22 Days✓

19: Day 16

Yvonne hadn't talked to me since last night.

The day drawls by as I'm facing the ceiling in Derek's room, looking at the light. I was upset beyond measure, not sure of what to think, or what to do. Neither Derek or Leon knew what to do either.

Leon had left Nathan to come and be with me. It was generous of my childhood friend to come and stay with me. He sat besides me, gently stroking my shoulder. Derek was silent as well, and the three of us just stayed together in silence for sometime.

I sat up finally, and looked at Derek. He looked away, and I turned to Leon, who gave me a look of pity. He then pulled me into his arms, and that's when I broke down.

He stroked my back up and down, and tried hushing me gently. I couldn't stop crying, and he was desperately trying to stop me. There was a knock at the door, and suddenly someone burst into the room.

"Cece!" Jess's voice caught me by surprise.

She removed Leon's arms off me and helped me up, hugging me tight as I continued to bawl, "Hush baby, it's alright." She cooed, and wiped my tears away as we broke from the hug, "It's gonna be okay."

"Is it?" I asked her.

"Well she doesn't know either." Derek's muttered, and Jess and I turned to him, giving him a shove back to the bed, "Abuse!"

"Shut up shrimp." I scoffed, touching my wet cheek, "Just shut up."

"Why are you taking out your anger on me? What did I do?" He asked, and that's when I blew it.

"What did you do? Oh, I don't know, you made a stupid bet, and got me to do it, and look at where it got me. I told you to stop the bet, and you continued it-"

Derek stood up, "Don't pretend like I didn't try and stop you. Don't you dare say I never tried cancelling the bet. I did, and because of your nature, you just continued."

"Why did you create the bet in the first place?" I asked him.

"It was because I wanted you to have fun, I never thought it would end up like this." He argued, "I mean, it worked for Leon."

"I'm not Leon!" I yelled, pushing him back on the bed, "And she's not Nate! We are both different, and a stupid bet isn't going to-"

"Then why the fuck did you agree to the bet, Cecelia?! Huh?! If you're so different from Leon, why didn't you just leave it alone? Why didn't you just stand up to me like the brave girl you are?" Derek snapped, getting back up, "Tell me, why didn't you just stand up to me?"

"Because I wanted to prove a fucking point!" I screamed in his face.

"What did you want to prove?!"

"That I'm not the shy girl you once knew! That I can do things on my own and without your help! I wanted to prove that I don't need you at all! Fuck, I wanted to prove that you're not as important in my life than you think you are!" I cried, quickly slapping a hand on my mouth after realizing what I had just said.

Derek was taken back by my last statement, and closed his eyes briefly. He then opened them again, but I had noticed his face had changed.

"I'm not important to you?"

"Derek...I didn't mean-"

"So I'm useless huh?" He laughed bitterly, "Alright, Cecelia, since you're so fearless and in need of nobody. Since you think you can do everything on your own no help whatsoever, then go ahead. I won't help you anymore, go do your own fucking thing. I'm done." Derek finished, "And to think I did this with the goodness of my heart, to think I even tried helping you get closer to Yvonne, all for you to just come back and yell in my face. You wanna know something? You're blaming everyone but yourself for this! You agreed to the fucking bet, got on Jameela's bad side and stooped to her level even though you knew she was way more advanced in playing dirty, and you didn't run after Yvonne. If I'm going to take blame for my part, then you should for yours."

"Derek that's enough." Jessica chimes in.

I stayed silent as he continued, "No, Jess, she needs to take responsibility for her own fucking actions. We're all to blame yes, but she's not blaming her fucking self. She's going to let everyone else take the fall, then ask them to fix her mistakes. But guess what Cecelia White." He took a few steps closer to me, getting right in my face, "It's not going to happen. Not anymore. So fix your fucking mistake all alone, Miss Independent, and go ahead and get your woman back. I'm done with this, all of it." He spat, making sure to look me deep in the eyes as he said that.

He kept the gaze a bit longer, and then stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The silence ate all of us up like a pancake, and I took in each and every word. He was right; because of my stupidity and manipulation, I was about to let everyone take the blame for something I did on my own.

Jess didn't say anything, and pushed a strand of red hair behind her ear before turning to leave. She closed the door quietly, and I could hear her calling Derek's name out already.

Leon stood up, and came closer to me. We stared at each other for a while, and he pushed the strands of brown hair behind my ear, all the while staring at me. He then put his hands on my shoulders.

"Cece."

"Lee." I whispered.

"I'm sorry, but I have to say this." He sighed, "Derek is partially right. You do let other people take the fall and fix your mistakes for you. It's not good, and as your very first best friend, I'm certified in telling you this."

"I know."

"Derek's going to come around, trust me, he's always been like this when agitated. He always says things he doesn't mean when upset." Leon explained, "We've been friends for the longest time, I don't think Derek would let something this petty to tear a friendship apart."

"I guess."

"Now, I want you to know something that Derek was wrong about." He smiled a bit, "He's right, you aren't me. You have the confidence and urge to keep going. You have the charm, the charisma, and the quirkiness. You have it. And guess what you also have?"

"What?"

"You have friends that are always going to help you. We're always going to be there for you." He smiled wider, "We're friends for life. We may fight, argue, heck, even try to kill each other, but we're always going to be together. We're in it till the end. It's always going to go back to you, me, and Derek. So, don't you lose courage, Derek's going to come around."

This made me smile a bit, "You think so?"

"I know so. And if he doesn't." He pulled me into a hug, "Then you always have me in the end. Best friends till the end."

I hugged back, my heart feeling a little less heavy, "Till the end."