Haunted

Morning finally came and with it, relief. I crawled out of bed and went downstairs, throwing some bread in the toaster asI downed a few cups of coffee that I’d need to stay awake. “Get me some coffee, would you?” mumbled Isabelle, walking into the kitchen in her dressing gown and slippers.“Are you feeling okay?” I gasped.
“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”
“It’s not even eight o clock. It’s a record.”
“Haha,” she joked, rolling her eyes.
“You up for going round Xander’s in a few hours?” I asked, handing her a steaming cup of coffee.
“Thanks. Go on then. Wait, what time will we be back?”
“Not sure, why?” She smiled sheepishly. “Another date with Josh, huh?”
“It’s not a date.”
“Oh, come on.”
“Seriously, we’re just friends.”
“You love him. He loves you. You act like you’re going out. It’s just not been made official.”
“Whatever,” she sighed, giving me a knowing smile.

Once Isabelle was finally properly awake, we walked to Xander’s. As usual, he’d gone to great lengths, providing us with a plate of sandwiches and chips. It tasted good, nonetheless. “So how are you guys coping sharing a house? You pissing each other off yet?” Xander teased.
“No, we’re getting on great, aren’t we?” Isabelle smiled.
“Exactly.”
“What about you and Leven?” Isabelle smiled, giving him a sly look. He frowned at her.
“We’re cool.” At this point, Isabelle collapsed into ridiculous laughter.
“That’s why you’ve been rolling your eyes every time a text comes through, shut up.”
“Fuck off, you.” Isabelle jokingly rolled her eyes and Xander gave her a smug look. For the next couple of hours, the three of us talked about just about everything. It was one of those times when we were in our own little world, getting the odd word out between laughs and no one except the three of us knew what we were on about. Xander’s phone rang – and we snapped out of it. “I should take this,” he sighed, going out for a minute. Isabelle gave me a sympathetic look and I shrugged. “See, Dalexander would be so much better than Alven,” Isabelle pleaded.
“Ohmigod, you gave us names?” I laughed, although I secretly had to admit, Dalexander did sound pretty awesome.
“What? I always make names for people. I read too much fan fiction.” We both laughed but were interrupted by the sound of Xander shouting. Isabelle got up off the sofa and crept towards the door, pressing her ear up against it. “Quick, come and listen,” she whispered. I know, it was rude to eavesdrop but I couldn’t resist. We could only hear every other word anyway. “He’s been with other girls again,” Isabelle sighed, “Like I said, he can’t keep his hands off them.”
“How does Leven find out this stuff anyway?”
“Rumours I guess. I’m not even sure if it’s true but you know what it’s like. Xander so much as talks to a girl and the world assumes they’re dating.” We listened for a minute longer, not quite sure what exactly Leven was accusing him of. “Oh crap, Danni.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s you.”
“What?” I asked in surprise. Isabelle pulled out Xander’s laptop and quickly logged onto her Twitter. Sure enough, her ‘mentions’ were full of people asking if Xander and I were dating. And of course, no true fan would accuse without evidence. Clearly Xander and I weren’t alone when we went to Starbucks the other day. There was pictures of us holding hands, pictures of us hugging, and pictures of us when he gave me the bracelet. Oh shit. This was gonna make things ridiculously awkward then.
“I have to go,” I sighed, reaching for my keys. Isabelle, as expected, grabbed them first.
“You are not going anywhere,” she said simply.
“Please Is, it’s gonna be awkward if I stay.”
“But if you leave, it will be even more awkward next time you see each other.” She was always right. I sat back down; when Isabelle had made her decision, there was no changing her mind. Maybe I was being unfair but I did secretly like people thinking of me and Xander as a couple. Somehow, I knew he didn’t feel the same.

A few minutes later, Xander came back into the room, acting like nothing had happened. “So when were you planning on telling me about this little affair then?” Isabelle asked jokingly.
“Fuck off,” Xander sighed.
“What you gonna do then?”
“I don’t fucking know. I can’t do anything anymore without Leven going off on one,” he screamed, storming into the kitchen. Isabelle followed. They talked, or should I say shouted, for a few minutes before I interrupted, not wanting Xander and Isabelle to fall out.
“Why don’t you just tell everyone the truth? That’s what Leven wants. It would stop people making rumours about you and me, or you and anyone else for that matter. Everyone wins.” Strangely, I wasn’t lying. Sure, I liked being thought of as Xander’s girlfriend but as much as I disliked Leven, it was unfair and I didn’t want Xander and I to end up falling out. Besides, Liam was bound to find out and he would go insane – the last thing I needed was him coming after me.
“No,” Xander muttered.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because...” he sighed, “I already told you, we’re not gonna last.”
“Then why are you with her?” I cried, getting annoyed. He shrugged and went back into the living room, turning on the television.
“Carry on like this and Leven won’t be the only one you’re fighting with. Come on Danni, let’s go.” Right then, I wanted nothing more that to stay there with Xander but I knew it wasn’t the best of times. “Sorry,” I mouthed as Isabelle dragged me outside. He shrugged.
“Wow, those two need to break up,” Isabelle cried once we were in the car
“What?”
“You two together would be so much better.”
“No, I’m not looking for some short-term relationship where we fall out every day.”
“Don’t you see?”
“This ought to be good,” I sighed jokingly, preparing myself for one of her long-winded, extremely unlikely theories.
“Well...Xander says he’s never going to fall in love. That’s a lie. He only says that because...well he’s messed up to put it nicely. Xander’s with a girl, he finds someone better and breaks up with his girlfriend to be with them. That’s how he works. What he feels for all of those is lust, nothing else. With you, it’s something more. He’s scared to be with you. He’s scared he’ll get with you, find a hot girl and end up breaking your heart to be with them, only to realise the lust he felt for them was nothing compared to the love he felt for you.” Although Isabelle’s theory was most likely impossible, there was a huge part of me that hoped she’d be right about this one. To be honest, she usually was right. I didn’t want to get too hopeful though.
“That’s slightly confusing but kinda cute. How do you know he loves me though?”
“Let’s see. He kissed you at first, proving he is attracted to you. Then he got to know you and realised that you were more than just attractive. He buys you presents, he spends more time with you than he does anyone else, and when he hugs you, it’s clear he never wants to let go.” My lips curved into a smile. There was no point trying to act cool anyway, Isabelle would see right through that.
“And from your reaction, I can tell you’re head over heels for him too.”