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Especially him.
Not that he knew I existed. Not in the way that I wanted, at least.
Well, that wasn't true. We were pseudo-friends, running in the same circles, commenting on each other’s posts, and even through instant messages.
Normally, I was able to smile and ignore him—and whatever hot girl he was flirting with. Or just pretend that my feelings for him didn’t exist. But, the universe thought to test me today.
Fuck, it wanted to test my entire year.
The door to the room opened, a familiar voice calling out my name.
"Jess, are you in here? Sweetie, it's just us, you can come out."
Tessa was one of my best friends in the entire world, but I didn't want to burden her with this. It was just all too much.
"Us, as in Hope and me."
The rapidly rising panic slowly simmered back down to its previous levels when I heard Tessa's melodic voice.
"I know I saw her come in here." Worry echoed in Hope's voice as she walked around the room.
"I did, too." Tessa sighed, and I knew she'd be running her fingers through her short pixie-cut hair. "Jess, please, just come out. We're really worried about you."
I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my phone out, silencing it completely before typing out a message to both of them.
Me:
I'm okay. Please just give me a few to compose myself, then I'll be back out. Okay?
I heard the chime of both of their phones echo through the room. They shuffled around, and there was a pause as they read what I'd sent.
"Okay," Tessa said first. "Five minutes, then I'm coming back in here."
"Love you, Jess," Hope added, and their heels clicked as they walked away.
The door opened, but before I could let out a sigh of relief, I heard him.
"Why were you guys in there?"
No. No. No. No. Nope. Did not need him knowing that I was currently hiding. Especially because it had been the blonde hanging on his arm that set me off into a tailspin.
It was either step away and hide in the closet for a while or get a couple of double vodka sodas. Which would totally defeat the purpose of getting sober.
So, closet it was.
"Miles, hey." Hope sounded entirely too cheerful. I'm sure Miles would see straight through it. They were best friends, after all. "We were just checking for something I left behind earlier." Yeah, something was left behind. Me.
"You realize that sounds like bullshit, right?" Damn it, I hated how his voice affected me. But it did. Every single freaking time.
How did I even manage to listen to books he narrated anymore? Fucking hell, I didn't even know. Somehow, I was able to separate myself from the fact it was him.
I rested the side of my head against the wall and shifted slightly. Damn it, my foot was falling asleep. I started wiggling it, trying to focus on the movement and not on the conversation going on not far from me.
"Well, it's not bullshit." Oof. Tessa had her feisty voice on. I'm sure her hands were planted on her hips, and her eyebrows were lifted as she stared Miles down.
"Okay. I get it." Miles paused, and I couldn't make out what he said next.
"She had to go take care of a few things."
