Falling for My Old High School Bully (Complete)

Chapter 7 - Regret & Heartache

'This is Axel. You would know that if you hadn't blocked my number. I had to use my Mom's phone to text you.'

Her heart started beating faster and she didn't know what to say. Her phone dinged again with another text.

'I can't believe you called my fucking Mom & told her I didn't have enough credits to graduate.'

'What are you talking about?' she asked, playing dumb. They had used a burner phone to make the call so there was no way he could know it was her.

'Don't act innocent. The school called earlier and asked why I missed the graduation ceremony and they didn't know anything about me not having enough credits. I know it was you. No one else would do that to me.' 

She didn't even know what to say so she just sat there thinking. She hadn't prepared for this. She didn't expect him to find out so soon. 

'That's not a fucking prank Emma. That's on a whole other level. You just made me miss my high school graduation and my Mom called Yale Admissions yesterday and told them I had to repeat 12th grade and they took me off the acceptance list. I called them after I got off the phone with the school earlier and they said it was too late. They already gave my spot to someone else. You just fucked my entire future.'

She was stunned and felt like she couldn't breathe. She had already felt so guilty before she found out about their stupid prank messing up his plans with Yale. Now she felt more guilty than she had ever felt in her life about anything and her heart ached as her eyes filled with tears. 

'I'm so sorry. I was mad about Prom but I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Please believe me.' 

'You can take your sorry and shove it up your ass Emma. This war between us really is over because you're an evil, cold-hearted bitch and I never want to see or talk to you again. You can go die in a ditch for all I care. I'm blocking you so don't even bother texting back.'

She sobbed as she read that message, feeling like her heart was ripping in half. She struggled to breathe through her tears as she typed out. 'Please don't say that Axel. Let's talk about this.'  

She stared at her phone and waited, feeling like her heart was going to pound out of her chest, hoping she would get another message back but one never came. He must've blocked her before he saw her message. Or he saw the message and didn't care. 

He was right too. Maybe she was an evil bitch. She made him miss his graduation and now he didn't get to go to Yale because of her. She thought about how his Mom was crying on the phone and she was hit with another pang of guilt. Maybe she wasn't the one that came up with the idea, but she was the one that called his Mom and went through with it, so it was her fault.

Stella was right when she said she never stood up for herself, but maybe this time she should've stood up to Stella and told her no. Sure Axel was an asshole that broke her heart, but she didn't want to ruin his entire life. She had felt like what they were doing was going too far, but she went through with it anyway because of peer pressure. Stella was her only friend and she was afraid to lose her, so she went along with it even though her gut was telling her not to. Now she wished more than anything that she had had the courage to tell her no and stick to it. 

She tried calling and texting Axel for a couple days but he never answered, so she finally got up the nerve to apologize to him in person. She wanted to talk to him face and face and apologize, so she drove across town and knocked on his front door.

She had never met his Mom and when she answered the door she had the same grey eyes and dark hair as Axel. She was beautiful but she also looked really sad and broken, which made Emma feel even worse. She was wearing a bathrobe and her eyes were red like she had been crying.

"Hi, ummmm. I was just stopping by to talk to Axel. Is he home?" 

His Mom shook her head and said, "No. I think he's out with his friends again. Are you a friend of his?" 

Emma hesitated, not sure how to answer that. "Yeah. I'm a," she swallowed and let out a breath before saying, "friend." 

"Well any friend of Axel's is a friend of mine. Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea and we can have a chat?" 

"Oh ummm. I don't know if I should," Emma said, rubbing her arm nervously. 

"Just for a bit?" his Mom asked. "It would be really nice to have the company. I spend a lot of time by myself these days," she said sadly.

Emma felt bad for her. "Ummm. Okay," she said hesitantly, looking around before stepping inside the large mansion. She followed her into the fancy, modern stainless steel kitchen where she put a kettle of water onto the stove, waiting for it to heat. 

"So, I didn't catch your name," his Mom said, turning and propping herself against the counter with her arms crossed. 

"I'm Emma," she said softly, looking down. "I'm sorry. I'm not very good at talking to people I don't know." 

"That's alright. I was the same way when I was your age, but I grew out of it and I'm sure you will too."

"I hope so," Emma said, letting out an exhale. 

"Well I'm Marley," his Mom said with a warm smile. "You know, Axel doesn't have too many female friends. They're usually more than friends," she laughed. 

"Oh well, it's not like that with me and him. He doesn't like me like that," she said quietly, looking down at her lap. 

"But you like him like that, don't you?" his Mom asked, 

Emma lifted her head and looked into Marley's knowing eyes and she was giving her a sympathetic smile. 

The kettle started to whistle and she took it off the heat and poured the hot water into two mugs with tea bags in them and took a seat next to Emma on a barstool.

"Does he know how you feel about him?" Marley asked. 

Emma shook her head and then her eyes started to burn and fill with tears. 

"No and I can't tell him. I messed up really bad and he hates me now."

"Hate's an awfully strong word. He might be mad about whatever you did, but I'm sure he'll get over it. He always does," she smiled. "Let me tell you something about Axel. He's always been the rock that holds everyone and everything around him together and he always finds a way to fix things. He doesn't let them stay broken. I'm sure you two will work things out."

Emma took a deep breath in and let it out, looking down at her lap. 

"I don't know," she said softly. "It seems like all we ever do is hurt each other."

  She lifted up the steaming cup of tea Marley had given her and took a sip. It was sweet and fruity and delicious.  

"Well I hope you'll at least try to work things out with him. My biggest regrets have always been the things I didn't have the guts to say. You should tell him how you feel." 

Emma nodded. "I'll try."  She stayed there drinking tea and visiting with his Mom for a while before saying, "I better go before my Dad gets worried." That was just an excuse to leave. Her Dad never worried. 

"Ok. Do you want me to give Axel a message?"

Emma hesitated before saying, "Can you just please tell him Emma stopped by and that I need to talk to him. It's really important." 

"Sure," his Mom said with a sympathetic smile. "I'll tell him. And good luck with everything Emma."

"Thank you Marley." Then she turned and walked out of his house and went back home. 

She waited day after day for a call or a text from Axel, but it never came. She tried texting him one more time, but he never responded. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. She didn't even get to find out what college he ended up going to or if he was okay. He cut off contact with everyone that she knew and disappeared after graduation, leaving town. She never stopped wondering about where he was and if his life turned out alright. If it didn't, she couldn't help but feel like she was partially responsible.