Even the Sun Sets in Paradise

Thankfully, the guys headed home straight after dinner, but Rowan told me to text him. I didn’t exactly know what to tell him though. I figured I was probably just overreacting. I felt pretty stupid for being so sensitive. Ellis had already quizzed me on the tense atmosphere between Layton and I. I’d told him that he was imagining it and that everything was absolutely fine, but I wasn’t too sure whether or not he believed me. In the end I decided to simply tell Rowan that we must have had a row but it was all sorted now.

I walked to school the next day, stopping at Mel’s on the way as she had told me to.
“Hey, you’re early,” she stated.
“Sorry,” I said quietly, not really sure what to say.
“You don’t have to apologise,” she frowned, giving me a funny look before cracking a smile. I didn’t know how to respond.
“Jeez, lighten up, I don’t bite,” she muttered, and I instantly worried I was irritating her. As I said, I wasn’t good at making friends, especially with people as confident and popular as Mel.
“So…what’s it like hanging out with After Dark? I mean, they’ve got a recording contract, they’ll be famous before you know it.”
“It’s er…great,” I shrugged.
“It must be. You’re so lucky; do you know how many girls are jealous of you?”
“Really?” I asked, slightly confused. To me, Ellis was one of the best people in the entire world, but I couldn’t understand why random strangers would obsess over him. Layton and Cyrus were complete twats and Rowan was, well…gay.
“Oh come on, they are gorgeous,” she sighed dreamily. I guess Layton and Cyrus were alright looks-wise…maybe more than alright, but it didn’t excuse them behaving like twats.
“So tell me, do you hang out with them like every day?”
“Some days; three of four days a week maybe.”
“Have you seen them shirtless?”
“Umm,” I hesitated, mentally going over each time I’d seen them, “Cyrus…and Ellis obviously, but I don’t exactly find either of them attractive to be quite honest,” I joked.
“Well Ellis is your cousin so yeah, but how can you not find Cyrus attractive?”
“He’s alright…but he’s not my type, is he?”
“Whatever,” she frowned, “Do you fancy Layton then?”
“No!” I gasped.
“Which one then? Rowan is gay, Ellis is your cousin, so it’s gotta be Cyrus or Layton.”
“How about neither of them?” I grimaced.
“Wow, you are an absolute freak,” she cried, and I hoped she was joking. She noticed me frowning and her lips curled into a smirk.
“Personally I like Layton…or Cyrus…or Ellis actually, I’ll take any of them.”
“Oh my, suddenly I know why you wanted to be friends with me,” I said, only half-jokingly. I mean, she was so popular and could be friends with anyone she wanted – that was the only possible explanation as to why she’d waste her time with me.
“Of course not…maybe a little bit,” she smirked, “I’m only joking, you wanna know the real reason I want to be friends with you?” Her tone suddenly became serious. I nodded.
“Well you’re like…I can be myself around you. All my ‘friends’ ever talk about is who has the most designer clothes and what Kim Kardashian did last weekend. To be honest, I don’t really give a shit. Everyone thinks I’m so lucky to be constantly surrounded by guys but I get sick of it. When I’m at school, it’s all an act, I’m nothing like that in real life,” she explained. I was totally stunned. That wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but it made me feel glad. Now I realised that she was actually a normal person with feelings and emotions, and she wasn’t perfect, and suddenly I wasn’t so intimidated by her anymore. We walked in silence for a while, both deep in thought, but I was soon interrupted by the ringing of my phone.
“Hello?” I muttered, answering the call.
“Jenna,” a familiar voice hissed. I immediately cancelled the call, shoving it back in my pocket. Mel looked at me strangely but I couldn’t possibly explain it to her, not now. My phone rang again, and then again, and then several more times. I felt light-headed, and I knew I had to leave.
“Aren’t you gonna answer that?” Mel asked worriedly.
“No,” I said quickly, rushing ahead and through the school gates. My heart was pounding and I glanced around worriedly. How the hell had they got my number? Why were they bothering me now? I was trying so hard to leave my past behind but now it was coming back to haunt me again. I wondered if I should tell Auntie Julie but I didn’t want to cause her any more trouble than I already had. My phone rang again and I pulled it out my pocket, tearing the battery out as I headed into my form room and sat down.

“What was up with you earlier?” Mel asked casually as we stood on the rounders pitch in PE that afternoon. We were meant to be fielders but I had quickly learnt that Mel’s definition of fielding meant standing there doing absolutely nothing.
“What do you mean?” I asked, buying myself time while I attempted to think of an excuse.
“After that phone call this morning, you just ran off.”
“Oh, it was just Julie, she reminded me I needed to ask Miss Jonas something,” I lied.
“Why did she ring you like seven more times though?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered. She looked at me suspiciously, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Again, I felt bad lying to her, especially after what she had told me this morning, but I had no choice. The ball came flying towards us, and as expected, Mel stood still, letting it go straight past her.
“Hey princess,” a tall good looking boy called from across the field, “You’re meant to catch the ball.” I shuddered at him calling her ‘Princess.’ That was all too familiar, and it sickened me to hear it.
“Whoops,” she joked, sticking up her middle finger.
“Mel!” Mr Rolleston shouted angrily.
“Sorry,” Mel sighed, rolling her eyes. Much to my relief, Mel didn’t ask anything more about the phone call, but I wondered how much longer I could keep this up. Ever since I’d been here, I’d piled on lie after lie and I was digging myself deeper into a hole. I was doing everything I could to stop anyone from finding out, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until the truth came spilling out.