Even the Sun Sets in Paradise

The weekend came and went, and I somehow managed to avoid the guys the whole time. After what had happened at the lake, Ellis was purely concerned about me, constantly checking I was okay, but I was worried the rest of the guys wouldn’t be quite so sensitive. I hated drawing attention to myself because it made me feel self-conscious and annoying, and I was scared they would think I was an attention seeker. On Wednesday afternoon, the guys came over, so I stayed hidden away in my room, using the excuse that I was ill, which wasn’t actually a lie, when there was a sudden knock on my door.
“Uh, come in,” I said quickly, shutting down my laptop.
“Jenna,” mumbled a voice I wasn’t expecting to hear.
“Layton?” I gasped, wondering what I had done wrong now.
“Can I talk to you a minute?” he asked nervously, and I felt my stomach begin to churn. I swallowed hard, plastering a smile onto my face.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you actually want to talk to me? Well this is a first,” I joked, making an attempt to ease the tension between us.
“Very funny. Now listen,” he said, his tone turning serious, which made me worry more.
“I’m listening.”
“Okay. You know the other day at the lake, what did Maci say to you?”
“Maci?” I asked, slightly lost.
“Maci, the girl you got in the fight with.”
“Oh,” I frowned, “She thinks that I’m the reason you broke up with her.” He chewed nervously on his thumb, starting to say something but then held back.
“What’s the real reason?” I asked, wondering why in the world anyone would break up with such a…charmer.
“It’s complicated,” he frowned, looking glumly down at the ground.
“I’m guessing from the look on your face you still like her then?”
“No, no way,” he cried defensively.
“Don’t lie to me. She obviously still likes you so why don’t you go and sort things out with her? If she’s stupid enough as to go out with you once, then she’s probably stupid enough to do it again,” I winked.
“Not funny,” he muttered, cracking a smile, “Trust me, I don’t want her back.”
“Well you clearly do otherwise you wouldn’t be so bothered about it.”
“Nah, I just know she can be a bit…funny sometimes…”
“That’s one way to put it,” I frowned.
“And I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” I stifled a laugh, finding his disastrous attempt at affection hilarious.
“Since when did you care if I was okay?”
“Well…you’re Ellis’s cousin and all, so I guess I kinda have to make sure you’re okay. I think he’s kinda mad at me for letting Maci come anywhere near you.”
“Umm…thanks…I guess, but don’t worry about it, I’ve seen worse – it’s not the end of the world,” I laughed, trying to break the awkwardness between us.
“If you’re sure,” he laughed.
“So we’re cool now?” I asked, hoping things would get better between us from here on in. He shrugged, biting nervously on his lip as he made his excuses and left the room, leaving me once again dumbfounded at the roller coaster of emotions and what was sure to be a personality disorder that was Layton. I just couldn’t understand anything about him. Why did he break up with Maci if he still liked her? Why did he suddenly care so much about what she said to me? Why did he go from being a dick, to attempting to be sweet, to being a dick again in a matter of seconds? The rest of the guys seemed so unfazed by it, and it did make me wonder if he was like that all the time. I had no idea how anyone could deal with that though; I was tearing my hair out after a just few weeks, I could never put up with it permanently.
“Jenna, we need to go!” Auntie Julie called up the stairs. I grabbed my bag and shoes, wandering down the stairs and hopping into the car with Julie. Much to my dismay, we were heading to the doctors. I’d been ill for almost a week now, throwing up nearly every day. Whereas I’d dismissed it, assuming I’d maybe caught a bug or something, Auntie Julie panicked, immediately booking me an appointment at the doctors. Doctors scared me a lot. I knew they were only trying to make me better and shit but it was so…nerve-wracking and sometimes painful if needles were involved and awkward. I really hated the idea of total strangers knowing personal things about me.

“Okay, have you got any allergies?” the doctor asked once we had explained the problem.
“Nope.”
“Are there any bugs going round?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Okay, have you had any other symptoms? Headaches, dizziness, missed periods, fainting, muscle aches, etc.?”
What was it? Twenty questions? I thought carefully for a few seconds.
“My period’s a few days late but that’s nothing unusual really,” I explained.
“Okay, is there any chance you could be pregnant?”
“No,” I said quickly, cringing at the idea. Once again, the memories from my past came back – waking up every morning, praying to God that I wasn’t pregnant. Thankfully, I’d never had to deal with that, so maybe things could have been worse.
“Well in that case, we’ll do a urine test and a blood test, and see what that shows up,” he suggested, “Because of your recent ordeal, the results will come through sooner than if it was someone else.” I sighed, disappointed to hear two of my least favourite things. No matter how many times I had them, they never became any less painful or any less embarrassing.

Half an hour later, we finally left the doctors. Auntie Julie was getting herself all worried, scared I had some incurable disease, but I was certain the only thing wrong with me was a sore arm. I absolutely hated needles.
“Let’s go and get some dinner to cheer you up, shall we? What do you fancy?” Auntie Julie asked, trying to sound cheerful.
“I don’t mind,” I said quietly, still feeling rude to ask for anything more after everything she had done.
“Come on, McDonalds or fish and chips or pizza?”
“Pizza is good,” I smiled, my face lighting up at the sound of my favourite food.
“Okay, we’ll go get some pizza then,” she agreed as we drove into town.