Temperamental Havoc of the Teenage Life (7)

Chapter 7: Uncovering The Past

Hysterical sobs began to escape me right then and there. There was no helping the tears that started to fall from my eyes. Next thing I knew, I was wrapped inside Yohann’s protective arms, he was rocking me to help me calm down but my water supply never seemed to dry out. I tried to get out of the hug but his grip on me only got tighter.

"Let’s stay like this for a few more seconds. It’s the first time I held you like this in a while."

In normal instances, I would shove a person who said this to me. But right now I am too tired to do the right thing. The heavy sadness in his voice and my vulnerability seems to be the only things that I am aware of… until I remembered we still have school.

"Wait, Yohann. What about school?" I whispered.

"I already took care of that."

"How?" I said, with obvious alarm in my voice.

"Your mom already took care of that the second we left your house. One of the reasons why I came back to the first branch is because your parents asked me to. And I was missing you too much already. I have been staying away from you all these years to get rid of the regret I was feeling. I was only thinking of myself, I know. It was going well until the moment I saw you again. You looked so beautiful, Belle. And you looked so happy with your brothers. It made me question my intentions for coming back to this city, for coming back into your life. I know these things don’t make sense to you right now."

"Then when will it make sense Yohann. I’m tired of trying to figure out everything since I haven’t been making any progress in that area. You all leave me clueless about this thing. That eerie silence back home felt like I was an inside joke to all of you. That there was something that everybody was trying to hide from me."

"I am sorry for making you feel that way, Belle. We are all sorry for making you feel that way. Even we did not know what to do. You were getting older and we are all sick and tired of not telling you the whole truth. The past that you unintentionally forgot. No one is blaming you for that because it was out of your control. The mind blocks things that hurt. It’s our brilliant mind’s way to protect itself."

"If it was that important then why didn’t anybody just tell me?"

"The shock was too much for you and no one was brave enough to even try to tell you the truth. I am such a coward for not letting you know, for not having enough guts to tell you what happened then."

"Then when is anyone going to tell me anything?" I said, untangling myself from the hug.

"I am going to tell you now put please promise me one thing."

"That depends." I said.

"I was hoping you won’t say that." He said, smiling a little. "Yeah. But it’s no biggie really…"

"Stop beating around the bush Mr. Andrews!"

"Ah, not over yet about calling me formally I see." He said, that grin plastered on his face again. "Okay then. Please do NOT interrupt me while I am speaking and could we please get out of the car. It’s too small a space for two people to talk."

"Get out of the car? Yes. Not interrupt you between monologues? No. You tend to talk too much and you really indulge yourself into it. You need to breathe you know."

"Did you just get nicer to me?"

"No." I said, nonchalantly getting out of the car.

When his car door did not open, I looked back.

"What are you still doing there? You said we should get out of your car!"

"Yeah. I said get out of the car, but not here in the middle of nowhere."

I finally noticed our surroundings. This was the road to school, the long cut. It was abandoned many years ago to lessen gas mileage. Not that the people who go to our school really care about money being spent that much but they are advocates of the green earth project, or at least some pretend they are.

"Sorry to interrupt your internal babble Belle but we need to go now. We only have until lunch time to work this out. Your mother couldn’t pull the both of us out of class for one whole day you know."

"Okay!" I snapped. "I’m coming already."

When I was safely inside the car, Yohann can’t still swipe out that grin in his face. He has a nice smile, what brings everything to a new level is his eyes. It crinkles up a bit whenever he smiles, and he has such nice teeth, and his muscles are lean… wait, what? What the hell is wrong with me? Am I really fantasizing about this guy just now? Darn. And then it hit me.

"Wait, Mr. Andrews. Where the hell are you taking me."

"Ah, I was afraid you were gonna ask that before we actually got there. I thought you totally forgot to ask about that. Seems like I am wrong. Maybe…"

"You are beating around the bush again. Just spit it out will you!"

"Impatient, as always. Let’s just say we are going to a place once dear to you, it might trigger a thousand good memories, mostly of me." He laughed at my expression. "Relax Belle, I was just kidding… kinda."

"I do not like double standards Mr. Andrews. And I do not like surprises either so could you please be in the right mind for one minute before I flip out?"

"No need for that I see. We just arrived."

What I saw before me was a beautiful garden with a dainty house. But it looked, how do I put it… warm. It looked so inviting that all I wanted at that moment was bask in the sunshine and twirl in a beautiful summer dress in its gardens. Wait, why do I suddenly have a weird feeling of Deja vu? Someone took my hands. I squeezed it a bit and then froze. I remembered whose hand it was. I swatted Yohann’s hands as he started with a fit of giggles.

"You... just… held my hand… tighter!" He said between laughs.

"It must be the good weather." I said sarcastically, "It makes even your gloominess brighter."

"Hmm. Sarcasm. The defense a guilty person always uses."

"Could you please just start with the story will you? We are going to be late for our afternoon classes and all you do is sit there and talk to me about this really nonsensical stuff that just freaks me out! Okay Isabelle, breathe." I said, realizing I was giving him a monologue.

"You should really breathe between monologues." He mocked.

"You should really stop beating around the bush." I retorted.

"Ha! Good one." I shot him a look. "Okay. You’re starting to scare me. Let’s get out of this really small space before you dig your claws into my bare skin."

I don’t really remember everything clearly because I have bawled my eyes out too much. But from what my mind was able to process that day was that I had amnesia because I was in a car accident, with Yohann sitting beside me the day after my grandparents died. Turns out, we were really good friends then, we were best friends, he told me. I was upset and he offered to take me into this really pretty playhouse that his dad made for him. We stayed there for long hours until we got hungry and are reminded that we never even had lunch. On the way home, though, a delivery truck was approaching us the empty bus ahead of us. The two big vehicles collided and our driver’s reflexes were too slow to avoid the crash. I was almost killed by the accident and Yohann miraculously remained unscathed except for a deep wound in the right part of his forehead.

"The evidence still is here for me. Yours were minor wounds, really, but there were too many of them to endanger your life. Everyone was afraid that you would lose blood and die that instant. I still cringe at the thought of that."

"But I am alive, ain’t I? Still breathing, ten years after that incident. Why didn’t you stay though? Did anybody blame you for trying to comfort me?"

"No. Everybody was sympathetic. They knew that losing your grandparents saddened me too because they treated me as they treated you. I was close to them too and we were both just depressed kids who coincidentally have a driver on speed dial and just drove off to some place where we both think we can be free of all the hurt and the pain of losing someone we love in such a young age."

"I see then. Let me get this straight. We were best friends then. So you studied at the main branch!"

"That’s what I have been trying to tell you all this time Belle. I love you."

"I love you too." I blurted out without thinking. I froze, realizing what I just told him.

"Ah, you’re starting to remember I see."

"What did you just do to me?" I asked him, with a puzzled look in my eyes.

"I did nothing to you. I am standing a good few feet away from you Belle." He said, grinning yet again.

"Then, why… how…"

"It was reflex action when we were kids. Again I say, we were best friends and we loved each other very much. Your brother Drew was so jealous of me and he didn’t even make an effort to try to hide it. But you managed to calm everyone down just in time."

"How?"

He blushed. "A kiss on the cheek for both of us."

"Yeah, well. Drew does not blush when I kiss him on the cheeks now. He’s kind of used to it."

"I wonder if I am too."

I turned away from him. "Jeez. Stop trying to provoke me Yo."

Yohann froze. "What did you just call me?" He managed to get out.

"Yo. Why? I thought the nickname was cute. And it kind of just popped into my mind."

It was his turn to turn away now. I was puzzled by this sudden coldness towards me. Until now, he was the one chatting away to avoid any trace of awkwardness between us at all. His shoulders were shaking, maybe because of the strong wind that just passed by us. But no, he was still trembling after that. He looks like he’s crying or something… wait, he maybe crying.

"Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.

He faced me, eyes red. "Do I look okay?" He snapped.

"Oh." I said stupidly. "I am sorry… I."

"No. Oh gosh Belle. I am sorry that was rude. I was just, so happy and miserable at the same time. You remembered that silly pet name you loved calling me with, you even said you love me like you used to. It doesn’t feel real Isabelle. I am scared that tomorrow I am going to discover that this is just a dream and I will go back to that sorry excuse for a life I was living. I am scared of losing you again."

"Aw, Yohann. This is not a dream. If it is, then I can’t do this." I said hugging him. "And this."

He bushed. Ha! I figured a way to shut him up. "Hmm. Seems to me like someone still blushes when I kiss them on the cheek."

"That was not fair!" He said, but grinning at me now. "You know pretty well that I would freeze when you do that."

"Hey. It’s all coming back to me now, faster than anyone expected but it won’t be gone tomorrow, or the next month, or the next year for that matter. So don’t be scared. I am here." I said, smiling kindly at him. Then my watch bleeped. It was already eleven in the morning and we haven’t had lunch yet.

"That was so sweet Belle. My best friend is really back."

"Yeah. I want to stay here and continue chatting with you but we really need to grab a bite right now or we are going to be late for school!"

I started walking. When I haven’t heard footsteps behind me I looked back. He was looking up and the sky with the rays of the sun hitting him perfectly. I got my phone and took a picture of the moment. This is one of the reasons why I love photography very much, it explains what a person feels right at the moment perfectly, sometimes even more than words. When he heard the clicking sound, he smiled at me and came to my side.

"So, where do you want to eat?" He asked, holding me at shoulders length.

"What do you think about lunch with my brothers at that new restaurant in town? We could fill them in with what just conspired."

"Ooh. I’ll have mom prepare my coffin then. You’ll come to my funeral won’t you?"

"They are not that bad. Anyone blood related to me cannot be that bad."

"I know, it’s just that I get the feeling that they will skin me alive every time they meet me."

"I’ll tell you one thing." I said entering the car.

"What?" He said, sitting right next to me.

"You’re the luckiest person on earth if they just skin you alive."

"Oh geez."

The silver Aston Martin drove off with the sound of my loud guffaws hanging in the air.