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“Rory’s planning on trying to get her to come back for the summer.”
My head snaps like a piece of elastic stretched too tight. What the hell did Cole just spit out?
Right then, a waitress comes over with my new drink and it’s gone before it’s touched the table. The woman scurries off, sensing the growing tightness before I get the chance to ask for another.
Smart but stupid girl.
“She’s her maid of honor, man. She needs help with the wedding.” The edge of Cole’s mouth rises and falls so rapidly you’d blink and miss it. The asshole has no right to attempt to appear sympathetic now.
I don’t care if she was a flying saucer. The idea of her coming back anywhere near my orbit after I’ve worked so hard to forget about her isn’t fair.
It’s as one-sided and humorless as Cole attempting to be sensitive toward me.
He knows what happened, they all do because they were there.
Our plan after graduation had been for us all to come to college together, but then at the last possible—I’m talking minuscule, like the night before—she told me she wanted to drive up with her dad.
I figured it had something to do with her needing that little amount of extra time with her father since her parents had announced their divorce months prior.
Fine, cool. I went with the flow.
…Whatever.
Only she never showed. She texted Rory after about a week of everyone relentlessly trying to make sure, you know, she was still breathing. And then guess what? All she gave by way of an answer was that she missed her mom and wanted to be back by the ocean.
I never got a say, a goodbye, or an explanation for the decision ofourrelationship.
That was it, and I was single.
A bullshit excuse for a bullshit relationship.
My jaw flexes, but I hide it behind the emptiness of Eli’s beer, which I’d taken upon myself to finish after Cole dropped this delightful news.
I hardly tasted his drink. The burn inside my chest outweighs everything else.
Back then, I hadn’t realized I was single right away, but I got the hint after several long and miserable months of sulking and being ghosted. No returned calls, no texts, nothing. Hailey Williams had thrown me into the void and left me there to rot.
So, it’s not fair for Rory to ask her to come back. I don’t care if thatisher best friend. It’s unforgivable what Hailey’d done to me, and I despise myself for feeling anything other than pure hatred the moment I saw her again after all these years.
At that moment, my gut had locked, squeezing my oxygen dry. Ironically, I wanted nothing more than to do the same thing, but with my hands around her neck. How can someone be so vile? Heartless?
I misjudged her. I knew better now.
I blame it on her eyes. The honeyed-brown color the exact same as I remember, even if they were doing their best the entire time to actively avoid me. They were like liquid chocolate, and I couldn’t pull my gaze away.
Three years.Three!
Does she know how much she put me through? How hard I worked to get over her by getting under dozens of faceless nothings to start to feel something, anything at all again?
How could she? Hailey gave up on me.
I could laugh. I should. It’s too comedic not to. I might’ve if today hadn’t already strung me dry.
I huff to myself instead.
Music, basketball, and fucking are the only things that have helped make me sane again. My friends couldn’t help because I didn’t want them to. I refused to openly admit that she hurt me. I couldn’t give her the satisfaction in front of them.
I closed myself off and they didn’t push me because I made them believe I was dedicated to my scholarship and basketball. I spent every free moment outside of class in the gym or on the court. Then on nights when that wasn’t enough, a good pussy always did the trick.
