Previously on Living in the Past:

        More kids ran up the park trying to chase each other. An old couple walked together. Yasmine looked at them in awe. Even after so many years, they were still together. Another couple caught her eye. They were young and visibly kissing under a faraway tree. Embarrassed by their make-out session, she looked somewhere else before she noticed something odd.

 “What the hell?!”

Chapter Twenty-Two:

Please tell me my eyes are wrong, Yasmine prayed. Please.

           She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again. The park scenery was the same—birds chirping, people walking by. Nothing had changed—including the couple making out by the trees. Something seemed ... off about the couple. Like she'd seen them before.

          Slowly getting up, she sneakingly walked up to a tree next to the couple. She hid behind the tree, only her head creeping out to watch the couple. She was definitely sure she'd seen the same blond hair somewhere. She inched her head further, trying to catch a better glimpse.

          Yasmine gasped.

             Her hands shook as she saw who it was.

           James.

        No, I'm wrong, she told herself. My eyes are playing tricks on me. It must be the brain cancer. I must be hallucinating. Just to check, she inched over the tree again. There he was again—well, the back of his head. It was him.

           Yasmine fell to the grassy ground. Sobs threatened to escape. She pressed her hands to her lips, trying to silence herself. It wasn't good enough. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She banged her head on the tree. How could she be such of an idiot? Trusting the school player?

             You idiot. You frickin' idiot! Idiot. Idiot. Idiot, she repeated in her mind. Why was she crying over him though? If she expected this to happen, why did she let him in?

          She leaned over the tree and peeked again. Then, another question popped into her head. Who was the girl? Driven by curiosity, she tilted her head as far as it could to see who it was. Her eyes widened when she saw the girl.

              Lily.

         Not another Lily. The Lily who was supposed to be getting married to Aaron. This was even a bigger shocker. How could she do that to Aaron?

          Anger boiled inside of Yasmine. First, Lily told her to back away from Aaron and yet here she was, kissing another guy. The nerve of that bitch, she thought bitterly, and the fact that she's related to me.

             She didn't know what she was more frustrated about. Lily cheating with James, or the fact that she could backstab and hurt Aaron like that.

           Now, she was absolutely not going down easily.

           As if her brain was working again, she wiped away her tears and fished for her phone. She wasn't going to let it end like this. No way in hell. Yasmine wasn't going to be like other girls—crying and doing nothing. She got to her phone's camera and leaned over the tree again. Yasmine waited for a precise moment, where both James and Lily's faces were visible, before she snapped a picture.

          After that, she walked home—skipping the bus. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. When she reached the apartment building, she was just about to press the elevator when she thought about Hailey. How would she react if she saw Yasmine with her mascara all smudged, and puffy eyes from crying?

              Oh wait! Yasmine remembered. Hailey went to go visit her parents.

         She pressed the elevator button—relieved she wouldn't have to re-apply her makeup and look like she didn't just get cheated on by her boyfriend. Stepping into the elevator, she realized something. This was the first time she'd gotten cheated on.

         Yasmine smirked.

            Even in her high school days, all her boyfriends had been usually loyal—if there was another girl they'd wanted, they'd break up with Yasmine first. Not that it was any more fun than being cheated on. Stupid boys, she thought as the elevator doors opened to her floor.

          Somehow, she was still heartbroken. Deep down inside her heart, James had meant something. He had helped her when she was breaking down. He had helped try to forget Aaron. He cared.

      Well, I thought he did, she thought, frowning. Yasmine walked down the hallway—skipping her apartment door. Where am I going? She knocked on a door. Quickly, the door opened.

         "Yasmine? What are you doing here?"

        She looked up. Aaron was standing in casual sweatpants and a hoodie that read, SAMUEL CITY COLLEGE . He looked like he had been sleeping.

         "Er, I-I," Yasmine stuttered, asking herself why she was there too.

          "Why're you crying?" Aaron looked worried. He stepped closer and hugged her. "What's wrong? Is something wrong? Are you hurt?"

         She didn't realize she had been crying. Suddenly, the sobs she'd been holding back escaped. She couldn't control them. Why was she crying? She was more angry than hurt. I guess I cared about James more than I thought, she said to herself.

         "Yasmine? What's wrong? You can tell me," Aaron assured. "Come on, let's get you inside." He put a gentle hand on her back and led her into his apartment. He sat her down on the couch and disappeared for a moment. When he came back, he had two steaming cups of hot chocolate.

            Yasmine smiled. "Isn't it a little to weird to be drinking this in the summer?"

       Aaron placed the cup down on the table. He smiled back. "I was beginning to think you'd never talk." He placed some marshmallows in her hot chocolate, just the way she'd liked them. Aaron faced her. "Now tell me, what's wrong?"

       She grabbed for the steaming cup. Yasmine's cold hands invited the warmth from the cup. Even though it was summer, it was still chilly outside at night. "James cheated on me," she said flatly.

        "What?" Aaron said, like he heard wrong.

         "James. My supposedly boyfriend. Cheated. On. Me." Her voice cracked at the last part. She held in a sob. Why was she acting so hurt? She didn't care about James.

        "I'm going to murder him," Aaron growled. He stood up. "When? What happened?" He started pacing around—trying to keep his anger in check.

        "I-I saw him kissing some other girl at the park after we went over the wedding plans," she explained. Yasmine took a sip of the drink. It was warm and inviting. Like Aaron.

       "Did you confront him about it?" Aaron was now facing away from Yasmine and staring outside his large balcony doors.

          "No," she whispered.

       "What?" he almost yelled. "Why not?"

         Yasmine flinched at his tone. "I-I couldn't." A tear dripped down her cheek and onto her shirt. "I'm s-sorry."

        Aaron looked pained. He walked over and pulled her into a hug. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm just mad at that bastard. How could he do this to you?" He tightened his hug. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes. "Did you see who?"

      "Who what?" Yasmine asked, her head into his chest.

          "The girl," Aaron replied. "Did you see who it was?"

        Yasmine's heartbeat quickened. Should she tell him it was Lily? But his wedding was in a matter of days. She couldn't just ruin his life like that. But she also couldn't let him marry someone like her. She was going to tell him.

         "It was—I-I didn't see." She chickened out. She buried her face deeper into his chest, relaxing into his arms.

        "Where's Hailey? I haven't seen her all day," Aaron said. "Did you tell her yet?"

          "She's visiting her parents for a couple of days," she responded. "I'll tell her when she gets back. I don't want her to worry."

         Aaron pulled back. "So you're going to be all alone?"

         Yasmine shrugged. "I guess."

        "You could stay here," he offered.

         "I couldn't," she refused. "I shouldn't."

        "I wouldn't want you to be all alone," Aaron said. He added a smile. "Come on, we could  order takeout and play video games. It could help you forget that jerk. That's what friends do right?"

               Yasmine winced. "Yep, what friends do."

               "So are you going to stay?" he asked again. "Come on, you won't be lonely."

           "Fine," Yasmine said, giving in. "Let me go get my stuff and change."

       He grinned. "Okay, I'll order some pizza."

           "Sounds good," she replied, getting up.

When Yasmine awoke the next day, the smell of pancakes were in the air. She opened her eyes, noticing she was in Aaron's room. No matter how much she argued last night, he wouldn't let her sleep on the couch. Something about being a gentleman.

         She pushed the covers off and went into the kitchen, where Aaron was flipped a pancake. "Morning," she said.

       He turned around and grinned at her. "Morning. How are you feeling?"

       "Less crappy," she replied, taking a seat at the table. She ran a hand through her messy hair. Aaron set a plate of pancakes covered in syrup before her. "Thanks."

          "No problem." Aaron went and got himself a plate before joining her. "Beware, I make some mean pancakes."

         "Well, aren't you modest," Yasmine smirked. Aaron grinned back. She cut a piece of the pancake and stuffed it in her mouth.

         To say it was delicious would be an understatement.

        The pancake was so soft and almost melted on her tongue. It tasted like pure heaven. No pancakes would ever top Aaron's. Soon enough, she was scarfing down the pancakes like the world depended on it.

    "Told you," Aaron said with triumph.

       "They're so-so," Yasmine joked. Aaron's face fell, like his pride had just been ripped off. She laughed at his face. "I'm kidding! You should've seen your face!"

       "Shut up," Aaron said, looking down to hide his blush.

       After breakfast, Yasmine said goodbye and left to her own apartment. She would love to stay all day, but she had other things that she needed to take care of. Once in her own apartment, she dialed up James.

     "Hello?" James said, answering on third ring. "What's up?"

    "Hey, James," Yasmine said, hoping her anger was contained when she said that. She glared at the wall of her kitchen as she rested her back on one of the counters.

   "Yasmine! What's up?" he asked sweetly.

      She gripped the phone tighter. He was acting happy like nothing happened. She wondered if he cheated on her before. Her hands trembled in anger. "Oh . . . nothing. Just wanted to know if you wanted to, um, hang out?"

        He was silent for a couple of seconds. "Sure."

       "Alright," Yasmine smiled with evil. "Meet me at the café?" She got a bottle of water out of the fridge. It was refreshing on the humid morning.

          "Yeah, okay. Let's meet."

      "Great. Well, see you in fifteen minutes," she said, hanging up. Tucking in her phone, she went to change into some clean clothes and to take a shower. She wore a pretty yellow  sundress, curled her hair, and did a little extra make-up. She wanted James to regret everything when he saw her. But it would be too late.

       Yasmine was going to break up with him.

      I bet nobody's ever done that before to him, she thought as she slipped on some cream-colored heels. Yasmine checked in the mirror one last time before heading out. James was going to regret ever messing with her.

James was sitting in a table in the corner when Yasmine walked in. A waitress was placing two cups on the table while he thanked her. She walked towards the table and slipped off a sweater she was wearing on top of her sundress. It was too hot to be wearing any type of sweater.

         "Just in time," James said, mixing sugar in his coffee. He looked up. "Y-Yasmine, you look great."

           "Thanks," she said, sitting down. Yasmine stared at the hot coffee. She just walked in the most humid weather—she definitely wasn't going to drink that. "Um, can I have some juice instead?"

       "Uh, sure," James replied. He called over a waiter.

       "Just too hot to be drinking coffee right now," she explained. The waiter got her a glass of cool lemonade. "So, I have something great to tell you!"

          "Really?" James asked, raising his eyebrow. "What is it?"

          She chugged down her lemonade. "Well," she started. Yasmine bat her eyebrows at him and leaned in. "Are you ready?"

            James grinned. "Yes! What is it? Are we going on vacation or something?"

         "No," she said sweetly. She grabbed his coffee in his hands. "Guess."

       "Hm, I don't know," James said. "You got a car?"

             "Nope."

           "You won the lottery?"

            "Nope." She kept on smiling. "Do you give up?" Yasmine ran her finger around the rim of his coffee cup.

            "Yes," he said. "Just tell me."

           Yasmine stood up, earning a confused look from James. She gripped James' coffee in her hands, then threw the hot liquid on him. "I'm breaking up with you, bastard."

              He groaned in pain from the coffee burning him. "What?!"

        Now, everybody was looking at them. Yasmine felt more confident. She leaned closer, putting her hands on each side of the table. "I said, I'm breaking up with you, you son of a bitch." She backed away, and grabbed her purse and sweater. Yasmine looked at James' jaw dropped open. She smirked. Just to add some more effect, she flipped him the finger and then walked out of the store.

       Serves you right, she thought as she walked out. Nobody plays with me.

 Hey-hey! Long time no see? So here's Chapter Twenty-Two for those who are still with me. You see, my laptop broke, but it got fixed. I lost all my files - including Word and all my Living in the Past files. But then my computer got fixed . . . and then it broke again. Right now, its fixed (for now). But, I'm just trying to remember everything I had in my documents for this story. 

So sorry for taking long. And I have school. Ew, school. But thanks for reading! 

Read, Comment, Vote, Comment, Fan!! :) xoxo.