Pretend (10 page)

             
I began to act out my four
word
, long, film.

             
"Four words?"
Mom shouted from her seat as I nodded my head to confirm that she was correct.

             
"Second word....And!" Aiden shouted as I pretended to ignore him.

             
"Third word...The!"
Grandma shouted. I smiled over at Aiden, letting him know that he hadn't won yet.

             
I began to act out my fourth word when suddenly Aiden jumped out of his seat.

             
"Alvin and the Chipmunks!"
He roared as my face told him that he was right.

             
"
Wohhh
that's my boy!"
Bob shouted as he ruffled his hand through Aiden's hair.

             
"See that? Men
’s
team
 
comes out on top!" Uncle Harry said as the three of them ran around the room, singing songs and doing happy dances.
We all began laughing.

             
As Aiden passed me, he whispered something
 
in my ear
 
whilst everyone else was laughing and talking.

             
"I told you that this
was my game, I never lose something that I want to win," he said with a smirk on his lips.

             
"Did I ever mention how modest you are?" I said as I hit him playfully in the arm.

             
I suddenly heard Gramps trying to talk over the noise that we were all making.

             
"
Ssssh
!"
I shouted to the others.

             
When the room became silent I went and knelt down next to Gramps, placing my hand gently on top of his.

             
"Sorry Gramps I didn't hear what you said," I
 
told him
 
in a gentle voice.

             
"Well it would be a miracle to hear anything over this racket that you're making, Kelsey," he exclaimed, making us all giggle.

             
"I was just saying that I can't believe that Aiden has turned into such a handsome young man," he said before turning back to
 
face the TV. All of our laughs suddenly turned into a distant memory as we stood in utter shock and disbelief.

             
"Well
ain't
that something, he never remembers anyone outside of the family and he forgets us, most of the time," Uncle Harry said as he patted Aiden on the back.

             
Suddenly
Tilly
came running in and jumped on Aiden as she tried to lick his face. She seemed to like him too.

             
"I see you have another fan," my mom said as she smiled at Aiden. He smiled back and then turned back to face me.

             
"Well he must be special," Grandma said as she stared at a very surprised looking Aiden.

             
As
 
he stood there, staring at only me as I crouched down beside Gramps, I looked back up at him.

             
"Yes, he is," I
 
finally answered
 
with a smile on my face.

"Thanks," I said as Aiden held the car door open for me.

I watched as he walked around to the driver
’
s side with a permanent smile spread across his face. As he opened the car door, I wanted to know why.

             
"What are you smiling at?" I asked.

             
"Oh nothing," he replied as he started up the engine.

             
"Aiden Daniels, how long have you known me for?"

             
"A hell of a long time," he replied, keeping his eyes on the road but smiling at all times.

             
"Ok and in
 
that 'hell of long time', have you not yet realised that an answer like that won't suffice?"

             
He let out a small laugh but continued to
 
keep his eyes fixated on the road ahead.

             
"Exactly, s
o once again, what are you smiling at?" I asked, now with a smile on my face too.

             
"Well, I won charades, didn't I," he said as he burst out laughing.

             
"Oh
my gosh
, you're still happy about that? You just got lucky," I replied as I kept my eyes on him.

             
"I don't get lucky, I told you," he said as he threw me another smile.

             
"Yeah ok," I replied
,
sarcastically.

             
"Yeah, yeah don't hate the player, hate the game, now
 
put your seatbelt on," he said with a big grin, plastered across his not so modest face.

             
"Yes M
om," I replied before clipping myself in.

             
"So, you seem happier than you did last night," he said, suddenly sounding more serious.

             
"Yeah, being around my family kind of helps to forget about Kyle, you know?"

             
"Yeah, I think I understand.”

             
"Thanks
,
" I said as I turned to look out of the window.

             
"For what?"
He asked in a surprised tone.

             
"Just, you know, being there. First Kyle then today with Gramps, I'm just grateful," I replied.

             
"April, I will always help you," he replied in a serious tone.

             
"Even if it meant going against Sally?"
I said
,
laughing.

             
"Yes," he replied as he kept a straight face and looked ahead.

             
I was shocked, I hadn't expected that response. When I realised that I was laughing alone, I quickly stopped making noise. I had butterflies in my stomach, although I didn't understand why.

             
"Aiden?"
I began.

             
Unfortunately the vibration of my phone interrupted what I was about to say.

             
"Sorry," I said as I took
it out of my bag and looked at the screen.

             
It was a text message from a number that wasn't stored in my contacts. I would love to say that I didn't know who it was but unfortunately, I knew Kyle's number off by heart.

             
"Great," I mumbled as I proceeded to open the message.

             
"Everything ok?"
Aiden asked.

             
"Yeah," I lied.

             
I flicked my eyes back to the screen and read the message.

             
I need to see you. Can we meet tonight?

             
Had he completely lost his mind! What the h
ell was this, some sort of joke?

             
Aiden must have seen
the shocked expression on my face as he glanced over at me.

             
"Kyle?" He asked.

             
"Yeah," I replied in an angry tone. I wasn't even a person that got angry and yet my blood was boiling.

             
"Why don't you just ignore it?" Aiden said in a frustrated tone.

             
I don't know
why he was acting so
 
frustrated when
I was the one that this idiot was playing games with. I don't know what was happening but suddenly all of my anger and frustration towards Kyle was surfacing, right now.

             
"You know, I am so sick and tired of people telling me what to do! First Kyle, then Crystal, then Rachel and now you! What am I, like five! I know how to handle a situation without your advice, thanks!"

             
"Fine," he replied in an angry tone.

             
"Yeah, fine," I
spat
back at him.

             
I wanted to say sorry, the minute that
 
the words left my mouth but looking at his face, it was probably better to let things cool off a little. I
reverted
my eyes back to the screen of my phone and read Kyle's message again. I was going to ignore it but I just couldn't, it was making me too angry.

             
Let's get this straight Kyle, you and I, are over. Got that?
             
OVER! You can't text one minute telling me to move on and
             
then the next saying you want to see me! It doesn't work like
             
that! So just get the hell out my life!!!!

             
I stared at the screen for a few
minutes, dissecting each word
one at a time. My heart began beating faster as my
 
thumb hovered over the send button. I can't believe that I'm
about to say this but sometimes
I wish that I was more like Rachel,
 
cold hearted
 
and spiteful.
Unfortunately I wasn't
so my
 
thumb went straight over to the delete button. I got rid of the message and started to write again.

             
Why?

             
It was pathetic, I know but I just wasn't expecting a follow up to this morning
’
s text that he had sent me and sending back a message like that, just wasn't my style. I pressed send and then rested my phone in my lap.

             
I looked up at Aiden who was sat in silence as he continued to drive. I watched as he vigorously pulled each gear into place and swung the steering wheel round with force as we took each corner.
 
He never got mad and I felt so bad.

             
"Aiden, I'm really
So
-"

             
Suddenly I felt my phone vibrate again, which stopped me mid sentence.

             
"Don't want to leave Kyle waiting," he mumbled as he sniggered angrily to himself.

             
I felt bad, again. I quickly retrieved my phone from my
lap and looked at the screen. I
t was from Kyle. I opened the message and read the contents.

             
I have to tell you something, it's really important. Please...

             
Something important?
What could he possibly tell me
of importance? Was it t
hat he has an evil twin who cheated on me with Rachel but now he's back to save the day? No. Unless it was as good an excuse as that, I wasn't interested.

             
I wasn't in the mood to
hear any more of Kyle's excuses
so I ignored the last text and then put my phone back inside of
 
my bag.