DINING HALL
LUNCHTIME
I gazed at him in utter disbelief. My key memories were slowly returning, and I knew it was only a matter of time before we crossed paths. His presence before me confirmed the former option. Even though the brown eyes I had fallen in love with were now replaced with the brightest baby blue, his voice, though deeper from the throes of puberty, carried the familiar cadence that tugged at my heartstrings.
He swallowed nervously and spoke,
“I’ve missed you so much.”
Did you? I refrained from asking directly. In my heart, the question ricocheted back at me.
Did I miss him too?
He looked almost worried. My expression gave away more than I intended, revealing that, yes, I remembered him. When he extended his hands towards me, I flinched and stopped him. Hurt flickered across his face, but he covered it with a weak laugh.
“You remember me... us?”
You mean me chasing hopelessly after you for three years? Yeah
All I could do was return his stare. In that moment, I felt every heartache I’d experienced, each pang of longing. Despite the years apart, a part of me still missed him. A part of me still loved him. His voice was a siren’s call, irresistible.
A whirlwind of emotions swirled inside me, but I struggled to find the right words to express them. Finally, I took a shaky breath and said,
“I... eh... I have to go. I’m sorry” I can’t do this
My voice trembled towards the end. Overwhelmed and emotionally drained, I turned and walked away. Tears streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision. Breathing became increasingly difficult as my strength waned.
My trembling hands reached for the walls for support as I staggered down the hallway. Distant footsteps echoed, approaching me.
... help...me...
Before everything went black
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THE CLINIC
I awoke to the familiar sight of a white ceiling. I really needed to stop waking up here. The smell of clean tiles was stained with an unfamiliar scent of earthy wood. Movement across the room indicated that I wasn’t alone. A stranger stood by the window, arms crossed, gazing out at the scenery. I rubbed my temples to shake off the residual dizziness and slowly sat up.
The wall clock showed that I’d been unconscious for nearly an hour. There went my plans for a nap. As I tried to get out of bed, a curt voice halted me.
“Sit still.”
The stranger sighed and walked over to me, leaning against the wall beside my bed. He scrutinized my face, his gaze searching. The smell of clean clothes and wood pungent from him as he came close.
“You’ve had worse...“, he said, leaning away from me. “You’ll live.”
His brief moment of proximity sent shivers down my spine. His velvety voice, the same one that had once held my heart, now resonated through my ears. My face flushed with warmth, and I swallowed hard, unable to tear my gaze away from his penetrating grey eyes and the sparsely scattered freckles across his face. My body and mind were caught in a whirlwind of emotion, and it was clear he remained oblivious to the effect he still had on me.
Am I in heat? Wait, that’s for werewolves. Wrong genre.
He must have brought me here after I passed out
“Thank You for helping me...”
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But he simply continued to stare back at me, his stoic eyes locked on my face, hands buried in his pockets. The silence grew uncomfortable, and I desperately searched the room for something else to focus on.
“...”
He eventually sighed, pushed himself off the wall, and walked away without a glance in my direction.
Well, that was rude of him. I mean, I said thank you; it wouldn’t have killed him to acknowledge it. Tsk.
Although he was out of sight, I shook my fists at the door, frustrated.
“Because you look so pretty, doesn’t give you the audacity to be rude!”
Now I was talking to myself, sounding a bit crazy. Maybe I hit my head when I fell? But my body felt fine. I got up, put on my shoes, and vowed not to end up in that clinic again, at least not from fainting. I closed the door behind me and headed back to the dorms.
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FEMALE DORMS, ROOM G5AB
“Max, did I miss any class?”
I entered our room and collapsed onto my bed.
As I lay on my side, I glanced over at Max’s side of the room. She was perched cross-legged on her bed, engrossed in her book, as usual. She had changed into comfortable clothes, her dishevelled brown hair was tied up in a bun, and a pair of glasses sat on the bridge of her nose. Her brown eyes shifted to me before returning to her book.
“All classes end by lunch. You look like you had an eventful day.”
A sly smile crept across her face as she turned her attention to me. I furrowed my brow in confusion, but her brown eyes twinkled with amusement.
“So, I noticed Samuel eventually conversed with you.”
Normal people would use the word “talked” but Max wasn’t them. I sighed, turning towards the ceiling, “If you can call that a conversation, sure”
I felt her eyes on me, waiting for me to share the encounter. Max was a keen observer, even though she pretended not to notice much beyond her book. I blinked back tears and broke down what had transpired during the meeting and the ensuing panic attack.
“What do you intend to do about him? Judging from what I have observed, he wants you back”
Her eyes focused on me, expecting my answer. Max’s eyes stayed fixed on me, awaiting my response. She had always been a perceptive observer, keen on details.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I began,
“He never loved me.”
Saying them felt like a universe of pain resting on my heart, a heartache that had spanned years. The sound of a book snapping shut reverberated in the room, signalling Max’s surprise.
“Expantiate”
Taking a deep breath, I whispered, “He cheated”
Max’s voice remained steady as she inquired, “When?”
“I don’t know how long”
“I mean, when did you find out?”
“The day of the incident. I overheard him and Kun at the library”
The room fell silent for a brief moment, only to be broken by a heavy sigh.
“I see... So he doesn’t know that you know,” Max concluded, and I nodded silently, tears brimming in my eyes.
“So what are you going to do now?” she asked, her calm voice soothing my turbulent emotions.
My fingers drummed nervously on my chest, and my thoughts swirled in confusion. Even though four years had passed since the heartbreaking incident, I couldn’t deny that I still held lingering feelings for him. The pain I felt now was a testament to that. The most challenging part was acknowledging that, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise, a part of me still loved him.
Tears streamed down my face, “Max, he was my first love. I genuinely thought what we had was perfect. We shared our dreams, hopes... everything,” I began, my voice cracking under the weight of the memories. “But when I heard the words he said to her, it broke me. Does that mean everything we had was a lie?”
The pain in my chest felt nearly unbearable, and my voice cracked as I spoke the words. Even though four years had passed, it felt as fresh as if it had just happened yesterday.
Max offered an awkward but supportive embrace, her arms encircling me as I succumbed to a fit of tears. She was worried about me, worried that I would lose myself from this setback. Being in her embrace made me lose myself in a fit of tears.
“Oh, Eli. There, there,” she whispered, soothing me.
As the weight in my heart gradually lessened, I tried to regain my composure. Max remained by my side, her eyes filled with empathy and understanding, her presence assuring me that she would support whatever decision I made. I wasn’t alone; we shared a smile and allowed silence to envelop us. Opening up to her had been a crucial step in my healing process, allowing me to move forward.
Suddenly, a thought stirred in my mind, reminding me of the clinic. I needed to tell Max about the person who had rescued me.
“I understand that he rescued me, but that doesn’t give him the right to be a jerk,” I blurted out, my emotions still running high. Max’s confused expression only added to my frustration. I launched into a story about the enigmatic figure who had come to my aid, holding nothing back.
“Who?”
“That white-haired boy with a disgustingly pretty face. If only his attitude was half as attractive as his face”
Finally, Max smiled and shook her head in amusement.
“Elise, don’t take it personally. Trent can be like that occasionally”
Trent. Trent. That name sounds familiar
With those last words, she turned her focus back to her book. Max continued with her reading but not before letting out a small giggle with a shake of the head. Talking to her made me feel warm. I had always felt a unique bond with her, when we first met and even now, four years later. She was always there to listen to me and snap me back to reality when I needed it.
Excusing myself to the bathroom to change into more comfortable clothes, his name kept ringing in my head. I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation, trying to recall who he was.
“Sit still”
For the love of all things holy!
My hands balled in anger as I recalled the only person with such an aggravating voice.
“Trent!”
Like and Comment, or else, I’ll kill off Trent in the next chapter
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