Chapter 13: I'll Become His Eighth Breakup

"Physically speaking, the broken heart syndrome includes a weakened heart muscle. Therefore, there are changes in the amount of blood being pumped. He's also anemic or looks like it." I nodded. Nolan's pale skin. I remembered his hands always being freezing cold. He said he had low blood pressure. "Sometimes attacks happen. The person has short breaths, sweats, and has chest pain." Nolan in the air vents! "The stress from losing someone or in Nolan's case, too many breakups lead to his cardiomyopathy. All these physiological changes can impact a person's mental status. All his frustration is coming out in these breakups."

We were sitting on a tree log near the cliff. I ran a hand over my face. Paris had done his research.

I apparently hadn't. Otherwise, I would've searched more than just Dissociative Identity disorder.

"So, he became a psycho because of having breakups," I stated. Paris shrugged. "What do we do now?"

"All these breakups have one goal," he said. Unhappy couples--that was it. "He wants the guys to break off the relationships." I didn't understand his point. "You know why?"

"He wants to hurt the girls like they hurt him."

"Exactly!"

"So?"

"He never got the chance to break up with anyone," Paris replied. For once, I felt stupid. I had no idea where Paris was getting. "Helen!" Paris grabbed my shoulders and stared at me as if I would understand. "He needs a breakup where he's dumping someone."

"Who would date Nolan?" I said rolling my eyes.

He grinned. "He's already dating--fake dating her."

Everything clicked suddenly. Paris wanted me to play Nolan's girlfriend until Nolan legitimately dumped me. I shook my head and pushed away his hands from my shoulders.

"Not happening. I don't do relationships," I told him. "And I'll go mad if I became Nolan's actual girlfriend."

"This is the only way."

"I'd rather jump off the cliff."

"Your pick," he shrugged. He wasn't even bothering to coax me into doing what he suggested; a difference between him and Nolan. Paris stood up and gestured me to do the same. I followed his action. "So, are you in?" He held out his hand. Groaning, I realized it was the only way of solving Nolan problem. I was about to place my hand on top of his but pulled back. He frowned, but then understood that the other two times we had the static. He laughed.

"To make myself feel better by trying to help save Nolan, I'll become his eighth breakup." I took the oath: the one I made up myself on the spot.

He gave a thumbs up and we headed back to the celebration. My group and I had to go home soon. Because my phone was confiscated and I had forgotten to ask for it back, Paris and I exchanged phone numbers the old-fashioned way. Well, he wrote his number on my hand with a pen and vice versa.

I wondered why he was helping me. He wasn't a part of this. It was my problem. We were complete strangers aside from that robbery night. Paris could walk away and save himself from this nonsense.

We strolled over to my "friends" and "boyfriend."

"If it doesn't work, remember, Helen ran away with Paris," Paris whispered.

"He died and she returned to her husband," I flatly replied.

He didn't reply.

"Helen!" Ashlyn yelled when she saw me. "Check out the baby chicks!" She was holding the small yellow creature in her hand.

"Remember, get Nolan to like you," Paris whispered in my ear and ushered me forward. I grimaced. Most tourists were engrossed by the baby chickens. Paris disappeared, leaving me to work myself. Why would he stay here anyways?

Nolan was eating a soft pretzel and watching people. He had an obsession with pretzels. I joined his side. The whole heart broken syndrome issue occupied my mind. I obviously didn't want to mention it first. It'd ruin my "hopes" of becoming his girlfriend.

Feelings couldn't be forced, but they could be ignited.

"Hi," I said. Nolan continued eating, ignoring me. I decided to approach a topic he would gladly talk about. "So . . . Ruth doesn't have a boyfriend. No sixth breakup?"

"After you left with your one night stand," he said, basically telling me how he viewed Paris, "I went back to Ruth." I didn't want to hear anything else. "She told me that I had moved on with my life and so had she . . . with different people. There was a guy with her." I mentally facepalmed.

Paries lied!

I refrained from arguing with Nolan. Rather than working against him, I had to work with him.

"The festival and all this is going all weekend," I stated. "We can come tomorrow too."

Nolan agreed. I might get help from Paris if we came back tomorrow.

The people were going to play games and watch some classic movie till midnight. My "friends" wanted to watch the movie and stay longer. We still had to inform our parents. I prayed my mom would tell me no but instead I got a "why not?" She was glad I was finally doing something a normal teenager would. I even told her how bad the baby chicks smelled but she laughed. I should have called her when she was in a bad mood.

In a sour mood, I observed my surroundings. There was a singing group of Amish people, but they had no music.

Not even people with musical instrument.

Nolan suggested we head to our task. He actually remembered where Ruth and Paris's house was, so we headed our way in the dark. I didn't even have my phone to warn Paris. Like stalkers, Nolan and I peeped through the back windows. I didn't find any purpose behind it. He decided to take the right side while I the left.

From one window, I stared at the spacious kitchen. There was light coming in and I heard laughter. Ruth came inside to get something. I ducked just in time. I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing.

"Wait, Ruth!" I suddenly shot up and whisper-yelled. Ruth froze when she saw me. She was just about to scream when I said, "Just listen to me! Nolan's trying--"

Just then Paris walked in with an empty plate. When he saw me, he stopped too.

"We have a front door," Paris said slowly.

"Nolan," I whispered. "Your stupid sister screwed things up. No offense, by the way." They looked at me and then at each other. Completely baffled. "She told Nolan she has a boyfriend!"

"I lied!" Ruth said when Paris frowned at her.

I hit my forehead against the wall.

"Ruth, you moron!" Paris said in frustration.

"I am done with life. Where's Hades?" I asked dramatically.

"In hell," answered Paris. "Now, is Nolan here?" I looked around and not spotting my idiot partner, I shook my head. "Alright, so we have to fake a fake relationship and then fake a fake breakup."

"Great. I'm sure you have a guy ready for that," I said sarcastically.

"Chill," Paris told me. "Stay out in the festival. Ruth and I'll come. We'll find someone."

I sat down, shaking my head. Leaning my back against the wall, I figured all these people were trying to outsmart each other. Why did I allow myself to get jumbled into this mess? My life was going so smooth and routine-like. One wrong move and I was sitting in an Amish village trying to break a relationship that did not exist.

"Hel-en!" someone sharply whispered.

I turned my head to the right and found Nolan waving at me. I stood up and quickly glanced at the window. Paris was still there, but not Ruth. He raised his eyebrows at me. I hurried to Nolan. He quickly told me the family was eating dinner. There were no signs of Ruth's boyfriend. We had to wait for her to step out of the house and meet the guy.

"What if she lied about a boyfriend?" I asked.

"What if she didn't?"

I urged him that we should go back. Maybe Ruth might come to enjoy with her "boyfriend." Begrudgingly, Nolan agreed. A movie had been put on. Seeing people laughing, I figured it was a comedy.

It didn't take long for Paris and Ruth to join us. Paris sat down on my right side while Nolan on my left. Ruth pretended to be in a jovial mood. She plopped down behind us next to a young guy. Did she know him?

"It's a good movie," Paris told me, pointing to the giant screen in front of us. I just nodded, staring straight ahead. "Hey, are you okay?" he softly said in my ear. "He didn't cause any more trouble, right?" I sideways glanced at him. Paris smiled hopefully. I knew Nolan was alert and wondering what was up.

"Definitely, Paris. Nolan's available if you're so curious." I didn't even know why I said that.

I snuck a look at Nolan was taken aback. I even saw his pale face turn slightly pink. The same went to Paris except the tips of ears turned red too. I hid my own amusement. Behind me, I think Ruth laughed. Paris elbowed my side.

"I have a girlfriend for your information," Paris said in his normal voice.

Nolan settled back and relaxed. I didn't. "You do?"

"You care?"

"No."

"Sure, Helen?"

"Yes, Paris." I rolled my eyes.

"Discussion closed then," he smiled.

Was he serious or not, about the girlfriend? Why did I even care? He was a year or two older than me, definitely. My future was with Princeton and nothing else.

Behind us, Ruth began talking. "Caleb, do you want to get some ice cream?"

"No thanks," we all heard the guy reply. I held back a chuckle.

"Come on! We're getting ice cream!" Ruth and the guy, Caleb, got up and left. I could tell Caleb looked forced. I kept glancing over my shoulder. Ruth was talking to him with an overly exaggerated smile.

They returned hand-in-hand, sharing an ice cream cone. I wondered what brought the changed behavior.

Sharing food was . . . gross.

Nolan nudged me. "That's her boyfriend," he whispered.

"I'm cold."

"What did that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing. I just thought we were stating the obvious." I received an eye roll from Paris who was pretending to be engrossed by the movie. I was actually really cold. My coat was doing nothing against the wind. My head ached from the stress.

"Ha ha very funny," he said dryly and then lowered his voice, "Anyways, we need a plan." I had none so I kept my mouth zipped. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Nolan take a good look around our surroundings. People were mostly having fun. "Idea!" Nolan excitedly said. People around us glared at him. He took my elbow and pulled me aside. The sudden movement made my aching head spin. Paris gave us a skeptical look.

"Yes, Nolan?" He nodded his head towards a group of men drinking to the side. They looked like tourists than the Amish. "What about them?" I asked.

"If Ruth gets under the influence and behaves abnormally, Caleb guy might break up with her."

"That's low--"

"We don't have time or other plans," he said. "Come on."

As he turned, I quickly looked at Paris who was staring back. I gestured towards the drunkards. Paris didn't understand. I didn't have time to give him a better heads up. Trailing behind Nolan, I stood behind a small cart. My partner crouched down behind it. We moved with the cart and stopped by the group. The men were laughing and burping loudly. I sighed. Nolan reached out to grab a liquor bottle on the ground, but it was snatched just in time. Nolan went for the second one, but it was empty. He told me to play distraction, so he could get the last bottle.

"Hey," I said to the men. "Do you guys want some . . . " when I saw the things on the craft, I bit my lip, "jewelry?"

"Anything from you, girlie," one man said and laughed.

I controlled my agitation. Nolan grabbed the last bottle and we hurried away. Now, we had to somehow get Ruth intoxicated. I had to warn her beforehand. We knew she liked ice cream even though the temperature was almost five degrees (Fahrenheit). Before I could have stopped him, Nolan went to the cart or station where ice cream was sold. He told the girl in charge that it was his shift. As soon as she disappeared to check his words, he pulled out the alcohol bottle, opened the slide door of the freezing place ice cream tubs were in and sprayed the liquor over it. Because the area was in the dark, no one really saw Nolan.

I rubbed my temples. Nolan came back with a satisfied look.

"I'm amazing," he proclaimed.

"Amazing-ly stupid," I said. He scowled. "Not just Ruth got set up, but also everyone else!" Nolan crossed every limit set in plans of any kind. "Think about the kids."

Nolan's face fell. He hadn't thought before taking the action.

"Dang it," Nolan mumbled.

I put a hand on his shoulder, sympathetically. "Just accept it. The limit for stupidity . . . does not exist."

He pushed my hand away. "I was desperate."

I sighed. "Nolan, please, can you behave like your life is great for one minute?"

"Sure. You want me to start skipping and singing 'Happy clap along' or 'Everyday I'm shufflin' too?"

There were noises behind us but I ignored them. "That'd be interesting to watch. But you strike me as more of a Taylor Swift fan. Maybe 'Blank space' or--"

"Just stop."

He crossed his arms, but I saw him crack a smile. He was weird. If I was going to win him over, I might as well keep blabbering.

"Actually, I heard this song, someone sang in history class one day. It was the 'Story of my life' which I think will fit--oh my god!" I was suddenly jerked to reality as I saw a crowd of kids and teenagers getting ice cream. Among them were our friends.

Not to forget, Paris's sister, Ruth and her "boyfriend," Caleb.

This was not good! Nolan had a similar expression. We had neglected the ice cream completely. Ruth had hands full of ice creams and popsicles. She staggered a step and Nolan caught her.

"Nol--Lane!" Ruth said, blinking rapidly. "I . . . hate you."

"Ruthie!" Paris was by his sister's side soon.

All the adults were looking furious. If anyone found out Nolan and I were behind this, we were dead meat. We saw a male figure dressed in a white, straight gown come forward. Glasses were stuck on his nose. He held a book in his right hand. A cross necklace hung around his neck.

"Who is responsible for this?!"

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Like the chapter?

Does Paris have a gf? XD

I personally like both Paris and Nolan. Also, u guys now know The Eighth Breakup.

Make a prediction about anything. If its right, you get a dedication.

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