Tayla Story - 007

"What the hell? You look exhausted."

Elis' greeting to me first thing before school on Monday, was as brutal and to the point as ever.

Yes, she's a bit rough around the edges but she has a heart of gold. That's why she's my best friend.

The two of us were seated on a bench around the side of the gymnasium. We often come here to talk together, usually during interval or lunch break, but I messaged her on my way to school this morning that I needed to talk. I just had to. I had to get all of this off my chest, and tell my best friend the events of that weekend.

I explained to her, first the events of Saturday, and then the day after… on Sunday.

Saturday, of course, was the day that started off with me meeting Kayla at Alexander's house. Kayla, the girl that I'd never even heard of before. And yet, she was also the girl who Alexander had been in love with before he came to Christchurch.

So, I explained how I let her stay the night at my place since Alexander was away, and I didn't know when he would be back (Elis doesn't know about Alexander's father either; all she knows is that he isn't in town at the moment).

From there on, the story continues from where it left off last chapter.

My parents allowed Kayla to stay the night when I explained the situation to them.

The next morning, me and Kayla ended up going into town, because she wanted to have a look around the city. She was planning to go by herself, but as it turned out I had nothing else on, so I went along with her.

We had the whole day, but we didn't end up spending anywhere near that long in town. After all, there isn't all that much to do in town.

We ate lunch shortly after we arrived, walked along the riverside, and went window shopping. Even after all that, it was still before three in the afternoon, but like I said, there really isn't anything to do in town. So, we bussed back to my place.

Kayla's flight wasn't until late at night, so we walked to Alexander's house before dinner. Because we both wanted to check whether he had come back.

As expected, however, he wasn't there. I'm sure he would've come to see me immediately if he had come back. At least, I'd like to think so.

Kayla asked if I'd heard anything from him, but of course I hadn't.

After that kind of day, I was exhausted. I know we didn't really do all that much, but it's still more than I would usually. In the weekends, normally I would just relax most of the day, finish off some schoolwork, and then go hang out at Alexander's house in the evenings.

Compared to that, walking around all day had been quite tiring. When we arrived back home, Tayla got a call from her mother, and then disappeared for about ten minutes. When she came back, Kayla explained that her mother had agreed to let her stay an extra two days.

So, it was decided that Kayla would be staying until Wednesday morning. Apparently, Kayla's mother decided that missing two and a half days of school was acceptable. It seemed a little strange to me, given that we have no idea whether Alexander will even come back during this time that Kayla's mother was okay with this. I don't imagine that my mother would accept something like that. Then again, every family is different.

Kayla seemed to assume that her staying an extra three nights wouldn't be an issue. Although, yes it isn't going to be an issue, I'm sure that it's not just me, my parents too, would like to have been consulted. It's our house, after all. It was quite rude of her not to.

I ended up staying awake until quite late that evening with Kayla. She just did not want to stop talking. Kayla's clearly a very friendly and bubbly person, and I do enjoy talking with her (when I can forget about her and Alexander's past), but I really needed to go to sleep since I had school the next day.

I was so drained by the end, that eventually I just said: 'I'm going to sleep', and rolled into my bed, facing away from her. At the very least, she got that message.

"So, what you're telling me, is that some girl who Alexander was friends with before he came to Christchurch, is staying with you at the moment, even though he's away right now. And on top of that, he used to be in love with her, but he's never mentioned that, or even her existence, to you."

That was Elis' reaction when I finished my long-winded overly detailed explanation of the situation with Kayla.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it."

She summarised it down into three and a half lines, when it took me an entire page.

"No wonder you look terrible."

That made me smile, "thanks."

"I can't believe that Alexander. I was just starting to think that he might've been a decent guy, and then up and left without any warning. And now, you've found all of this out. I mean, I can't believe that he wouldn't tell you something like this. Like what kind of scum would do that?"

I slumped down into my seat, sliding into a subdued position.

"I don't know. I just never expected this. I thought that the two of us were so close; so incredibly close, but now I can't trust him at all. The way Kayla talks about him as well, it's like he's a completely different person. What if… what if I don't really know him at all?"

"Hey," Elis put her arm around me, pulling me in close for a hug, "don't think too much."

She stroked my hair, as if I was a cat.

Meow.

"You're overthinking things. Sorry, I probably didn't say the right thing either. You and Alexander are great together. You can tell that he's in love with you, and I don't think there's anything fake about it. Of course, he's changed, and he's different as a person now than he was before he came here. Hell, he's changed since I first met him. And if you're ever doubting that, you can trust me to say it to you truthfully. After all, I don't even like him."

I laughed, "that's true."

Elis calmed me down a lot. To be honest, I hadn't even wanted to come to school, I felt so terrible. Having her comfort and console me though, I feel a lot better about all of it now. She's great at things like this.

And I think she's right. What she said about Alexander, and about the two of us.

At least, I want to believe that she's right.

"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be back soon."