In And Out Of Love

Theo didn’t want to tell me anything more over the phone so it wasn’t a very long conversation. Naturally, I was a bit worried because he sounded so weird and something was definitely bothering him. I closed my English book and got up from the chair to change my clothes.

I grabbed a pair of blue ripped jeans and a grey hoodie from my closet and put them on. I glanced at myself from the mirror and decided to put on some mascara and blush since I still had some time. We had agreed to meet at a coffee shop nearby in twenty minutes. After combing my hair and leaving it open, I searched for my white converse and found them under my bed. I wondered how the hell I had gotten them there and shook my head. Finally, I was ready and hopped down the stairs hurriedly although I still had plenty of time.

“Mom.” Nothing. “Mom!” I yelled louder.

“Yeah?” Mom responded and came to the hallway. “Oh, where are you going?” She continued as she saw me opening the door.

“I’m going to see Theo, probably won’t be out too long.” I replied.

“Ok, ok. Is Harry coming too?” Shit… how could I not have thought about him. He was always sceptical on Theo and me talking to one another. He was the only person he had ever been jealous of. Although, he called it just not liking the guy. Mom kept looking at me.

“Um, no. Just Theo. He sounded a little worried and wanted to talk about something. Harry’s at band practice anyways. Maybe I’ll see him later on in the evening. I’ll let you know.” I smiled and glanced at the clock. “I really need to go now, I’m going to be late otherwise.”

“Alright. Call me if something comes up. Love you.” Mom smiled and came to close the door as I stepped outside.

I half-ran to my car, opened the door and hopped in. The car roared to life easily and I was quickly on my way. I saw Theo’s car parked outside the coffee shop and managed to get the last parking spot right behind his car. As I got out of the car, I saw Theo already sitting at a table for two by the window. I waved at him and went inside.

I got a latte from the counter and went to sit to the table in the corner where he was sipping his coffee. He didn’t look at me or smile or anything. It started to feel really weird and like we were doing something wrong. I sat opposite him and placed my phone on the table and took a sip from the mug. Still nothing.

“Hi. Why are you acting all weird? This is kind of freaking me out a little bit.” I chuckled but managed to sound a little too nervous.

“Sorry Gracie. Thanks for coming. I just really needed to talk to someone who understands and knows what I’m talking about.” Theo said quietly and by now, it was obvious something not so great was happening. He took another sip from his mug, still looking away from me.

I felt like he was ashamed of something as he had such a hard time looking at my face. I wondered what had happened and what had made him so upset. And why did he want to talk to me. He knew I was probably not the best option to open up to since we hadn’t exactly been that great friends for months with him.

“Okay… Well, it’s good you called me and I’m happy to help you if I can. What’s going on then?” I encouraged him to talk and smiled at him. Finally, he looked at me. I could see his eyes were red and puffy. Like he had been crying. Or staying up for way too long. Or partying too much. Or all of the above. “Theo! Hey, are you alright?” I said in a bit of a shock after seeing his face and placed my hand over his.

“No, I don’t know. My head is not working properly any more. I just wanted to help her. She got really pissed off.” He explained his hands moving fast, making little sense to me.

“Help who? Who are you talking about?” I wanted him to keep talking.

“Naomi. She’s fucked up Gracie, like no tomorrow. I saw her yesterday and… Oh god, I don’t know who that person was. It was really bad.” Theo continued and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

Of course I should have known he was talking about her. I wondered what he meant, how was she fucked up? I took a long sip from the mug, the coffee burning my throat a little bit.

“Naomi. Where did you see her?” I asked and kept my hand over Theo’s since he was still a bit upset.

“At some house party, where else! I only knew a few other girls there, the ones she sometimes hangs with. I guess she hangs with them all the time nowadays. And it was not pretty, let me tell you that. Our parties are like kids’ birthday parties compared to their parties. Oh dear god.” He said flinching his face and took a sip from his mug.

“She was dancing on this homemade platform or small stage, whatever. And there was a pole. Like a stripper pole. Oh god, and she was in her underwear. She was not happy to see me, not at all. When she saw me, she jumped off from that stage and ran towards me and took me outside in her underwear, her butt naked. Like what the fuck? Who does that? And god, she was high. So high. Not herself. But she still recognized me. She kept yelling how she hated all of us and didn’t want anything to do with us and told me to fuck off. I tried to get her to calm down but no; she pushed me to the ground and tried to kick me. But she was so high she ended up falling to the ground herself and that’s when I took off. Fast. I took one last look behind me as I ran and saw two big guys coming outside and helping her up from the grass.” Theo said, shaking his head and his hands moving the whole time as he explained his story.

I looked at him with my eyes wide open, in disbelief. I felt extremely sad and confused. And I couldn’t believe what he had just told me. Sure, she had always been somewhat wild and obnoxious. And she was no stranger to smoking pot every now and then. But everything Theo had just told me, made absolutely no sense. Never in a million years did I expect her to do something like this, never. I wondered if I was partially to blame for all of this madness. Or was it all just in her cards and something I could not have changed no matter what.

“I… I don’t know what to say. It sounds… it sounds absolutely horrible. We both know that’s not really her.” I said trying to keep my thoughts in place as my mind was running to every direction at the same time. “How… how did you know to go there? To the party?” I suddenly realized to ask.

“You know how I asked you about her last night and about her phone number. Well, I called Max as I was walking home from Zayn’s party. To my surprise, he answered. I explained him how I was worried and how Naomi hadn’t been to school the whole week. He told me they still see each other every now and then but he made it quite clear they are not dating any longer. Friends with benefits I suppose, I don’t know. Anyway, he said she is always partying with Michelle and the other girls and that he never goes with her because the crowd is just too weird for him. I can’t blame him really. Anyways, I thought it was a good idea to take a cab and go and see if she was where Max said she probably was. And she was. That’s how I found her.” Theo explained and took one last sip of his coffee and pushed the empty mug to the side of the table.

“I’m glad you went there although it was probably not the best idea, to go there alone. But at least we know what she’s up to these days. I wonder if her parents have any clue or if she is just pretending everything is normal. I feel so, so bad for her. Honestly.” I shook my head and looked down to my coffee mug, trying my best not to cry.

Theo was about to say something but he was interrupted as my phone started ringing next to me. The screen of the phone lit up with a funny picture of me and Harry lying on his bed and making stupid faces. My stomach twisted a little and I looked at Theo quickly.

“Sorry.” I said and answered the phone. “Hey love. How was practice?”

“Hey babe. Good, very good. Trying to learn a new song. How’s your evening going? Are you out somewhere?” Harry suddenly asked after a small pause. Obviously he could hear people talking and dishes being moved around.

“I’m at a coffee shop near home, Coffee Parlour.” I answered and for some reason couldn’t continue and say who I was with. I felt guilty although there was really no reason. “I’m with Theo actually.” I managed to say finally.

“Theo? Oh… ok. Is everything alright?” Harry asked, his tone changing to more serious. I could hear him banging his car door closed.

“We have been talking about Naomi. Theo saw her last night at some party on the other side of the town and she was not doing great. Not at all really. I’m worried about her, Harry. I have to do something.” I told him and looked at Theo who was nodding his head.

“Okay… Take it easy babe. Coffee Parlour you said? I’m going to be there in fifteen minutes. Love you.” Harry said hurriedly and started his car before ending the phone call.

“Love you too.” I replied to him. Theo turned his head and looked out of the window, obviously feeling a little awkward. “Harry is coming here now. I need to tell him about this. And then we have to figure out what we should do. Maybe we should call Max again and get some more details. You got her new number?”

“Yeah, I got it from him last night.” Theo nodded and checked his phone. “Just so you know, I think Harry should stay away from this as much as possible. If Naomi is still upset about what happened between you three, he is probably the last person she wants to see.” Theo continued but didn’t sound like he was saying it for his own sake, which I appreciated. And he was probably right.

“Yeah, maybe so. But he still needs to know what is going on. I don’t want to do anything behind his back. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.” I said.

I saw Harry parking his car and stepping inside the coffee shop a little while later. He looked around trying to find us and finally did as I waved at him from the corner where Theo and I were sitting. He gave me a slight smile but turned more serious as his eyes met Theo. Great, they would probably never get along very well, I thought.

“Do you want something? Tea?” I asked Harry as he sat next to me and placed his hand on my thigh.

“No thanks babe, I’m good. So, tell me. Something wrong with Naomi?” Harry asked and looked at me first, then Theo. I nodded towards Theo who started telling the same things he had told me before.

As I was listening to him speak, I realized just how crazy everything sounded and wondered if this was seriously all happening. It sounded like it was straight from a movie, things like these just didn’t happen in the real world. Until now.

Maybe we were over-analysing everything and painted horrible pictures in our heads. Maybe it had been just one time she was dancing in her underwear, high as hell. Maybe it was a stupid bet she had lost. Maybe it was truth or dare. Or anything else that would explain her behaviour. At least I wanted to believe there was a sane explanation for all of this.

The last thing I wanted to think was that she had become so mad at me that she would change her life and not care about anything any longer. I just didn’t want to believe that.

Notes

Another chapter! :)

Comment, vote and subscibe!
xoxox