Goodbye, My Almost Lover

Chapter 8. Perfect Situation

"Yes! There's your basic C chord," I told him, smiling.

He chuckled a little bit, and then looked up at me.

"This is beyond cool," Tristan said, smiling big.

I laughed, and the proceeded to move his fingers into another position.

"Okay, now strum."

He did, but it didn't sound right at all.

He sighed.

"You have to remember to keep only your fingertips touching the strings. Don't get lazy and relax, or the rest of your fingers are going to touch the strings, and you go flat," I corrected.

"Right," he said, and then did as I said and he strummed once more.

I smiled.

"That's an E."

He smiled again at me, but looked at me the way someone shouldn't.

I blushed.

"Thanks a lot, Rory. This is a lot more work than I thought, but it's definitely worth it. Maybe I'll get my own teacher, now. Put this baby to work more often," he joked, tapping on the side of the guitar.

I laughed. God, he's so handsome.

He was wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt, and that still showed off his wonderful body.

Why the hell was he so perfect?

I leaned closer and kissed him chastely, blushing afterwards.

He put his guitar down nicely, careful not to hurt it.

"What do you want to do?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm up for anything."

--

How can a day tainted with something so bad, end so wonderfully?

Tristan took me to the miniature golf center, to an ice-cream parlor, and out to dinner.

Easily one of the most fun days of my life.

I just couldn't believe it. Being with Tristan was completely different than anything I could imagine.

He was so different than anybody I've ever met.

When I finally got home around ten or so, Embry was in my room waiting for me.

He wore a small smile. "How was your day?"

I blushed a little bit. "R-r-really amaz-zing. Really."

"I'm glad."

An awkward quiet filled the room.

"Wh-What do y-you need?" I asked.

"I put your homework on your desk," he said, nodding toward it.

I nodded too. "Cool."

He took a deep breath. "There's rumors going around school, Rory. Saying that Tristan's just using you. Wants to see how far he can get, that sort of thing."

I narrowed my eyes. "I th-thought you w-were s-s-so pro-me-and-him."

"Hey, I'm not saying anything about them. I'm just passing it on. Maybe try to be careful."

I rolled my eyes. "C-c-can you p-please s-stop changing your m-mind every f-five s-s-seconds?"

"I'm not trying to be a kill-joy here, Rory," he said, standing up. "I do like him. Just something feels off here."

I was the one to take a deep breath this time. "Okay, well, you s-s-said it. P-please go, so I can s-sleep."

He nodded, starting to walk out. When he got to my door, he stopped and turned back to me. "For what it's worth, he must be doing something great. I've never seen you glow this much."

And then he left and shut the door.

Rumors?

I mean, it's high school, right? These things were supposed to happen, yeah?

People were supposed to talk about other people and not give a shit about what it means to the actual person. That was supposed to happen, right?

Right when I buried my head in my hands, my phone vibrated.

I smiled when I saw the message.

Tristan: Hey, you get home safe?

I texted him back. Of course. I'm a safe driver, unlike you. I thought I was going to die on the way to the community center and never beat you at that golf game.

Tristan: Oh, please. You won by three points.

Me: I still get bragging rights. :P

Hah. I guess. What're you up to?

Just laying on my bed.

Alright. I'll let you get to sleep. I had a lot of fun today.

Me too. You don't even know. Goodnight.

--

I walked into school, quietly, just as all the other days. But something was different.

People were glaring, staring, and gawking at me.

Uncomfortable could not even begin to describe what I was feeling.

I immediately took Jake by the arm and pulled him over to get some privacy.

"What i-is going o-on?"

I shrugged, and looked down.

"C-come… on, Jake. I kn-know you know m-m-more than that. T-tell me."

"Rory, it doesn't even matter. I mean, people are just making a bigger deal out of it than it really is. Honest. I mean, everyone knows you have become really close, and now you're ditching school with him, and they're just looking too far into it. Really."

"S-so there are… r-r-rumors."

He chuckled. "Oh yeah. Especially since Tris and Emily just broke up."

Great. So now I'm the home-wrecker.

Apparently, I said that out loud. Jake replied with, "Well, I don't know. I don't think of you that way. I mean, to them… you guys make no sense. But to me… to me you guys make… sense. I don't know."

I took a deep breath.

"Tristan likes you, Rory. Honest. It's not a game anymore."

I narrowed my eyes. "Anymore?"

He looked around. "Well, I mean, you know, Tristan has a reputation of using girls and stuff. I just… meant that… well, he wasn't doing that to you… You know? Well, I got to get to class."

And he left me still wondering how everything went to hell in one day.

A/N: So, short short short chapter due to just wanting to get this out there so you guys know I haven't completely given up. I do have an outline, but some time has to go by in the story and progress so I can make some stuff happen. So, review. I'm so glad to be back!