What Happens in Arizona

Chapter 24 – We don’t fight fair

“So you’re telling me, that Joel wants to ask you out too and now he’s rivals with John?” Ella stated, as she popped the lid off of the gallon of Chocolate ice cream.

I nodded, taking the spoon from her hand and shoving a spoonful of ice cream down my mouth. Lily and Brooklyn looked at me worriedly, “It’s time for an intervention.” Ella continued, swiping the spoon from my hands.

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“Alright, so I got rid of John.” Kennedy started as he sat down on the furry carpet in our living room.

“Great, so let’s start now.” Pat replied, clasping his hands together.

I looked at them confusedly and joined their circle, “What am I going to do?” I whined.

Brooklyn suddenly appeared behind me; she wrapped her arms around my shoulder and sat next to me. “Amy, take your time on this one okay? Don’t rush, everything will fall back into place once the right time comes.” She said, rubbing my back gently.

“She’s right Ames, whether those 2 like it or not you can only choose one of them. One has to man-up and move on,” Pat added, smiling widely at me.

I nodded softly, resting my head on my arms. “I’m just a bit scared.”

“Of what?” Garrett then appeared beside me.

“I’m scared of hurting one of them, worst, what if I hurt both of them?” I replied.

“You won’t Amy—you won’t if you take your time, now we still have one more week ‘till we fly back to Arizona. So maybe, things would get better once we go back home.” Ella replied, reassuring a hug.

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The intervention went well, and I got to see things clearer. I’ve made my mind up, and decided that everything would be better if I let them both fight fair then things will into place. I, of course have to talk to John about it and I needed him to understand. I need him to fight fair, which means not being with me most of the time. From now on, I am split up. There will be time for my work, time for myself, time for Ella and the others and also time for John and Joel. It’s gonna be rough but I have to make sure that I’ll go through this ‘till the end, I can’t run away now.

The knob turned and John came inside, everyone already left the living room except Garrett. He agreed to stay with me and Brooklyn didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh—hi,” John greeted awkwardly, passing by us and went towards our bedroom. That worried me a little bit, I can’t really tell what’s going on inside his head. I was still a bit befuddled, even though I’ve already figured out what I was going to do.

Garrett motioned me to follow him and I did, I opened the door slowly and saw John on the bend. He was fiddling with the bed sheet, lying on his stomach. He didn’t seem to notice me since he was distracted by what he’s doing and maybe he was in deep thought.

“Hey,” I greeted, crawling up the mattress next to him.

“Hey,” he mumbled back, not even bothering to look me.

I was silent for a while, for once I ran out of words to say. He wasn’t okay and I knew that, but I at least have to try and cheer him up. “Do you wanna go to the park?” I asked softly. He stopped what he was doing and turned to me, “the park?” he repeated. I nodded at him and smiled; he didn’t react and returned his attention to the bed sheet he was fiddling with.

“Jaaaaaawn—,” I whined, catching his attention.

He still didn’t spoke, he just looked at me. “Why are you being like this?” I asked, moving closer to him. He just shook his head and turned away.

I moved my hand and reached for his cheek, I cupped it and turned him to face me. “I am not letting you act like this on me,” I said softly, leaning closer to his face and capturing his lips with mine. His hands moved to my back as I straddled upon him, our lips still linked with each other. I pulled away biting his lower lip, while he moved his hand to my face, pulling away.

“Amy” he exclaimed, catching his breath.

I raised my head and looked at him, befuddled. “What?” I asked, breathing heavily.

“This—this is not fair for Joel, we—we can’t do this right now. He’s going to get hurt if we play unfair Amy.” He stuttered.

And he was right; it wasn’t really fair for Joel. I quickly stood up and got off of him, when I was about to reach for the door he grabbed my arm and turned me around. He cornered me with both his arms unto to wall, “This is really hard for me, but we both have to fight fairly. I know that you know what I mean.” He said, resting his head on my shoulder.

“I know, alright—let’s be fair.” I sighed, “You can start by moving your things to Kennedy and Ella’s room.” I continued.

His head shot up and looked at me confusedly, “What?—why?”

“Because, you said we have to be fair.” I replied, moving his hands and heading outside.

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Ella laughed loudly as we lined up for our mocha frap at the nearby coffee shop, “You kicked him out of your room?” she laughed again. Lily was giggling behind her but she tried hard to hide it, “Yeah—it’s just because he wanted to be fair okay?” I replied.

She went up the counter and claimed our orders; Lily followed behind her and took her coffee from Ella’s hand. “Well, I’m pretty sure he’s going to regret that. You know, since he’s already banged you.” She said, sipping coffee from her cup.

“He won’t—well; if he does he won’t be able to do anything about it.” I replied.

“But what if he takes it back Amy?” Lily popped in to the conversation.

I shook my head and turned to the both them, “He can’t do anything about it—okay?” they murmured words I wasn’t able to understand, Ella was about to say something when my phone suddenly rang.

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“Hello?”
“Hey Amy—it’s Joel.”
“Oh Hi, what’s up?”
“Not much—uh, I was just wondering if we—we could go out tonight.”
“Hmm—alright, what time?”
“…really? I mean, is it fine—you know, after what happened la—,”
“Its fine Joel, don’t think about what happened last night okay? It’s all in the past. Haha, so what time will I see you?”
“Hmm—how about 7?”
“Sounds good! Alright, see you tonight.”

*Phone-call-ends*

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Ella was staring at me suspiciously, and I couldn’t help but ask her to stop doing it. “What?” I exclaimed, turning to her. She shifted her body but her eyes were still glued to me, “Are you going to see Joel tonight?” she asked indifferently. I nodded at her and smiled, “Hmm—well, just so you know we’re not taking care of John tonight.” she replied.

Well, I can’t really do anything about that. She and Kennedy need time for themselves too, and I’m sure Lily and Pat has their own plans. So that leaves the responsibility to look out for John to Garrett and Brooklyn, but what if they have plans too? Ugh—well John is a grown up, I’m pretty sure he’ll get through the whole night.

“So, what are you going to wear tonight?” Lily asked in her tiny voice.

My shoulders shrugged automatically as I glanced upon her, “Maybe my usual dating clothes—I guess,” I replied.

“Oh come on Amy! This is your first date with Joel—and I may deny it but he is one hot alpha male, you hear me? Girls’ ovaries would explode just by looking at his picture!” Ella exclaimed suddenly, shooting the empty cup into the trash bin.

I gave out a small laugh and turned to her, “Alright—fine, let’s head out to the mall and find me an outfit for tonight yeah?”

They cheered in unison and we headed directly to the mall, but apparently things didn’t go as planned. We forgot about the time and a traffic jam started forming at the main road back to my flat, we had 10 minutes left before the clock strikes 7. We had to get back to my flat, Kennedy and Pat had already called more than 10 times saying John’s already moping and is too stubborn to go out and explore.

“Alright, we’re 10 blocks away. We can still make it,” Ella said, catching her breath.
We’ve been running for half an hour and my feet aren’t cooperating with me, “Amy you can change over there at the coffee shop’s rest room!” Lily exclaimed, pointing to the coffee shop we were at this morning.

“Okay—I’ll go change there, you guys wait for me okay.” I replied, panting really hard. I headed inside the shop and putted on the dress Ella and Lily picked out for me, it was getting a little chilly outside so we hurried up a little bit more.

When we arrived, they were all inside the living room seating on the couch. Patrick, Garrett, Brooklyn, Kennedy, John and Joel, were all waiting for us to arrive. “Hey~” we greeted in unison, Joel was the first one to approach us then Kennedy, and then Pat. John just sat there, not even bothering to look at us but I understood.

“So—uh, let’s go?” Joel said softly, taking the bag from me.

I caught my breath and looked at him, “Sorry I’m late, traffic.”

He just gave me a soft smile and motioned towards the door, “Bye guys!” I exclaimed, turning to Ella and the others. They all nodded at me and smiled, Joel opened the door and we went out.

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The night with him was just heavenly, he took me to a cruise ship and we ate dinner there. And then we went to an old cinema and watched a walk to remember, which my all time favorite movie was. We talked and got to know each other much more, and I also found out that he does not curse. He was almost the complete opposite of John, and I adored him. But I didn’t like him as much as I like John, and that felt so wrong.

“Oh—this night is the best night I’ve ever had.” he sighed, leaning his elbows down the grassy ground.

I gave out a small giggle and turned to him, “Haha—well, I’m glad you had fun with me Joel.” I replied.

He glanced back at me and shifted his body closer to mine, “You’re an amazing girl Amy—you should know that.”

“Well thank you Joel, but to be honest—I’m not. I’m just a regular human,” I said, sighing deeply.

“You are, okay? And John’s lucky to have you by his side all the time, I sure wish I can have you too like he does.” He replied, flashing his adorable smile.

My heart pounded hard and fast, I was sure happy by what he just said. But it made me realize that my feelings for John are coming back—and it’s coming back to me fast. I turned my attention to the city lights, all the building were lit up and it looked wonderful from where we’re at. Silence filled the place; all I can hear was the faded sounds of cars passing by and the crickets. It felt a little awkward but I somehow managed, he looked at his wrist watch and stood up suddenly.

“Oh look at the time, I have to get you back to your flat or John’s definitely gonna send a search party.” He said, laughing softly.

I looked at him with saddened eyes and smiled, “He won’t, don’t worry. Haha, let’s head back?”

He nodded and smiled back at me, intertwining his arm unto mine and we walked back to my flat with our arms inclined together.

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“Thank you Amy, thank you for this night.” He said, sighing deeply as he let go of my arm.
“Thank you too Joel, for asking me out and getting to know me better.” I replied, throwing my arms around him for a hug.

“No problem, I wanted to know you better.” He whispered, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Me too, just so you know—you’re an amazing guy too. And any girl would kill just to be in your arms right now,” I said, pulling away slowly.

He flashed a big smile and planted a soft kiss unto my forehead, “Really? Haha—but of course that girl, wouldn’t be you right?”

My heart sank, a hundred feet down below. Yes, it wouldn’t be me. It will never be me, and I was afraid to tell him that. Because to me, he was special and he had a special place in my heart. Yes, I know I’ve only met him a month ago or something. But when he first talked to me, I knew he was going to be a part of my life and I knew that I would want to keep him forever with me. But I couldn’t have him, because I loved John and he made me realize that tonight. I don’t want to hurt him, I would never dare to but I just couldn’t answer his question so I just stood there with a blank expression on my face.

“Haha—I’m only kidding Amy.” He laughed, patting my head.

I laughed awkwardly, “Oh—haha, alright. Well, thanks again! I had so much fun.”

“Alright, haha. I’ll call you—or send you a text message or something.” He replied, walking away quickly.

I stood outside the door and watched him walk away; this has been a long night. And I can’t wait to get back to my bed and sleep—alone. Joel was the perfect guy but for someone else, not me. And I feel really bad about going out him when I know to myself that my feelings for John would never flail, not one bit.

The door knob turned slowly and I walked in, only to find John sleeping soundly like a child on the couch with hand hands clasped together and tucked under his head. There's my Prince Charming right there.