He Loves Me...He Loves You Not by S.B. Addison Books Page A

here? Why do
you insist on watching me in agonizing pain?”
    Rosa hugs me as I hit my knees and she falls
to the ground with me, keeping her arms wrapped around me tight.
It’s like I’m a recently stitched up would and Rosa is the bandage
that’s holding me together. “I’m not supposed to be your best
friend,” she tells me. “I am your best friend and this is what best
friends do when they see their BFF hurting.” She rises to her feet
and pulls me up with her. “They pick you up when you fall.” She
traces the half-crescents under my eyes with her thumb. “They wipe
away your tears.” Then she takes my face in her hands. “Then they
look you in the eye and tell you that you’re better than that.
Because you are. They tell you that you’re being stupid because you
are.”
    I suck back my tears and whimper, “Hey.” A
half-whine. Half-shout.
    “I’m not finished.” Her words are stern and
forceful.
    I shut up. My tears ducts are drying up. Rosa
always has a way of making me feel better. I’m a puzzle with
missing pieces and she’s putting me back together again.
    “Best friends remind you that you’re a
beautiful, amazing, person who deserves a guy who’s just as devoted
to you as you are to him. You deserve to be his one and only.” She
gazes intensely into my eyes and I smile. “Finally, best friends
have each other’s backs no matter what and no matter how this whole
Henry thing turns out, I’ll support you. Even if I don’t agree with
it.”
    “Thank you.”
    A soft smirk appears on her lips. “No
problem.”
    She releases me and we turn, heading down the
driveway toward the booger. “And another thing,” she states and I
look at her. “If he really is back with Callie, don’t worry about
killing him because I’ll kill him first.”

Chapter 16
    “ Love has features which pierce all
hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those
beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same.”~
Voltaire ~
    Saturday comes. An early morning gust of wind
whirls through my window and carries the scent of autumn in with
it.
    I’m not ready for the seasons to change from
summer to fall. I’m not ready for change, period.
    There’s a bite of chill from the wind
hovering above my bed. It stings my cheeks and I shiver. My eyelids
flutter open as goose bumps line my skin. I look over at Rosa.
She’s hogging the blanket. Then I stumble out of bed, over to the
window and close it with a growl.
    Leaving my window open is a habit I’m going
to have to learn how to break. Henry is a habit I’m going to have
to learn how to break.
    I’ve heard it takes twenty-eight days to
break a habit. If that’s true, I’m certain the twenty-eight days I
have ahead of me will be the most torturous and grueling
twenty-eight days of my life.
    Before sliding back into my bed, I check my
cell. No missed calls. No texts.
    It’s over, I tell myself. Stop thinking about
him. But that’s easier said than done.
    Henry made feel special. He made me feel
fearless. He made me feel loved.
    As I climb back into bed, I yank the blanket
away from Rosa. She groans rolls over, and plows the heel of her
hand into my shoulder. Searing pain spreads across my arm and I
wince. I express how the pain feels silently so that I don’t wake
her up.
    After lying in bed awake for a while, I
decide I can’t lie there and listen to Rosa’s light snoring
anymore. I get up and go downstairs.
    Metal gleams from the kitchen and casts a
dancing light along the walls of the hallway. Our stainless steel
refrigerator comes into view and a white piece of paper is hanging
on the top by potato chip magnet.
    I’m still freezing and I read the note as I
rub the warmth back into my arms.
    Riley,
    Had to go into the office. I’ll be home a
little later.
    Love you, Mom.
    I’m glad she’s not home. She’d notice that
I’m upset and she’d want to know what’s wrong with me. I don’t feel
like explaining nor do I want