Whatever It Takes

Jon stretched on the couch, rolling over onto his side and opening his eyes. He sighed and reached over to grab his phone, checking to see the time. He was awake 20 minutes before his alarm was expected to go off. He rubbed his face with his hands and sat up slowly.

The corner of his eye caught a figure sitting in the dark at the kitchen table. Startled, he did a double take, relived to see it was just Arianna. His relief faded quickly and turned into concern as he watched her stare blankly into space.

Arianna sat in at the kitchen table for what must have felt like hours, but was only minutes. The page was still open, her hands hung by her side in defeat, her mouth slightly ajar as she tried to process this whole thing. Nothing was making any sense to her at that moment. How had this happened? How did she not see someone taking pictures of them? How would Patrick react to this? She felt nauseous.

“Ari?” Jon’s voice said from behind her, startling her out of her daze. She turned her lead to look at him, not saying a word but just starring at him. Her eyes were swollen and her face was stained with dry water from previous tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asked concerned as he approached her, his arm resting on her shoulder. She turned the computer screen to face him, her arm resting against the table as she starred back straight ahead.

Jon glanced at her quickly before he leaned down and looked at the screen, taking the mouse and scrolling down to read the page. He shook his head as he read the comments and saw the pictures, suddenly shutting the screen with more force than he intended.

He felt horrible for Arianna, watching as she sat there with a broken expression. She wasn’t use to attention like this and definitely wasn’t use to negative remarks as harsh as these. Being in the spotlight for so long had helped him grow to learn how to deal with it. For her though, this wasn’t something she never thought she’d have to deal with.

“A, don’t listen to them” he said softly, even though he felt sick on the inside, “they’re just some dumb girls”. She bit her bottom lip in response, wanting to speak up but unable to find her voice.

“Are you ok?” he asked concerned, as he took her head in his hand and turned it to face him. The gesture was so simple and yet so sweet; Arianna couldn’t contain herself as she felt a single tear escape her eye. She just shook her head no in response, as she reached up and brushed the tear away.

“I’m going to go get Kaner,” Jon told her as he placed his hand on her head. He glanced down at the laptop and picked it up, taking it with him as he walked away. He felt nervous inside, unsure what he was going to tell Patrick. More so, he was nervous to see how Patrick would react. Patrick had never been involved enough with someone to care too much what the media and people said about them. Things were different now though; the person involved was different.

***

Patrick brushed his teeth in his private washroom, spitting into the skin before rinsing his mouth. His head hurt a little but nothing too serious, he knew never to drink too much when he had practice the next day. He put away his toothbrush when he heard Jon knock on the door and call his name.

“Come in,” Patrick said as he dried his hands on a towel. He exited the washroom as the same time Jon stepped into his room. Patrick opened his mouth to make a joke to his friend until he saw his serious expression.

“What’s wrong?” he asked him curiously, his face pulled into a confused frown. Jon stood with his arms crossed over the laptop that he held against his chest, sighing as he looked down at the floor.

“There’s something you should see” Jon said as he took the laptop and placed it on the bed, opening the screen and stepping away. Patrick shot him a confused look before he sat on his bed and looked at the computer screen.

His eyes skimmed through the page, confusion and curiosity setting in on him. He was surprised so many people wanted to know his relationship status, smirking as he read messaged from girls declaring their love for him.

His smile vanished as he finally saw the picture of him and Arianna. The words underneath the picture jumped out at him, and he felt his heart drop. He quickly scanned through the rest of the page, his stomach clenching every time he read another word about her.

After reading about 45 comments, he shut the screen down, unable to read anymore. He felt the anger boil up inside of him, as it took everything in him not to throw the computer against the wall. He sighed and shook his head, placing it in between his hands, which now rested against his knees. How did everything become such a mess? He knew how cruel people could be; they had done it countless times to him.

But Arianna was different; this was what he had been worried about. He never wanted anyone to hurt her; she didn’t deserve it. She didn’t ask for this, she just wanted to be a regular person. It was his job to protect her from all this that he had worried about to begin with. His head shot up automatically, looking at Jon.

“Has Ari seen this yet?” he asked him, fear in his voice. Jon didn’t answer, his head glancing back down at the floor, before looking up and nodding. Patrick got up without a word and walked out of his bedroom. He needed to make this right.

***

He found her in the exact same spot and position that Jon had left her in. Unsure of how to approach her, he walked up to her slowly. His heart breaking the closer he got, the more visible her features were. She looked like hell; her eyes swollen and red as she starred at the table intently.

“Babe?” Patrick said as he walked up beside her. Her heart flipped when she heard his voice, her head snapping in his direction. She starred at him, her eyes empty and emotionless. He felt nervous as he realized this was the first time he couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

It was quiet as neither one of them spoke. Suddenly she jumped out of her chair and threw herself into his arms. He pulled her in closer, sliding his hands around her waist as she placed her arms around his neck.

The comfort she found was she in his arms was unexplainable. She nestled her face into his collarbone, shutting out the rest of the world. When he held her, she was suddenly sure that everything would be ok. But she couldn’t hide there forever; she knew that. The realization that she must face the real world soon crushed her.

She didn’t want to cry in front of him; actually it was the last thing she wanted in the world at that moment. It had been her insistence that day that she could handle anything that came her way. She didn’t want him to think she regretted her decision or that she couldn’t handle it.
Yet the liquid in her eyes wouldn’t stay there, as they came tumbling down her face and landed on his shoulder.

He felt the wet spots form on his shirt and instantly knew she was crying. He pulled away from her, silent as he brushed away the tears from her cheek. He was filled was such a mix of emotions, torn between sadness and anger.

“I’m so sorry Ari,” he said gently, as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. She shook her head at him, “it’s not your fault Pat. It doesn’t even matter, I’m just overly sensitive”.

“No, you’re not. You have every right to be upset. This is what I wanted to protect you from…” he told her. “Patrick, stop. You can’t protect me. I’m a big girl; I can handle it…I just need some time. It caught me off guard, that’s all” she responded, as her voice cracked.

She wanted to be strong for him, wanted him to know she could handle it. But her voice and body were betraying her, showing how much this really was affecting her. She knew those girls didn’t know a thing about her and were probably jealousy. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt though reading those horrible things about yourself.

She finally got the courage to look at Patrick, their eyes locking on one another. She kept telling herself to keep a strong face, to not let him see what was really going on inside of her. It was no use though, he knew the minute he looked at her what she really felt.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed” he told her quietly. She simply nodded as he took her hand in his and began to walk towards his room. Jon stood by the side and watched them, nodding to Patrick as they made eye contact. This was going to be a long day.

***

Arianna lay in Patrick’s bed, her eyes starring holes into the ceiling. The soft sheets underneath her body gave her comfort, as she pulled the covers up more. She had been laying in his bed for almost an hour now and although she did find comfort in being surrounded by his scent, she still felt no better than before.

She sighed as she heard the faint sound of whispering from the other side of the door. After Patrick tucked her into his bed, he had contemplated not showing up to the optional practice the coach had set up for them. Arianna had sprung out of bed, telling him there was no way he was missing work on account of her and her dramatics.

So now she was in his bed alone, contemplating life, while Lisa and James whispered on the other side of the door, probably trying to figure out what to do with her. She rolled over onto her side, sliding her arm beneath the pillow for support. What was she going to do? This wasn’t like her; she knew how to deal with jealous girls, she had faced them her whole life. And yet, this entire situation had really stumped her.

She heard the door open and pushed her head up to see who was there. James and Lisa walked in tentatively, both with determined faces. They sat on either side of the bed, cornering her into the middle. She sat up and starred at them, a questioning look on her face.

“Get up and get ready,” James said simply, as he pulled the covers off her body, “we’re going for breakfast”. Arianna sighed and threw her head back against the pillow, taking the other one and covering her face.

“I want to hide forever,” she told them, the sound slightly muffled by the pillow she held tightly onto of her. “Grow up,” Lisa said sternly, as she grabbed the pillow and yanked it from her. “This is not who you are. You do not cave because some silly little girls said shit through a computer screen. Get your ass out of bed before I do it for you. You have ten minutes to get ready”.

With that Lisa got up and walked out of the door, leaving Arianna with a stunned expression on her face as she sat up to look at James. He shrugged his shoulders, as Arianna pouted, “She didn’t have to be so harsh” she said.

James laughed and gave her a look, “can I be honest with you?”. Arianna nodded at his question, curious to see what he had to say.

“Yeah it sucks what they said. But trust me when I say, it can be a lot worse…this doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Patrick told me before I got here that one of things he liked so much about you was the fact that you did your own thing. You didn’t care about what people thought” James confided in her.

He gave her a half smile and a pat on her foot underneath the covers before getting up and walking out the door. Arianna sat in bed, starring at the entrance James had just left from. He was right; she knew that deep down inside.

Maybe it’s time I stop feeling sorry for myself, she thought as she pulled the covers off and swung her legs to the side of the bed. She got up and made her way to the washroom, determined to clean herself up and go out.

This was her life. Not theirs. She needed to stop letting people she didn’t know control her life and emotions. As long as she dated Patrick people would always talk. She opened the washroom lights and glanced at herself in the mirror.

Her hair was disheveled, her face blotchy and swollen from crying like a baby. She sighed as she opened the faucet, placing her hands underneath the cool water. If she didn’t shape up Patrick would want nothing to do with her. She told him she could handle it and that’s what she was going to do. She wouldn’t let this girls win or get the best of her.