When Will The Pain End? - Chapter 28

AnaDee’s SOS

The next morning I arose with a smile on my face. I can't remember the last time I woke up & smiled. I’m so happy that it feels like I’m living someone else’s life. You know, like I escaped my horrible world and live in another.

It's insane, just a few months ago I lived in my own personal 'hell.' Rape, molestation, being stalked, people spreading rumors, mom finding out my secret, losing friends, Alec breaking out of prison, Jor breaking up with me, & then making me feel horrible for it.

But, no more rape, molestation, or stalking - Alec is dead. No more relationship/friendship drama. I met a bunch of new people on vacation. I sprouted, hair grew, even got an inch taller. My breakdown because of Jor is over, I have something kind of wonderful, his name is Asher. He’s in college, and I love him… Who the hell ever thought AnaDee would be this happy. It's pure insanity. I can't believe I thought it was impossible.

I guess it's true what they say, the will of God will never take you, where the grace of God won't keep you. He sure kept me.

I can now smile, inside and out. No faking it, no more lies, no more crying… just, happiness.

...Oh, and my mom gave me her LOUBOUTIN SHOES! AAAHHH!
"I have to get a job so I can buy my own."

*******************************************************

"Hi Mrs. Rojas, is AnaDee home."
"Yeah she’s right upstairs come in A -"
"AIDAN!" I screamed, running down the stairs with wide open arms.
I crashed into him, and held him as tight as I could.

"I missed you." I mumbled to him.
"I missed you too."

"Where’s Cassidy?"
"Home."
"Oh." I sighed. I never let go of him. I just kept holding on, and I wanted to cry, but I stayed strong.

"Uh, AnaDee, my back hurts." He said.
"Oh Sorry."
Since Aidan was so tall, he had to bend down to hug me. I forgot.
It just felt good to be in someone’s arms again.

I wonder what’s going on with Ash.

Asher’s SOS

"Hey man, what’s up, welcome to Dartmouth." I walked into my dorm room, and saw a guy, about my height, curly blonde hair, blue eyes, pretty muscular.

"Hey, I’m Ash, what's your name?"

"Ash? Like, the Ash from Pokemon?"
"Dude, how old are you?"
"Hey, I’m 19, but I was a kid once." The guy laughed.
"Ha, yeah I know, but it's short for Asher, like Asher Roth, that rapper from back in the day."

"Oh yeah, well I’m Chase."
"Oh, cool, well, it's nice to meet you man."
"Yeah, you too, so, what's up, you gonna unpack so we can head out or what?"
"Uh, what?"

"Look, I know some people here already, and we need to meet and greet man come on, hurry up."

I sighed. "Whatever you say dude."

*******************************************************

"Whooo, check that out over there, man." Chase said, whistling at one of the girls.
"Hey dude, word of advice, we're not in high school anymore, the girls here don’t go for that."
"Oh, well excuse me Mr. Ladies man, why don’t you show me how to do it right."
"I would, but I’m taken, so no thanks."

"Taken, you’re in a school full of hotties, and I'm talking grown woman hotties, with curves out of this world, and you have a girl at home. You’re insane man."

"Psssh, man these aren’t curves, my woman has real curves."
"Fat chick?"
"No asshole." I said and laughed.

"Describe this curvy cutie to me then."

"About 5’6, light skin, long hair, hazel eyes, gorgeous, Latina."
"Measurements?"
"Uh, what?"

"Come on, is she like a 30, 25, 35, or like a 36, 25, 40."

"I don’t get it man."
"Look, I like my women with a lot up top, small waist, wide-ish hips, and a bunch at the bottom, does your women have that?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say she’s a 38, 22, 40."
"DAMN!" Chase yelled.

We both started laughing, I could see myself becoming really cool with this guy.
"So, what’s her name?"
"AnaDee."

"…What?"
"Her name is AnaDee."
"Okay, there is only one girl in the world with a name like that, please tell me AnaDee is her real name, and not a nickname."

"No, her name is Anaylah."
"Oh no man, you’re kidding me."
"No, why, you know her?"
"Oh my Go - you’re that Asher, the one she met in Cali, Jake’s friend, you’ve got to be kidding me."

"How do you know all of that?"
"Just - just come with me man."

Chase grabbed my arm, and we started sprinting over to a table where a bunch of guys stood. He started yelling like a maniac while still pulling me along.

"JOR! JOR! JORDAN!"
Jordan? I thought.
"You’re that chase, AnaDee told me about you, that Jordan guy, he’s your - your best friend."

"Jor, you know this guy?" Chase asked when we finally reached the table.
Jordan kept staring at me, before he finally stuck his hand out, for me to shake.
"He’s the guy that won." Jordan said.

"Look man, I don’t want any trouble with you."
"No trouble, she’s yours now & I respect it, you won fair & square."
"She’s not some prize man."
"No, she is a prize; The grand prize actually, and like I said, you won it."

"Look man, I’m not expecting us to be friends-"
"And that we will never be, but we’ll never have an issue okay Asher, I’m not that guy, but I’ll always see you as the guy who took AnaDee from me. And because we're not friends, I can say this, don’t ever hurt her, or I’ll -"
"I know the speech man."

"No, if you ever hurt her, I’m letting you know, as your opponent, I’ll be right there, if you slip up once, I’ll sneak up, because if the chance ever opens up, I’ll do anything -"

"That’ll never happen, I’m not you."
"Even the best of us mess up man… I just want you to know, that since we're not friends, don’t feel betrayed. Hold tight to her, because if you ever slip up, I’ll be right there to stick myself back in, because I’ll always love her, and do anything to get her back. You know what they say, if you love something, let it go. And if it comes back, it's yours -"

"And if it doesn't, it never was… see you guys later."

AnaDee’s SOS

"Dad, when can Ash come over for dinner?"
"Never."
"Dad, I don’t get it, Ash is nice, you never like any of my boyfriends, or… guy friends."
"That’s not true."
"Dad, Aidan isn't even my boyfriend & you hate him."
"No, Aidan is basically my nephew, I don’t hate him, I did when I thought he was trying to date my daughter."

"Well, the only person you’ve ever been nice to is… Jor."
"Yeah, I liked him, what happened to him."
"Dad, that’s never gonna happen again. Don’t ask."

"No seriously, why’d you guys break up."
"He thought I cheated when he found out about Alec’s used condom in my room."
"…Oh, well, what about after he found out you didn’t."

"He was ashamed so he never called, or even answered when I tried, and by the time he manned up and said something, I was in Cali on vacation, and had already met Asher. Who I love btw dad."

"You know AnaDee; you never know what the future holds."
"Ugh dad, you’re only saying that because you don’t like Asher."

"A little." He said with a chuckle.

"Dad, you never told me, why you liked Jor so much."
Dad smiled at me, and shook his head, and even laughed a little.

"Princess, the night you met that boy, what did he do."
"He walked me home."
"Exactly, and doesn’t he have a car?"
"Yes."

"And because of Alec, you were afraid to get in the car with a stranger, because you didn’t trust him, right."

"Yes, that’s exactly right."
"You were at the beach, which is a bit of a distance from our house."
"Yeah daddy I know."
"And he walked you home anyway, just to make sure you were safe."
I looked down and smiled.
"So that’s why?"
"Not the only reason why."
Dad continued…

"Well, one day I met his mother. She came to my office, was having a stressful time with the death of her Mother, and needed someone to talk to."
"Was this before or after you met him."
"This was when I didn’t know who he was."

"Oh, so then what happened?"

"Well, his mom, had just lost her job, her low paying job, as you know, Jor’s father was already unemployed, and his disability checks didn’t cover the bills. So, they almost lost everything. The house and all."

"Really?"
"Yeah, so, Jordan quit football. Got three jobs, helped pay rent for an entire year, and still maintained in school."

"Mrs. Jackie told you all of this."
"Yeah, it was amazing, & at this time, he was only 16. I sent them money in the mail anonymously a few times, but because of Jordan, his parents have a home. And now, his mother works full-time, making good money, and can even afford his tuition."

"Oh my - are you serious. But, had you ever saw Jordan before I brought him around."
"No."
"Then how’d you know it was him Dad?"

"He had on a shirt that said Hanks Motors, one of the places he worked, and he said his name was Jordan Morris."

"So, that’s why?"
"You see, I knew that boy had been through a lot in his life, and for him to step up & be a man like that, it showed that he would step up, and be a man to my daughter. When he didn’t call you AnaDee, it wasn’t that he needed to man up, he was hurt, you were probably the only real thing in his life, and he thought you betrayed him, and he thought it’d be better to stay away after he realized the truth. Think about it, you Rogers’s women have serious impact on a man."

"Mom ever cheat on you?"
"No, but I almost lost her, too many times."
"I never knew all of this dad."

"That Jordan boy was a keeper AnaDee, and you were a loss to him just as much as he’s a loss to you."

"I do miss him, but I promise dad, I think Ash is it for me."
"Maybe baby."

"Can you tell me a story about you & mom?"
"Ask your mom about that one."

"Call her down here."
"Bry!"
"Yes baby!"
"AnaDee wants you!"
"Coming!"

Mom came sprinting down the stairs with her stilettos on, looking absolutely gorgeous.
"Mom, tell me a story about you and dad, when you guys almost broke up."

"Umm, which time?" Mom giggled.
"I don’t know."

"Hmm, oh, there was this one time, your dad & I got into a huge argument. I don’t remember what it was about, but he was mad at me. I did something wrong, and he wouldn’t call me, or answer my calls & texts.

One day, he was in the car with Uncle Nate, and he FINALLY called me. I answered, and cried as soon as I heard his voice. I cried like a baby."

"Why mommy?"
"I missed him, and I felt like he hated me."
"I made her cry, and even though that was like 24 years ago, I still feel bad."
"How many years have you guys been together?"
"Almost 30, it's 27 years on the 17th of May."
"But, your anniversary isn’t the 17th of May."
"I was 15 when we got together, May 17, 2009."
"Oh, my gosh… so what else happened."

"Well, that day, your father got into a bad accident. I thought he would die, but he obviously didn’t."
"It taught me not to take Bry for granted."
"Yeah, or him either."

"Oh, and I had a pregnancy scare in college, right after your dad & I broke up because he thought I cheated with Alec, and as always, he can tell when my guy friends like me, and as always, I was blind to it. So we had a fight, I punched him in the face, and we broke up."

"Yeah, and believe me, your mom has a serious left hook." Dad said.
"You damn right I do." She agreed.
"So, I was almost born early."
"Kind of, but thank God you weren’t." Mom sighed.
"Wow." Was all I could say after all of this.

Do I really belong with Ash? I do love him, but I love Jor too.
That can’t mean anything; there was a time when I loved Jor & Aidan.

Maybe I was meant to be with Jordan… but I want to be with Ash. Do I love him more?
Or, do I love Jordan more?

…Oh Dear God.

Jordan’s SOS

I knocked on Chase’s door and waited for him to answer. It was almost time for our first class.
"Come on asshole wake up!"
"Who the he- oh, hey."
"Hey Asher, chase here?"
"Yeah, he’s in the bathroom, come in." He opened the door for me. I heard the toilet flushing, and Chase walked out in a matter of seconds.

"Come on dude, let's go." Chase said.
"Hurry, we're gonna be late."

"No, we're not come on… bye Ash."
"See ya later man." Asher told him.

We walked out the door.
"Bye Ash?" I asked.
"Yeah. What about it?"

"So is he like, your friend now?"
"Yeah, he’s cool."

"You just met him."
"So…"

"So he’s your best bud now Chase?" I said slightly angry.
"Come on dude relax, you're starting to sound like my sister, quit bitching we have class."

"No! I can’t believe you even talk to him."
"He’s my roommate, what do you want from me."
"To stop being a traitor."

"Oh, I'm a traitor because I talk to my roommate, like most people?" He said with a chuckle.

"He stole my girlfriend Chase!"
"She's not your girlfriend."

I couldn’t believe my ears. My own best friend.
"So that’s how it is now?"

"You know what Jor, I am just so… Sick of your shit! You fucked up, not me, not him!"
"You didn’t make it any better; you made me believe it all! You started the rumors."
"Oh so now it's my fault? You know what Jordan, I only did what any good friend would do, it was HIGH SCHOOL, and I’ve grown up a lot since all of that."

"So what, because of you, I don’t have her, that asshole does, and to make it worse, you’re all shacked up with him playing happy-go-lucky buddy & shit."

Chase sighed, and I could see the frustration on in his eyes.
"You know what, you found out the truth, and you never called. Then, when she called you, you didn’t respond. You had so many chances, and you wasted them all. I apologized to AnaDee, you never did. Okay. So don’t get mad at me because you fucked up. Seriously Jor, man up… & grow up. We're not in high school anymore."

Chase pushed past me, and walked down the hall.

…He’s right.