

Flyzik was oblivious to the world. Luckily, they had two separate beds. I didn’t want to end up sleeping next to Matt. It’s not like I don’t like him. It’s just that it felt sorta weird.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” I tried to say but Zack wasn’t listening. He set my bag on the desk where his bag was and grabbed a comforter and a pillow from one of the cabinets. He laid it on the floor and was set to sleep.

“If you try to escape while I sleep, I will hunt you down,” he mentioned before turning to his side.

He didn’t have a blanket to cover himself with so I made a quick run to the cabinet and grabbed a thin sheet for him. I opened it up and placed it over him. I bit on my lip guiltily as I took his bed and laid on it. But I guess he was right. I could live another day if I slept on it. Besides, where would I go if I did run away?