Pretend (25 page)

             
To try and understand what
had
just happened
would be pointless, so instead
I picked up my cell, car keys and jacket, and then ran down the stairs. I had to find April.

             
"
Woah
that was quick," Anthony said as I popped my head around the living room door.
I rolled my eyes and then looked at Crystal.

             
"I've just got to pop out, be back in about an hour," I said.

             
"Yeah, ok," Crystal said before waving me goodbye.

             
"
Later guys.”

             
"Later," both Anthony and Jake replied before I ran out the door, threw my jacket on and headed towards Sally.

             
As I started up the engine, I realised that I had no plan at all.

What the hell was I going to say to her
?
I had no idea but I knew one thing, I wanted April and I had to go
and
get her. Kyle had his chance and he
’d
failed.

* * *

             
It was late evening and the roads were pretty clear making my journey go a lot quicker than I had expected. I spotted Kyle's car and par
ked mine within good distance.
 
I parked f
ar enough
 
not to be seen but
close
enough to still see them when they walked out. I
didn't want to intrude on Ap
ril's moment with Kyle's sister.
I didn't think that it'd be fair.

             
I pulled my cell
out of my pocket and clicked
on
my
Facebook
app. It was already on April's page, which is exactly where I wanted to head anyway. I couldn't hide the smile on my face as I slid my finger across the screen and began to flick through her pictures. It wasn't long before I found my favourite one. It was one where she had her hair up in a messy bun, no
makeup
on
, some weird pink and white
stripped pyjamas and a piece of candy
in her mouth. I remember that she was staying at ours that night. Crystal took the picture and threate
ne
d to put it on
Facebook
. We
all
thought
that she was joking until we
got t
he notification
pop up on our screens. She hated it but I liked it, it reminded me of that night. It was the first night that I-

             
Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two voices. As I looked up, I spotted April and Kyle walking out of the hospital entrance. I thought
that
I'd give her a few minutes before texting her and saying that I was here. They probably wanted to talk a bit more about his sister and I respected that. I thought that it was kind of cute how much April loved
Mimi,
it was one of the things
that
I really liked about her.

             
As I watched them
step into the car, I took off
my seatbelt ready to get out and wave, just in case she didn't see the text I was about to send her. Suddenly the vibration of my phone made me jump. I accidently dr
opped the phone under my
seat. Damn! I bent down and traced my fingers underneath. After finding a sweet wrapper, an empty Pepsi can and Crystal's lip gloss, I finally retrieved my cell. However what I was faced with when I got up was not at all what I had expected to see.

             
I felt the anger rush through my entire body as I watched April and Kyle share their kiss. I was mad. I wasn't going to sit here and watch this. As I was about to shove my key into the ignition and drive off, I was stopped in my tracks as I watched April push Kyle away.

             
She didn't want him to kiss her?

             
I smiled.

             
As I watched her leap out of the car and began shouting something at Kyle as he got out, I opened my car door and headed towards them.

             
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I said as I shoved his body against his car door.

             
"Aiden?"
April asked in a shocked tone.

             
"Y
ou better take your hands off of me!" Kyle shouted as he attempted to push me away.

             
"Or what?"
I asked
,
staring him dead in the eyes.

             
"Does she look like she needs a body guard to you?" Kyle asked through gritted teeth.

             
"Well with jerks like you trying to shove their tongue down her throat then yeah!" I yelled.

             
"Can you two
stop!
Please!" April shouted in the background.

             
I could hear her but this dude was trying to wind me up and unfortunately it was working. It was like anything concerning April set off a time bomb inside of me.

             
"Jealous? Scared she might not want you after all?" He said with a smirk on his face.

             
"You're a pathetic moron who can't keep it in your pants, dude does it look like you're any kind of competition to me?" I asked as a smirk filled my face.

             
"Look who's talking!
Ain't
you still banging that Cayce chick? Isn't she known as the school bike?"

             
"Nah, she just lost the title to Rachel," I said as I let out a small laugh.

             
"I g
uess we
’ve
got a lot in common then
,
haven't we
? E
verything except the fact tha
t I've had April and you haven’t.
Oh and just to let you know, kissing her feels great," he whispered into my ear.

             
Suddenly I saw
red,
I pulled my fist back and punched him in the face.

             
"How does that feel?"
 
I asked as I watched him wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

             
"Great, it shows me just how bothered you really are," he said as he began to laugh.

             
To describe what I was feeling as angry would be a lie, I was far beyond the feeling of anger.

             
"You think you're funny?" I asked.

             
"Just telling the truth
but don't take my word for it, ask her?" He said as he began to smile.

             
That was the point when we both realised that she was gone.

             
"April!" We both called as we walked around and began to look for her.

             
We both tried to call her cell a few times but she ignored the calls. Damn! I began to panic. I had no idea when or where she had gone. I ran over to my car and jumped in. I quickly
slipped the key into the ignition
and started up the engine. I slowed down as
my car pulled up next to Kyle's and
rolled down the window.

             
"If anything happens to her, I'll kill you," I sneered.

             
"Ditto," he said as I drove off in search of April.

             
As I got to the exit of the parking lot, I looked both left and right.
After a few minutes of pondering, I finally turned right. From my rear view mirror, I could see that Kyle had agreed with me.

* * *

             
We had been driving for about ten minutes before I finally spotte
d her sat outside of a cafe
. I pulled up and jumped out. Kyle did the same, much to my dismay.

             
"Where have you been?" I asked as I walked up to her.

             
"Walking," she replied
,
sarcastically.

             
"You shouldn't have walked off like that, you scared the hell out of me," Kyle added. I wanted to tell him to shut up but I was more concerned with April right now.

             
"I'm surprised that you even noticed that I was gone," she replied.

             
"Of course we noticed, we were worried sick," I said in a calm voice.

             
"Well you shouldn't have bothered yourselves," she
spat
back.

             
"Look, April we didn't mean to upset you, it's just that some people think that they know it all," he said without looking in my direction.

             
"See there you go again!" She shouted.

             
"I'm not some trophy that you are both trying to win you know! I decide what I do and when I do it and neither of you can control me despite what you may think!" She shouted as she stood up and walked towards the curb.

             
"We don't want to control you baby but it's just that we need to know which one of us you want," Kyle said gently.

             
He was a jerk but I couldn't have agreed with him more, I did need to know.

             
"Right now,
neither of you.
I'm just fed up and I need
some
time to think," she said in a sad voice.

             
I felt guilty.

             
"Ok, I'll drop you home," I said softly as I stood up and began to walk towards my car.

             
"No you won't," Kyle said.

             
"Try and stop me," I sneered at him.

             
"Dude-"

             
Suddenly Kyle was cut off by April's voice.

             
"Shut up!" She screamed.

             
"This is exactly what I mean and I don't need any of you. I have a ride," she said as the small
,
red truck pulled up at the sidewalk.

She looked at us both with sad eyes and then opened the car door.

             
"Thanks for this," she said as she slipped into the passenger
’
s seat.
He nodded his head at me before driving off with the very thing that I wanted more than anything in the world, right now.

             
I stood in complete and utter sil
ence as I watched Jake drive away
with April.

APRIL’S POINT OF VIEW

"You ok?" Jake asked, after we had been driving in silence for about ten minutes.

             
"Yeah, I suppose," I mumbled.

             
"Do you want to talk
about it
or just forget that tonight even h
appened?" He asked with a soft
smile on his face.

             
"Forget," I said as I smiled back at him.

             
"Cool," he said, smiling back at me.

             
"Thanks for what you did by the way. I didn't know who else to cal
l and I was glad that you came.”