“I got your text.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdKbCkHDk4M
My head whipped around at his voice, pausing me in the middle of my uncomfortable pacing.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS9tCBZ7nMU
“What do you want to talk about?” He held his arms out impatiently.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEaJJCgfiN7
I froze, not knowing what to say. We were the only ones on the porch. Everyone else was inside enjoying the party.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlP2y8jr56z
But I couldn’t.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNdXgZohEX
“I leave tomorrow,” I reminded him.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MDyMJ0EPP
“I know,” he responded quickly.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJroWaI1yJZ
I clenched my jaw, almost mad. “That’s it? After all these years? You weren’t even going to say goodbye?”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qgwp9bmQw
He leaned on one leg, looking anywhere but at me. “I don’t know what you want me to do.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJj4Ej8wMx
No. I wouldn’t cry. Not again.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5IS72ohPvK
He continued. “I was hoping you would leave and both of us could just forget.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbI9x7kQc5M
“You would want to forget? You want to forget all five years?” I stared at him in disbelief.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIosX3BiJI
He finally found the strength to look at me. “Maybe if we forgot each other we could forget the pain.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmQtSMNCPS
I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, then opened them again. I decided to approach the conversation differently. “How were you hurt?”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61PbwDZR4p
“You led me on.” He answered so quickly I’m sure he has had this conversation in his head just as many times as I have. “You acted as if you liked, maybe even loved me, then just left.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcY0vidhn5u
“I led you on?” The threatening tears were becoming harder and harder to hold back. “What part of what I did made you think I led you on? I genuinely liked you! Yes, maybe even loved you. If could have seen the way I smiled while texting you late into the night, or trying to suppress my laugh while calling you, you would know I didn’t ‘lead you on’. It was real. All of it.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbhvFUEHNW
“Then why did you leave me?” He was now staring me down, which I decided was much more terrifying than when he wouldn’t look at me at all.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVkcyyPtpv
“I started to feel…” I trailed off, looking up at the sky. Neither of us were good at these sort of conversations. “I started to feel like it was fake. Because no one, never, would choose to love me.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwmjkCWn91
“I did.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNL3veNRzos
Our eyes connected. I couldn’t breathe.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIq8nrRmZ5
But I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t go back to all that pain. I couldn’t go back to all the tears and screams. Not after it took so long to escape.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWm2BRHIJR
“You know we would never work out.” I finally found my voice. “We would fight too much. About everything.”
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6jCRCZc9qF
“You don’t know that.” His voice was too calm.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0n8qqmD0U
I took another deep breath. We stood in silence for a moment before the screen door opened.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZaikGEcEVo
Bryce walked out onto the porch and assessed the situation. You good? He mouthed to me.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SW29KDSsz
I nodded swallowing.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jFMkT1Ho5
I took one last look at my argumentative opponent. Knowing he wasn’t going to say anything I stepped around him, continuing the silent treatment we had been giving each other for months now.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxSd5vI77d
Bryce stood at the door while I stepped inside, his hand on my lower back, protectively.
303Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQA67m9zim
I stepped back into the room, enjoying the remainder of the party before I finally left, leaving all the hurt behind me.
ns3.129.17.245da2
