A/N:

Some people have been asking for my social media accounts. Here are some of them you can follow me on!

Instagram: @a.lake.yeah 

Snapchat: Lexoxo48

Twitter: AlekhyaBhat

Tumblr: SaltyTidalwaveKisses

I'll look forward to your follows! PM me your usernames and which site you'll follow me on so that I don't dismiss the follow =P

Chapter 36: Your Hate for me is Like an Episode of Tom and Jerry

I will stop loving you the minute Tom actually catches Jerry, cooks him and eats him for dinner.

~Starlight24

"Hey, Sweetie," came Mom's soothing voice from my bedroom door. "How are you feeling?"

I grunted in response. "Meh."

"How's that arm holding up?" she asked, motioning towards my arm which now had a metal rod inside instead of a proper bone. Surprisingly enough, it didn't feel that different, but it definitely took some getting used to.

"I feel like a meta human, thanks," I replied emotionlessly, just my head popping out of the mess of my huge, lumpy comforter, empty ice cream tubs, CD boxes, candy wrappers, stuffed toys and tissues.

To all the health fanatics out there, suck it up.

"It's a great thing your left hand is okay, right?" she asked, trying and failing to make conversation with me.

Pretty much nobody had been able to succeed in more than two sentences from me ever since the Max incident happened.

I shrugged noncommittedly. "I guess."

"What are you watching this time?" Mom asked, peering into my room and looking at the blaring screen in front of me that was playing some movie I'd lost interest in ages ago.

"Some stupid romcom," I said honestly, fixing my own gaze on the TV where there was some red headed actress who was currently squealing in a pond fully clothed for no apparent reason.

Or maybe there was a reason, but I couldn't bring myself to bother enough to actually care.

"You need to... get out and get some sunshine," Mom said cautiously, and it wasn't like she hadn't tried bringing it up before.

It had been two weeks since Max had gotten into that accident, and I had read that fated text that ruined everything: his life and my sanity.

Nothing had happened since then. I'd call Mrs. Edmonds every day for an update and I got the same response: state is co.

Max was still unconscious, and everyone had gotten back to their regular lives. Well, everyone minus me.

It wasn't like people had tried to get me out of bed. I just didn't want to. Luckily for me, my lack of movements was making my leg heal a lot faster because I wasn't straining it.

I would just sleep, eat, watch some dumb movies that I couldn't give a damn about, cry, and repeat.

"Can you open the curtains?" I asked, and she raised an eyebrow but didn't question me. She went and opened the curtains, and then I smiled knowingly. "See? Sunshine."

Mom sighed loudly. "You need to go out. Yeah, I know all of this has been especially hard on you, but sometimes you just really need to move on with your life when there's nothing you or anyone can do. Honestly, at this moment, all we need to do is pray for the best and leave it to fate to decide what's going to happen, alright Honey?"

I shook my head. "Thanks, but no thanks, Mom. I'm totally fine wallowing in self-pity for now. I'll update you if my mood changes."

"Day—" she began, but I cut her off.

"What I said was final, Mom. Thanks for bothering to check up on me, but I'm fine now." I said, holding my ground.

Mom opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then bit her lip and decided against it, before offering me a tight-lipped smile and shutting the door after her.

I sighed and placed my head back into my pillows. I had been beating myself up for more than just one reason.

The truth of the matter was that I didn't have feelings for Max anymore. I'd tried convincing myself that I did, and that I just needed to rekindle the fire that once burned so bright, but it wasn't true, and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

I shook my head lightly and groaned. I also just wished I had listened to him to begin with. We may or may not have broken up later, but I really liked him as a friend and he'd provided me with good company and pretty damn good grades, to be honest.

The last thing I hated about myself was how screwed up Dylan and I were now. It was just really awkward between us. He didn't visit once, and I never asked although I really wanted to. Sometimes, I'd see him across in his room, but we would just stare at each other for a good five minutes before either one of us would break the spell.

I liked him more than ever now, and it was really pissing me off.

Dylan was the insensitive moron, the one who blamed me for stuff. Max was the one who got into an accident and loved me.

Why did I choose the moron again?

As if on que, the person in context came into his room and I saw him directly in front of my window, and I threw the blankets over myself quickly so that he couldn't see me.

So much for that.

Everything on my bed that I'd had, including the CD boxes and chocolates all went flying off and there was a huge crash of my ceramic bowl full of Doritos as it hit the ground and shattered into a hundred pieces.

Good job, Day June Winters.

Dylan's head, naturally, snapped towards me and I looked up at the same time, making our gazes lock.

Cue the awkward staring contest.

There were so many emotions laced in his dark, mossy green eyes. There was sadness, pain, hurt and something else I couldn't figure out. His face had become more sallow than the last time I'd seen it, and his lip was cut as if he'd bitten into it too much. His cheekbones and jawline were better defined than they had been even a week ago, which must have meant he wasn't eating enough.

The physical and emotional pain crushed me like a boulder, and I really just wanted to reach out and hug him or, even better, kiss him or something.

No, let's just scratch that out. Ugh, now I feel like a psychotic loony.

"Hey," I croaked out.

This was the most I'd actually tried to talk to someone. He should feel honored, he really should.

"Hi," he said, his eyes never leaving my own. He didn't even bother looking at the rest of the room, which happened to be crazily messed up. His eyes didn't scrutinize me like I was a hideously horrible looking monster, which I really was.

The only times I got out of bed were to brush my teeth or to have a bath. So I looked positively awful.

"Hello," I repeated, feeling really stupid.

I couldn't even hold up a conversation with my neighbor. Talk about completely pathetic.

He finally shifted his gaze as if talking to me hurt him, and then he looked at the rest of the room. "The klutz strikes again?" he asked, leaning out of the window. The sight made me cringe, because it was from there that I had fallen down.

I shrugged, and it hurt my hand. "You could say that, I guess," I admitted, feeling myself turn red. "So, what's up?"

I was actually attempting to hold a conversation. This was a major improvement!

He gnawed at his lip, and I had to physically ball my fists up to stop myself from reaching out and pulling his lip out of his teeth with my own delicate and broken fingers.

The roughly patched up lower lip burst again and I saw blood leak out of it, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," he said, before wiping the blood away with the back of his hand.

"Do what?" I whispered, feeling tears beginning to bite the sides of my eyes. Really, I had the emotional range of a teaspoon at the moment and I broke down at every opportunity.

"I can't act like everything is normal between us when clearly, it's not," he said, but his voice was really soft.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I asked, my words coming out harsher than intended.

"I... I don't hate you," he said, but his voice was cautious and even he didn't sound convinced.

"Seriously!" I exclaimed, feeling white hot rage blinding me. "I mean, you're hate for me is like an episode of Tom and Jerry!"

He raised an eyebrow at me, and his lips quirked at the ends. He thought I was being funny. "Tom and Jerry," he echoed, the ghost of a smile etched across his face.

"Yep," I said, with a small nod. "You hate me, want to chase me and threaten to kill me, when really, you couldn't live without me," I informed him. 

"Now that," he began, "Is news to me."

"I loathe you," I said, rolling my eyes.

He smirked at this. "Yep. You hate me, want to chase me and threaten to kill me, when really, you couldn't live without me," he mimicked.

"I will copyright that!" I exclaimed.

All of a sudden, his features turned rigid again. "I need to go," he whispered, and my smile hardened.

"Why?" I demanded an answer.

"Because... I just can't talk to you. I'm sorry," he said, before he moved to shut the curtains.

"You know what?" I spat, rolling my eyes at him. "I tried. We both made our mistakes, but it looks like I'm the only one who's willing to work it out. That's okay, though. Shut me out, I really couldn't care less. At the end of the day, it takes two people to play a game."

We both held each other's gazes for a good twelve seconds (totally didn't count, psht) before he broke the eye contact and shut the curtains.

So much for an apology.

I sighed loudly. It was sad how I only had been letting one person into my walls. Honestly, now I was wondering whether I really liked Dylan.

Because I was obviously developing feelings for someone else.

At least, I thought I was.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed, and the person in question lit up my whole freaking universe.

Yeah, I probably liked him a bit more than I was letting myself believe.

Popcorned: Hey =)

Starlight24: Hi there!

Popcorned: How are you feeling?

His concern was super cute. I have butterflies in my tummy.

Starlight24: Okay.

Popcorned: ... How big of an idiot do you think I am?

Starlight24: Is that a trick question?

Popcorned: Well then.

Starlight24: Just kidding. Honestly, I feel like crap.

Popcorned: Wanna talk about it?

Starlight24: I'll end up rambling. My arm is still sore and it hurts and I can't put it in proper angles, and my friend is still in coma.

Popcorned: Well, you've always got me.

Starlight24: Thank you so much. You're literally the only one I'm letting in right now.

Popcorned: Well, I'm honored.

Starlight24: What about things with you?

Popcorned: Well, my family is still in shambles. My Mom and Dad are constantly fighting over something that is entirely my fault, which sucks.

Starlight24: You know something? It's so weird how I'm so open with you considering I've never even met you, you know what I mean?

Popcorned: Isn't that the reason?

Starlight24: What do you mean?

Popcorned: I mean, isn't there a reason you let people you don't know get to actually know you?

Starlight24: Ignorance is a safety blanket, I guess.

Popcorned: Exactly! So, you have the reassurance that this person will never tell your friends any of this. You know that this person won't judge you. That's why it's so natural to tell this person, in our case both of us, everything there is to tell.

Starlight24: Our conversations are goals.

Popcorned: You ruined the philosophical moment, but you're right. We are kind of goals.

Starlight24: That should be our thing: Kind of Goals.

Popcorned: Also, about the whole thing where I don't know you... I mean, for all I know, you can be this total blonde bimbo for all I know but you're a different person on the net.

Starlight24: THERE IS NOTHING WRONG ABOUT BEING A BLONDE. It's like the world decides: Hey, this girl has a low level of melanin. Let's just make her dumb.

Popcorned: You're blonde?

Starlight24: Good job figuring that out, Sherlock.

Popcorned: I'm laughing so hard now.

Starlight24: Shut up. Anyway, did you know something? You're the only one I actually talk to anymore.

Popcorned: For the record, you're the only one I ever talk to. I never tell anyone else anything.

Starlight24: Why not?

Popcorned: Ever heard of trust issues?

Starlight24: Tell me about it. My ex and I went through a serious bout of that.

Popcorned: So basically, everyone around me is a fake.

Starlight24: Elaborate?

Popcorned: We act like we live in a perfect world. We act like we live in this world where we have no real problems, because we're tucked away from everything that affects us. Poverty, starvation, homelessness, failure are concepts that we don't really seem to care about, because we feel like we have everything anyway. The thing about the people around me is... they completely ignore the things that matter so much that they insist on causing drama for themselves.

Starlight24: So are you saying that if something happens to you that everyone else considers as drama, you're going to look at it as being attention seeking?

Popcorned: No, not exactly. What I'm trying to say is, drama is a very subjective term. Some people actually have haters and awful stuff happens to them, which is just unfortunate. Others make up stories about knowing things that the rest don't for popularity, forgetting the whole concept of freaking originality. What happened to the whole "no one cares about where you're from or what you do, as long as you're being yourself"?

Starlight24: So the people around you are these floosy, attention-hogs?

Popcorned: Exactly.

Starlight24: The people I know around me seem genuine enough. They're usually mistaken for being someone they're not.

Popcorned: Isn't everyone always mistaken for being someone they're not?

Starlight24: What do you mean?

Popcorned: I mean... no one ever bothers to look for the truth if they have assumptions about a person.

Starlight24: Again, care to elaborate?

Popcorned: If a person was mean in the past, people always assume that he or she will be permanently awful. Why doesn't anyone bother to look at the villain's perspective? Imagine what that person would be feeling if they're wrongfully charged over something that doesn't have ANYTHING to do with them?

My world stopped spinning at that one paragraph that he was saying. The scenario was eerily similar.

Starlight24: Um... say there's this person, okay? She's always been mean to me and she's made it her life mission to ruin my life. Would I be wrong in hating her over something I don't have complete proof about?

Popcorned: Well, it depends on what level of vindictive she is. Honestly, if it's up to me, I'd say give her a chance to explain herself.

Starlight24: You're awesome, you know that?

Popcorned: Tell me something I don't know, Lighter.

Starlight24: Lighter? Really?

Popcorned: I just thought you needed a nickname. Although, I vaguely remember you saying you were fat. Would Heavier be a nicer nickname?

Starlight24: Idiot. Anyway, I have some clearing up to do with someone.

Popcorned: Well, I wish you luck with that.

Starlight24: We'll talk later?

Popcorned: Someone's eager ;)

Starlight24: Will you or will you not talk to me later -.-

Popcorned: Jeez, calm down. I was joking.

Starlight24: Thanks anyway. Bye!

Popcorned: Bye, and just remember: the people you least suspect are always the biggest suspects.

Starlight24: Okay?

Popcorned: Think about it. The people you'd trust are always the ones you'd never imagine doing anything to you.

Starlight: Kay, I'll ttyl. Bye!

I switched off my phone and thought about what he had said.

The people you least suspect are always the biggest suspects.

Suddenly, the realization hit me like a brick in the face. Like a bucket of wet cement had been poured over my body. I literally fell back into my pillows.

I knew who Miss. X was.

A/N:

When two of your characters have an actual photo in real life, it tends to make me feel very, very happy. I stalked Dylan's fan account on IG and hyperventilated xD

DRAMATIC!

Anyway... UGH. I literally have no time to even BREATHE anymore. High school is killing me (I mean, who does it NOT kill tbh) and I have tests already and it's JUST BEEN TWO WEEKS. 

And, and, and...

*Insert rant session here*

~1 year of ranting later~

And THAT is why pumpkins are orange.

Lmao.

Kay... how was this chapter? I really liked writing it. It was different.

Who all missed Popcorned? Show of hands, please! =D

Also, Miss. X will be revealed! Followed by Popcorned! Who all are excited? I am :P

Song of the Day: i hate u i love u by Gnash ft. Olivia O'Brien

Anyone else love this song ^^?

Kayyyy... see you later, Lighters!

Love you all,

~Lexi