Chapter 11: Levi

Okay, I know I shouldn’t have told Charlotte and Daniel the truth about what happened between Carter and Guinevere, but they needed to know before I talked to Guinevere. In fact, even though I walk towards Anthony’s place to see if I can do anything to help him recover from the breakup, she’s still on my mind. I know Anthony was a friend, but I do care about him, and I truly saw Guinevere and Anthony getting hitched when they were older. Actually, I would’ve been okay with them doing that now - Charlotte and Daniel wouldn’t approve of it - but as long as they kept it secret I would’ve been okay with it if they had me as a witness. 

I truly saw potential in Anthony to help Guinevere - so why did she break up with him? It came as a sudden shock to me when he told me. He didn’t hurt her or do anything like that. Well, at least not what anyone is telling me. If anyone had hurt her it was Carter. I know I shouldn’t be fixated on Carter hurting Guinevere, but what other explanation can there be for him to have his pants down and being on top of her? Even if he used the bathroom before, it still doesn’t add up - cause why would his penis be out for everyone to see? I guess there are some things in life that I’ll never understand - like Guinevere breaking up with Anthony.

Okay yes, the real reason why I’m going to see him is to understand why she broke up with him, because she’s not telling me. In fact, Guinevere isn’t telling me anything anymore. We used to talk a lot growing up, where we would talk about crushes that we had on people, but now there’s nothing. I have every right to learn why she broke up with Anthony. I don’t think that he would’ve hurt her, because that’s not him. Anthony would never do that to her. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to hit Carter because Anthony seemed pretty pissed when I told him about Carter. But if Guinevere was in the way, that would still not justify his actions to hurt her. I just hope that it hasn’t come to that. Anthony isn’t a violent person. He’s actually the opposite of that. He’s gentle and kind, is a shoulder to cry on when someone needs help - and that’s the kind of person that Guinevere needs right now. Not someone who would try to justify his actions of hitting her. Stepping onto their walkway, it starts a little closer to the right side of the house than directly in front. I walk down the curved pathway, eventually stopping in front of their brown stained glass door, only to ring the doorbell that was on the right side of the door. “Levi?” Marshall asks me after opening the door, revealing his brown hair looking a little more grey today. “Hi. Is Anthony here?” I asked after taking my hand out of my jean pockets. “He’s in his room. Is Guinevere with you?” Marshall asks me, probably checking to see if she was going to hurt his heart again. “Nope. I came alone. In fact, she doesn’t know I’m here,” I tell Marshall after stuttering a little, hoping that excuse will work well. “Then come on in,” Marshall tells me before I step into the long-forgotten house that smelt of sweets around every Christmas. “Marshall, what’s going on?” I heard Davina ask as she was struggling to put on her pink spring jacket that had a belt going around the waist as she stepped down from the second level in front of me. The color went well with her long blonde hair. “Levi wanted to see Anthony,” Marshall tells Davina as he closes the door behind me. “We were just about to head out,” Davina had told Marshall, revealing that now was probably not the best time to see Anthony. 

“I can come back later,” I suggested to Marshall who was grabbing his grey spring coat from the hanger inside the closet nearest the door. “It’s okay. It doesn’t bother us,” Davina tells me. “Really?” I ask for confirmation. “Oh yeah. Listen, you don’t have to worry about us getting in your way,” Marshall had let out before they headed out the door, only to close it after, leaving me inside their somewhat empty house. It’s been so long since I’ve been inside. On my left is where the dining table is - with their rose colored tablecloth running over it, with their cupboard of china on the other wall and the kitchen behind the dining table, in the room that’s opposite the stairs leading up to the second level. On my right however, is the living room, where a brown sofa mirrors the beige sofa that was underneath the window, featuring the never-played piano they have in between and on the wall. Past the living room is the bathroom, only to lead to the laundry room behind. Walking up the brown-stained wooden stairs, they curve to the right towards a straight landing. Near the landing is Anthony’s room on the right, with Marshall and Davina’s room across from it on the left. The second level is smaller than the main. Walking towards Anthony’s bedroom, before I could knock on the door, I could hear silent crying coming from inside the bedroom. Instead of knocking, I just bursted the door open, only to find Anthony burying his head into his white comforter of a bed - letting his own tears wet the white pillowcase. 

When entering in, there are two outside walls: one on the right side when entering in, and the other is adjacent to the right and across from the door. In front of me is the bed where Anthony buries his head, but the bed faces the outside wall that overlooks the front entrance. He has a big dresser that is on that wall, and a small bookcase on the other wall with a desk nearest and underneath the other window.

“Anthony?” I asked him before going in and grabbing him, only before he grabbed onto me and cried into my left shoulder. Clearly the breakup had hit him harder than I thought. “Is Guinevere with you?” Anthony asked me through the never-ending tears. “No,” I just simply told him before sitting down on the bed beside him on his right. He seemed to be a little better. On the day of, he would not stop crying that I had to take him home. I still remember that dreaded day - it will forever be in my head. 

Two months ago, past the big apollo that was near the corner of the playground on the elementary side, a bench would be found, and Guinevere and Anthony were nearby, where it seemed like Anthony was yelling and Guinevere was crying. I was alone but walking by. “I can’t do this anymore,” I remember overhearing Guinevere tell him through the tears with a breaking voice before starting to walk away, only to see Anthony grab onto her left arm, fury raised inside of him. “Fine. You walk away from me, we’re done. You’ll never get to see my face or hear my fucking voice ever again,” I still remember hearing him tell her, sending that fury through those blues eyes of his and towards her as if they were a weapon, only to have her let go of him and walk out of his life one last time.

When she walked off, I saw Anthony bend over in tears, crying over the loss of Guinevere. I had personally thought that they would never break up, but I guess that happens in most relationships that go through rough patches where they can’t seem to scrap their way out of them. They seemed so perfect for one another - Anthony, the man who you can trust with your secrets, and Guinevere, the woman who would make you laugh yet let you be vulnerable with at the same time. “Anthony?” I remember asking him as I walked towards him, seeing his blonde hair fall in front of his face. “What do you want?” I still remember his voice screeching at me as if he was a cat and he had just been stepped on by someone who wanted to hurt him intentionally. “What happened?” I remember asking, trying to be the one that would comfort him, when he clearly needed a friend. “It’s official. Guinevere and I are no longer together,” I still remember hearing Anthony tell me with his voice breaking, hearing it as light as day. “Do you want me to take you home?” I still remember asking him, because he was in no shape or form to be at school that day. “I need a moment by myself,” I remember him telling me before he sat on the bench. I thought I should walk away, but I saw Erica walk towards him. When she walked towards him, I knew I needed to step away for at least a moment or two. 

The only thing that was on my mind was the sudden shock from finding out that she broke up with him. I don’t understand why. I still don’t understand why. Anthony loved her, and I knew that she loved him too. But maybe she fell out of love with him. Was it something that he did? Or was it something that she did? Guinevere isn’t the type of person that would cheat, nor would Anthony. However, I know Guinevere has fallen for people before that were out of her league. So did she have unwanted feelings for someone? If so, she must’ve known that it would never happen between her and the other person that she was into, causing her to stay with Anthony, which left me back in my dumbfounded state. Erica was with Anthony for a little while but she eventually got up from the bench and walked away. She must’ve told Charlotte soon after. It was after she left that I walked back up to Anthony, who seemed to just continue crying until there were no tears left inside of him. “Anthony, do you want me to take you home?” I still remember asking him. His state of mind seemed to be all over the place: confused, angry, sad, and worried, and if there’s one thing I know when you’re in that state of mind, you need to be alone for a little while and not talk to anyone. I know that from experience. I felt all those things when Taylor, my ex-girlfriend broke up with me. I knew what he was going through from first-hand experience, so I knew to get him out of there before he lashed out at anyone - either way he would be sent home. “Please,” I remember him letting out rather quietly, but his voice was shaking and lips were trembling. 

“Is there a reason why you’re here?” Anthony asks me, bringing me back to the scene. Anthony is currently on my left, and his face looks exactly like that same day when I saw him on the field. “I have a delicate question to ask - if you’re okay with it,” I tell him, preparing myself for the burning question that was in my head and left unanswered for two months. “What is it?” Anthony asks, drying his tears with the edge of his white shirt of a sleeve. “Is there a reason why Guinevere broke up with you?” I finally asked, getting those words I never thought I’d actually ask him out in the open. “She fell in love with someone else,” Anthony tells me - those dreaded words I never thought I would hear him say. 

So she did cheat…

“Did she say who?” I ask Anthony, rather dumbfounded from who it could be. It couldn’t be Carter, because they’re not that close, or it seems that way. Maverick? They had gotten close two years ago, but they’re not anymore. Logan? No. She swore herself that she would never be in the same room as him. So who is it? Clyde? Rachel? Lydia? Grace? 

…

“Did she say who?” I hear myself ask Anthony with my voice raising with no control as I stand up from the bed. “She didn’t say!” Anthony raises back at me at the same level of voice that I tempered to, showing that I needed to lower my voice, even if Davina and Marshall headed out and Anthony and I were the only ones in the house. Raising your voice towards someone to get a point across or to ask a stupid question is never necessary. I never thought Guinevere would do something like that. She didn’t seem like the kind of person that would be disloyal towards Anthony. I thought she was the opposite of that. 

I always thought that if someone would break up in that relationship, it would be Anthony towards Guinevere. Not Guinevere towards Anthony. Guinevere would’ve been the loyal one, not the one that falls head over heels in love with another man or woman. Anthony would’ve been the one that would fall for another woman. “Did she drop any hints as to who it could’ve been?” I ask Anthony with a lower tone of voice as he stands up to face me. “She just said that he was someone who could never love her back. That’s he unavailable and will only love her as a friend,” Anthony finally tells me. Okay…

Thinking back to the list of people who I thought of, I try to use the process of elimination to figure out who it could be. It’s a man, so it’s not Lydia, Rachel, or Grace. That leaves Maverick, Clyde, and Carter. 

But who could it be?

He’s someone who could never love her back…

That could be any one of them. But Maverick and Guinevere aren’t on speaking terms, Clyde barely sees her at school, and Carter…

Hold on a moment… 

“Someone who could never love her back?” I ask Anthony to clarify that I heard him right. “Yeah. Someone that is unavailable and will only love her as a friend,” Anthony added on. “Have you seen Guinevere with Carter recently?” I ask Anthony - the one question I never thought I would ask him in particular. “She was with him after the breakup,” Anthony tells me, filling that void inside of me with unwanted thoughts. Carter can’t be the person that she loves. He can’t. 

But what if he is?

What if he is and we’re all screwed?

I know that doesn’t make any sense, but then that would mean that Guinevere would remember that night, and now I’ve messed up by telling Charlotte and Daniel about it. Oh I’ve messed up…

I messed up real bad…

But then again, if he did take advantage of her and she doesn’t remember, then someone needs to tell her so that she can let go of him and go back into Anthony’s arms - the only arms that she can be safe in right now. “Levi, I’d highly suggest that you don’t try to get Guinevere and I back together,” Anthony tells me pleading with those blue eyes of his. Damn those blues of his. But I don’t understand, he was happy with her. “Did something happen?” I dared myself to ask him, even though I didn’t want an answer. “I slapped her,” Anthony eventually tells me after what seemed to be a long unawaiting sigh. 

Okay Anthony, that’s it…

“Let me explain!” I hear Anthony yell behind me as I walk down the stairs and to the front door, not wanting to make eye contact with my former friend. However, I told myself to not look at him. Those damn blue eyes of his are too captivating. 

I knew to get out of the house right away and step out of his life for good…