RYLIE

EVEN IF IT'S been a day since we all gotten back from Thanksgiving break, I was already dreading it all. I was dreading exams coming up and all the tiring assignments I'd have to do before the semester closes for winter break. I was also dreading the pressure to study all the information that has been learned this entire semester—especially the information that has been learned towards the beginning. 

Things weren't any better for Elias, from what I could tell. Cannon, him, and I were situated in the art room as we watched Elias perform finishing touches to his painting. Nora would've came, but she had to help out with the theatre kids' dress rehearsal for their performance soon. It may be just me, but he seemed as if he was in a hurry—which wasn't a good outcome for what appeared on his canvas. It made everything seemed so . . . thrown together. 

"What's the matter, man?" Cannon questioned to his best friend as he closed a textbook. "You seem like you're in a hurry." I guess I wasn't the only one that noticed his strange behavior. 

"It's nothing. It's just that as I paint this, I keep thinking about how these last few weeks of the first semester are going to play out," he set down his paint brush on a circular paper plate, the same one he used for his paints. "Final exams are coming up, I have to get this painting turned in for the contest, and, you know, the usual end-of-semester stress." 

"The last few weeks are pressure, however, don't rush things. When you finish with your last touches, I can drive you to city hall so it can be judged," Cannon assured him while combing a hand through his shaggy, lemonade pink hair. 

"Take everything a step at a time. Breathe," I added while planting a hand on his shoulder. "There's still time for everything." 

"Thank you both," he acknowledged with a relieved smile. It was a half smile. He looked back at his canvas and I did the same. It was more gorgeous than I could've ever imagined it to be. The colors he used were vivid, like colors of a rainbow, but better. His painting style seemed modern, but that didn't make it any less better. It was cute and way out of my league. 

In my opinion, he was sure to win. 

As Elias made his last touches, he got up from the table to dispose the plate filled with a colorful mess of multiple hues and to wash his paintbrush. When he came back, he wiped the table with a citrus-scented disinfectant wipe to clear any splotches of paint that unintentionally got on the table. I watched him gracefully glide the wipe around the table. I found it amusing for some reason, kind of like those hair videos on YouTube where people just do hair. 

"I can't do this anymore," a voice trembled from the hallway. "I just can't." 

My head shot up from the table. I gulped and exchanged worried glances with Elias and Cannon, who looked just as baffled as I was. I made sure to remain still so I could hear properly. 

"But . . . do you actually want to end this now, Axel?" A desperate voice questioned. "Do you actually want to throw away our two-year relationship? Do you actually want everything to unravel?"

That's the moment when we all realized who it was. It was Adrienne. Axel and her were having quite a feud, a public one that was meant to be discussed privately. Maybe they thought that no one was around. 

"Adrienne, I don't want to, but, I just can't do this anymore," Axel countered with a groan. 

"Can we at least sort things out? I don't want our relationship to end this way—I truly don't," Adrienne sobbed. 

"I can't . . ." Axel prodded. "We've did that so many times, but this time, it just doesn't feel right." I could hear sobs grow louder, then disappear into the opposite end of the hallway. Even if I only listened to the conversation, goosebumps crawled all over my skin. I could feel the tension by the way they were both speaking. 

My heart ached, especially for Adrienne. We weren't friends—we were just two people who knew each other. Even if we're not friends, she was friendly to me the entire time we've known each other. It wouldn't have been right to stay here and think about it. I needed to check on her. 

I got up and told the boys that I'd come right back and abandoned the art room. Axel stood in the broad corridor, kicking a paper ball to the other end of the hall. He noticed me walk by, but he didn't say a word. His face was reddened and swollen, as if he'd been crying. A few tears rolled down his cheeks, but he wiped each one away with the back of his hand. The break up had a heavy toll on him, even if he appeared to be the one who wanted to break up. 

Adrienne, however, couldn't handle it, from what it seems. I didn't know where she could've gone, so I checked the ladies' restroom near the Fine Arts hallway. A couple of quiet sobs prickled my ears from a nearby stall.

"Adrienne? Are you there?" I murmured as I pushed the door of the stall she was in. Her head shot up as she dabbed her eyes with toilet paper. 

"What are you doing here?" She questioned as more tears began to trickle down her eyes, like rain pouring down on a window. 

"I came in to check on you. I heard everything . . ." I informed her as I snatched a few paper towels from a dispenser to hand to her. School toilet paper has always been rough. "Is everything alright?"

The answer to that question was obvious. No, everything was not alright, but I didn't know what else to say. 

"No," she wailed as she put her head down. "I wasn't shocked about us breaking up or anything. We . . . haven't been on the best terms for the last few weeks, but I thought I could fix things. He doesn't want to get back together with me." She groaned as another wave of tears fell from her eyes to her denim blue jeans. "I love him, Rylie. I still love him." 

I planted my hand on her shoulder and led her towards the sink. She blew her nose and disposed the wreck of snot-filled toilet paper and paper towels. Her eyes fluttered shut as she wiped her remaining tears with the back of her caramel brown hand. 

"Everything will be okay. Axel may just want some space right now. We all need it every now and then," I tried to come up with the best advice I could think of. It sounded shitty, but truth to be told, I never been through a break up. Even if I was familiar with pain, I wasn't familiar with that kind of pain. 

"But what if that's the reason why he broke up with me? He's probably tired of me," she countered as she shook her head, refusing to look at anything but the tiled, bathroom floor. "What did I do wrong? Was I a bad girlfriend?" 

Those were questions I couldn't answer right away, so I remained silent until I could think of the best response. "I'm sure that the break up had nothing to do with those. It could've been because of something he's dealing with right now," I assured her. When you put some thought into it, that could've been why. Axel did keep on saying that "he couldn't do this anymore". He could've meant multiple things by that, but who knows?

The possibilities were endless. 

Before I could say anything else, Adrienne reached out to give me a hug. Unlike my mom's hugs, they weren't tight. It wasn't loose, either. It was immaculate, so I hugged back. 

"Thank you so much, Rylie," she proclaimed with a relieved whisper. "I'm so glad I have you." 

I muttered a "you're welcome" before I abandoned the restroom to head back to the art room. To my surprise, Nora was there, alongside Elias, Cannon, and Axel. I guess dress rehearsals were finished. 

Axel was sketching furiously onto a piece of paper with a mechanical, the led breaking several times before he gave up. He put his head down to the table, forming a fist with one hand to hit the table. The table didn't deserve any of this treatment. Nora sent me a worried look, signalizing that they were trying to get him to calm down, but nothing was working. 

I grimaced as I took a seat. Cannon patted Axel's back reassuringly and whispered that everything would be fine, but Axel's head remained on the table. "What a day," he said icily. 

"You should probably head home," Elias suggested. "After all this, you need rest." 

Axel rose up from the table, balling up his sketch of lines to make it into a paper ball. "I should, Eli, but what gives? Going home won't make my situation any better."

"What if you watch Disney movies while eating ice cream in bed?" Nora suggested. "It makes me feel better sometimes, but I guess this isn't the same scenario."

"It isn't . . . but thanks, anyway," Axel sulked as his fingers drew shapes across the table. "Thank you all." He muttered before he got up. He took one last glance at us before he abandoned the room. We all exchanged puzzled glances, but we all knew one thing. 

This was the first time we've all seen Axel Hanson broken. 

***

"It was surreal," I told Nora as we drove out of the school parking lot in her old Toyota Corolla. After Elias' painting dried up for a bit, him and Cannon headed towards city hall, while Nora and I decided to head home. For the past few minutes, I told her everything, from the argument to comforting Adrienne in the restroom. It was heavy, but she tried to lighten up the mood. 

"I hope things get better for them," she sighed as she made a sharp right turn at a full stop. Her car let out a loud sputtering noise. The same one a constipated goat would, whatever that would sound like. I nodded at her response as I stared out the window, seeing my own reflection through it. 

"I can't wait for winter break," I said, breaking the silence in the car, other than the overly loud car engine hissing. "This semester was too much." 

"Right, I can't wait to see what sales there's going to be at the mall and online," Nora brightened up. "There weren't that many good sales during Thanksgiving break. Maybe we could go shopping?"

"I'll see about that," I chuckled as she pulled up on my driveway. "Thanks for the ride. See you tomorrow." 

"Bye, see you," she chirped as I made my departure, my backpack tossed on my back. I reached towards my front pocket for my house key. As Nora zoomed off, she steered around a car. I was baffled on if it was parked at our house or the neighbor's house, but that didn't matter. Mom normally didn't have visitors around at this time of day. 

The atmosphere of the room was quiet to the point a pin dropping could be heard. I assumed that my mom was still at work, but she could've been taking a nap, also. When I looked at the dining room, I saw her purse and her laptop case, meaning that she was home from work. I went up the flight of stairs to her bedroom. I knocked on the door before I opened it gradually, the door making a creak noise through the process. That moment, I felt like a brick hit my head. 

My mom was laying around in bed in a robe . . . with a man I didn't even know. 

They were cuddling, but stopped mid-sentence as soon as they saw me. My mouth dangled open as my eyes widened. 

"Mom?" I whispered in disbelief. "What are you doing? Who is this man?"

I had a countless amount of questions to fire at her, but the two I asked were what I managed to speak. She glanced at the man she was with with an apologetic look. The man had caramel skin tone and was wearing a porcelain white undershirt. He was a stranger and I was desperate to know who he was. 

Mom's mouth dangled open, but no words came out, so the man spoke for her, his voice stuttering, "I should . . . probably leave. I'll take to you later, Madeline," he leapt out the bed. 

You should. He grabbed his navy blue shirt and tossed it on alongside his matching jeans before he filed out the room with a grimace. It was just Mom and I, frozen like a glacier. 

"Rylie . . ." She croaked as she got up from her messy queen-sized bed, adjusting her lemonade pink bath robe. 

"What is it, Mom? Who was that man? Are you . . . hooking up with him or something?" I questioned in demand as my hand swept across my forehead. 

"Rylie, the thing is . . . that man is my boyfriend . . . Kaden Casteen," she muttered. 

I gasped. I knew something was off about that guy. Several weeks ago when Mom dropped me off at school, he called her. From what I recall, she insisted that he was just her co-worker. I guess this all explained the car outside, as well. I shouldn't forget the time where Mom said that she was going out to dinner with friends. Was she actually going out with this man? I bet she was, but who knows? It's amazing how I could be fooled so easily. It made me feel sick in the stomach, sick like the flu. 

"Oh, I thought he was just your co-worker. That's what you said," I shot back as I felt my face burn. 

"Rylie, please don't talk in that tone to me. I raised you much better than that," she demanded, flustered. 

"Fine, but at least tell me how long you've been dating this Kaden guy," I shook my head as I planted my hands on my hips. "You left out the part that where he was your boyfriend on purpose." 

"We've been dating . . . for almost a year," she reflected, closing her eyes with a grimace to prepare for whatever response I was going to fire back at her. 

"You can't be serious, Mom," I dug my hands into my face. "You've been . . . lying to me this entire time. You never told me about this guy you've been dating. You just lied." 

She paused for a second before she looked down while rubbing her temples with the tip of her fingers. "I know, and I shouldn't have, but I did it because I didn't know how you'd react."

"You can run, but you can't hide. The longer you hide the truth away, the worse it gets," I raised an eyebrow as a tear rolled down my cheek. "It's already enough that you divorced Dad and he died soon after. Now, you're just going to replace him?"

"No, Rylie, it's not like that at all . . ." I heard her say as I bolted away from her bedroom, my face heated more than ever. I dropped off my backpack outside of my room, retrieving my phone from it before I rushed down the stairs to exit the house. I couldn't and wouldn't stay here for now. Everything was already too much for me to handle. 

I couldn't fight back, either. Mom wouldn't tolerate and would go on and on about how she's not replacing Dad and all that bullshit. My brain can't take all that right now. My brain is still trying to process the whole Adrienne and Axel break up fiasco. How could an entire day have so much drama?

I needed to let all this off my chest, and I knew who to go to, so I settled towards his house, hoping that he was already back from city hall. He'd know what to say about this. 

Where he resided wasn't too far from where I was, so I got there within several minutes. As I rung the doorbell, I crossed my fingers in hope that he'd be there. He had to be. 

Ms. Greene answered the door with a shocked smile, the one someone would make when they got a magnificent surprise. "Rylie, what a surprise! What brings you here?" She questioned as she flashed a broad grin. 

"Hi, I just came to . . . visit Elias for a bit. Is he here?" I questioned, crossing my fingers behind my back. My luck is normally rotten, so I just had to do that. 

"He should be upstairs, so you can go check," Ms. Greene said as she let me in. "If you need any water or something eat, just let me know."

"Thank you," I muttered as I slipped my shoes off, placing them next to the door rug that had "Home Is Where The Heart Is" plastered across it in big letters. I walked up the flight of stairs and neared his bedroom, peering my head into it. He was nowhere to be seen. I went out into the hall to look around, but as soon as I heard a door open from the inside of the restroom, I knew he was there. 

"Hey, Rylie. I didn't expect to see you here," Elias said, his cheeks reddening a bit. He was putting a clean shirt on, his entire chest revealed during the process. It was kind of hot and it did make me blush, as well. My mind began to wonder what he'd look like when he stepped out of the shower. That's probably where he just came from after all, judging from how he smelled. The mild aroma of cucumber body wash prickled my nose. 

I shook the thought off. I can't believe thinking about what Elias Greene would look like walking out of the shower distracted my from my current issue. Was I actually that desperate? What a day. 

//

That was a LOT for one chapter and I've been waiting to write it FOREVER. How are you all feeling?

How do you feel about the Axel and Adrienne break up situation? Do you have any theories?

How do you feel about Rylie's mom's not-so-secret boyfriend? Do you think that she should've told Rylie about it much sooner than that?