Page 117 of Still Love You

"We'll try to get out of here. We've been really busy today. We can barely keep up. But we'll close up early and go home."

"If it's busy, you should stay there and keep selling as much as you can. I'll stay with Willow until you get back."

"Thank you, Silas. Candace and I will be home as soon as we can."

I hear people talking next to him. "You better get back to work."

"Yes. We'll see you soon."

He ends the call and I remain on the couch, not sure what to do. I don't feel like watching TV. My mind is on Willow. She's all I can think about. I want to go back in there but it's too soon. She needs more time.

I check my phone and see the text Willow sent me at the end of class. The one I didn't look at. It wasn't one of her dirty texts. It was a text that says, You lied to me. That's it. Just four words. If I'd read those four words before I left class, I would've known what I was walking into when I got here. Maybe I could've explained myself better. Used better words. Said something to make her not hate me so much.

"Dammit," I mumble, feeling angry and frustrated. I lean back and put my arm up on the back of the couch. My hand hits something, knocking it to the floor. I look back and see it's a baseball cap. Willow's dad doesn't wear baseball caps. Someone must've left it here. I get up and go around the couch and pick it up. It's a Raiders' hat. Trent loves the Raiders. It's his favorite team. So I guess that explains how Willow found out.

I call Trent's number.

"Hey, what's up?" he asks in his usual laid-back tone.

"Are you happy with yourself? Is this what you wanted? Because you might've just got your way."

"What are you talking about?"

"I just talked to Willow."

"Oh," he mutters.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"I didn't mean to tell her about the farm. That was an accident. I was angry and it just slipped out. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it."

The one good thing about Trent is that he owns up to his mistakes. He doesn't lie and pretend he didn't do it or try to blame someone else.

"Why did you come over here?" I ask.

"You're at her house right now? Where is she?"

"She locked herself in the office. She told me to leave but I didn't. I found your hat, by the way. Now tell me why you were here."

"You're going to be pissed at me but I don't care. I went over there to tell Willow to stay away from you."

"What the hell? Why would you do that? You know how much I want her back!"

"Which is why she needs to end this. You're getting way too attached to her. It's even worse than in high school. And you'll love her even more by the end of the summer. Just in time for her to rip your heart out before she leaves for college."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I yell into the phone. I'm so pissed at him right now, more than I've ever been. "You had no right to tell her that. Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you even care?"

"Silas, I wasn't trying to be an ass. I really am worried about you. I don't want to see you go through that again."

"Then stay the fuck away from me and you won't have to."

"Hey. Don't be ending our friendship over some girl."

"She's NOT just some girl. She's the girl that I love. And you may have just destroyed any chance of us getting back together."

"Is that what she said?" He sounds hopeful.

"Yeah, that'd make you happy, wouldn't it? Well, you got your wish. She broke up with me. But I won't accept it. She's angry and hurt and she's not thinking straight. Hopefully, in a day or two, she'll have calmed down and I can talk to her again. If not, I'm going over there and strangling you."

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry about telling her about the farm, but I'm not sorry about asking her to be honest with you. And honest with herself. That's what I told her, Silas. I told her to think about what she really wants. We all know what you want, but does she want the same thing? Because up until now, she's made it pretty clear what she wants, and sorry, man, but you're not in her plan. So unless that's changed, there's no use doing this to yourself."

"We're done talking about this. I'll leave your hat at the front door. MY door, not Willow's. Stay away from her. And stay away from me." I end the call.

I know in his warped sense of reasoning, Trent thinks he was doing me a favor, but it only made things worse. I can't be friends with him if he keeps interfering with Willow and me.

Then again, maybe there is no Willow and me. Maybe it's over. For good this time.

---