[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190707/4cb94b3414563679c4692c75134b88db.png[/img]

[img]https://media1.giphy.com/media/48eteI66FsAsU/giphy.gif[/img]
[sub][i][color=8BCCC5]Found you when your heart was broke
I filled your cup until it overflowed
Took it so far to keep you close
I was afraid to leave you on your own[/color]

[color=brown]I said I'd catch you if you fall
And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all[/color]
[color=8BCCC5]And then I got you off your knees
Put you right back on your feet[/color]
[color=brown]Just so you can take advantage of me[/color]

[color=brown]Tell me: how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me?
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me?[/color][/i][/sub]
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[indent][indent][color=darkgray][color=8BCCC5]“You know what?”[/color] Salem hissed, stomping to the door, [color=8BCCC5]“I’m not doing this. Everyone here is fucking crazy.”[/color]

Salem stormed out of the room, finding his way to the front yard of the house. He just wanted to be alone for now, to simmer in his anger. That’s who he has become now, anger incarnated. It was tiring. Salem retreated to a shadowy corner of the yard left barren by the other party-goers and slumped to the ground.

The phone in his pocket interrupted his momentary peace, vibrating at his thigh. Caller ID proudly displayed ‘BABBO’ across the screen. Salem has been ignoring his dad, refused to talk to him even when his mother gave him the stink eye. At this point, he might as well jump in the shark tank.

[color=8BCCC5]“Hello?”[/color]

There was a moment of silence, then: [color=#c8a2c8]“I didn’t think you would pick up.”[/color]

[color=8BCCC5]“Well, I did.”[/color] His nose flared as hot air escaped into the night sky, [color=8BCCC5]“What did you want?”[/color]

[color=#c8a2c8]“Salem, listen.”[/color] A giggling in the background seemed to momentarily distract his dad and that only caused Salem’s ire to grow. [color=#c8a2c8]“I need to talk to you about something. It’s - well - the thing is - I don’t know how to say this, really. I’ll just go ahead and say it. I am divorcing your mother.”[/color]

In hindsight, Salem should have seen it coming, should have seen it a long time ago. Of course, eventually, his dad would like one of his side girls too much and want to marry her. Bile rose in Salem’s throat and he spat on the ground, wishing he could wash his mouth of the bad taste his father’s words left.

[color=8BCCC5]“That’s it, then?”[/color] Salem asked bitterly, [color=8BCCC5]“You’re just going to leave us? Fuckin’ deadbeat piece of shit. Good riddance. I don’t want to see you ever again.”[/color]

[color=#c8a2c8]“Now wait a minute!”[/color] His father hissed on the other end, [color=#c8a2c8]“You do not get to talk to me that way. Not when you have one girl with a promise ring on her finger and another sneaking out of your window! You didn’t think your mom wouldn’t find out about that? So how dare you-”[/color]

Salem hung up the phone and tossed it beside him before laying down in the grass with a furrowed brow.

Everything has just gotten way out of hand. His father is being a prick, ruining his life, and he’s right. That’s the worst part. He’s right, they’re two sides of the same coin and all the cliches attached to that. This complicated drama has his insides all twisted up and Salem doesn’t know what to do or what to think. He’s spent his entire life being told what to do by his mom and now he’s just lost. His dad fucked him over. His own decisions fucked him over. What would his mom say? What would Gwen say? He’s a fucking coward, he knows he is, but he couldn’t handle if Gwen thought that way of him. Or if Marisol did. He yearns for both of them, and maybe that’s just not fair of him.

It didn’t take much searching for Marisol to find Salem laying down in the front yard of Kavi’s house. She took strong, determined steps towards him, eventually taking position right next to him. [color=brown]"You mind explaining what the fuck is going on?"[/color] the girl asked in a quiet yet shaky voice, crossing her arms in front of her chest: the calm before the storm.

Salem clasped his head in his hands, closing his eyes against the sky and from Marisol’s silhouette. [color=8BCCC5]“I don’t [i]know[/i].”[/color]

Something snapped in him - no, that is too aggressive of a word. Something [i]splintered[/i] in him. It was sharp and painful on his lungs, squeezing his diaphragm, and drumming against his heart. Is this a panic attack?

[color=8BCCC5]“I don’t know how everything is happening. That girl - and this school - everything was supposed to be simple. They had planned everything out for me; school, marriage, Gwen - god, how could I do this to Gwen? To you? I’m - I’m my [i]father[/i].”[/color] It was all coming out in gasps, shallow puffs of air forced from his throat until his whole body burned.

The way he was speaking brough out a rush of concern from Marisol, [color=brown]"Jesus fuck, are you okay?!"[/color] she asked him as she reached down to take his face in her hands, still seething with anger but worried about his well-being all the same.

Salem swallowed a ragged breath, closing his eyes and flinching away from Marisol’s touch. [color=8BCCC5]“I can’t do this anymore. My mom is on my case, my dad is -- and I’m hurting Gwen and you.”[/color]

If he is so easily blackmailed by some random girl, then maybe he’s just a piece of shit. His lips feel chapped, burning under the soft pressure of her. He doesn’t even know her name, but his chest is compressed with anger. 

The girl was taken aback by the way the boy reacted to her touch, and his words only served to fan the flames of her own anger. [color=brown]"What do you mean, 'you can't do this anymore'?!"[/color] Mari repeated in disbelief, staring at Salem as if he'd just grown an extra head while her stomach knotted up together. [color=brown]"That's not what we- We were literally just going at it this afternoon! This was supposed to be our first date together! Where the fuck is this all coming from?!"[/color]

[color=8BCCC5]“I’m doing the same fucking thing my dad is doing to my mom, Marisol!”[/color] Salem snapped, standing up finally. [color=8BCCC5]“I’m throwing away what I had with Gwen, what I [i]built[/i] with Gwen and I’m butting into your life and making a mess of things. [i]We[/i]’re making a mess of things. It’s got to stop. I can’t be here anymore. I’m going to ask my [i]nonna[/i] if I can move in with her.”[/color]

The more he talked, the more furious Marisol got. How was it possible that mere hours ago they were rolling around in bed together, then excitedly texting each other back and forth and talking about all the things they’d be able to do after finally going public with their relationship. No more hiding, no more sneaking around: just them against the world. And the so-called Gwen? She’d been nothing more than an afterthought; someone who would eventually become part of Salem’s past while Mari became his present and future.

How fucking stupid had she been… [i]Again[/i].

[color=brown]"[i]Gwen[/i], huh?"[/color] Marisol finally spat, the other girl’s name dripping like poison out of her lips. [color=brown]"You didn't seem to be thinking of [i]Gwen[/i] whenever you were sucking up my neck every chance you got, [i]or[/i] when I was giving you head in the backseat of your car the other day, or [i]aaaaaaaaall[/i] those times I was lying on my back with you on top of me in the middle of your fucking bed for the past three weeks! But fuck me, right?!"[/color] she cried out, her voice now loud enough to deafen anybody within earshot. Her face was flushed with anger, green eyes matching pools of tears and venom. [color=brown]"Fuck all the nights we spent together with you lying to my fucking face telling me you'd never hurt me! Fuck all the times you swore I was the best fucking thing to happen to you, and that nobody had ever made you feel this way! And fuck me, for being fucking stupid enough to believe for a goddamned second you were actually one of the good ones! Because you know what, [i]Salem[/i]? You're just as bad as everybody else here is."[/color]

The shorter girl turned on her heel, poised to walk away before the waterworks started, but impulsively turning around again to face Salem one last time. [color=brown]"I want you to lose any fucking thing that's related to me from everywhere you can: photos, emails, my number, the texts, [i]everything[/i] you can possibly think of. And if you [i]really[/i] know what's good for you, you'll never show your face in fucking Florida ever again. I'm not afraid to go to jail for a piece of shit like you."[/color] And goddamn, she meant that.

With that last threat still hanging in the air and a glare so cold that could freeze Hell over, Marisol turned her back on Salem for the last time and walked back into the house, wiping away the mascara-covered tears running down her cheeks.

[indent][color=brown][i]‘That’s what you get when you let your fucking heart win.’[/i][/color][/indent]

Salem frowned at her back, holding back the retort at the tip of his tongue ([color=8BCCC5][i]“Not everything is about you, Marisol.”[/i][/color]). It hurts, all of it hurts, but he needs to get his ducks in order. He needs to forget about girls, about all this drama. Salem just needs space from everyone; living with his [i]nonna[/i] can help him with that. He’ll be on his own, without his mom hovering and his dad fucking everything up, without complicated relationships and petty drama. It’s time he grows up.[/color][/indent][/indent]