The Heartbroken - S01 E02

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E02

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

I had been saving for

months to buy Cedric a

new electric guitar. I

took a part-time job at

a little boutique in town

and saved most of my

allowance so I could

come up with enough

money to buy it.

“He’d love it!” Hail told

me, her eyes shining

bright. “You guys are

the cutest couple in the

world. It’s really

amazing how you

started off as best

friends before going

out. Pretty soon you’d

marry each other and

I’ll

be your maid of honor.

Then you’d be having

babies and—”

“Oh, my god, stop it,” I

told her, fighting the

urge to blush.

Of course that was

exactly how I

envisioned it. I thought

there was no way we

wouldn’t eventually get

there.

That night, I didn’t

mind

dressing up, which was

saying a lot. I was the

type of girl who

preferred comfort over

appearance, choosing

to

wear a sweatshirt

over

a cute blouse. But I

wanted to make

Cedric’s birthday

special,

so Hail helped me curl

my brown locks. I

applied some makeup,

something I wasn’t

exactly quite fond of.

We ended up choosing

the plain white

sundress that looked

surprisingly good on

me.

I brought the guitar

with me, nestled in its

case. I used the straps

of the case and carried

it like a backpack,

underestimating the

guitar’s weight.

So I stood there in the

cold, summer night

with

my sundress on and a

guitar case slung over

my back, waiting for

Cedric to show up. At

some point, I set the

guitar down, propping it

carefully against the

sand. He was

uncharacteristically

late.

It had been two hours

and he wasn’t picking

up any of my phone

calls. I was starting to

get worried.

“Hey, babe. You play?”

At first I thought it

was some sort of

weird, out-of-character

joke from Cedric, but

when I looked up, it

wasn’t. In fact, it was

Seth Everett.

He stood in front of me

with his hands shoved

deep in his jean

pockets, his sandy

brown hair strewn over

his forehead.

If I didn’t know any

better, I would have

been flattered. I’d seen

him in school and have

heard rumors about

him

and the way he’d move

on from one girl to

another without

hesitation. If that

wasn’t enough for me

not to like him, there

was also the fact that

Cedric, for some

reason,

didn’t like Seth.

“What?” I asked him.

My throat felt dry,

making me realize how

long I’d been standing

there.

“I asked, do you play?”

He nodded at the

guitar.

A small smile was

playing across his lips,

the smile that

effectively made half

the female population

at our school swoon.

The same smile that

he

used when he was

hitting on another poor,

pathetic girl.

Was it possible that he

was hitting on me? I

had never really been

under his radar, seeing

as I was practically

invisible at school. Not

that I would complain.

I raised an eyebrow at

him. “Um, no.” I looked

sideways, hoping he’d

get the picture and

leave when he figures

out I wasn’t

interested.

I doubted that he even

knew we go to the

same school.

I saw him open his

mouth to say

something, but as if on

cue, Cedric arrived,

looking almost out of

breath when he saw

me. He eyed Seth coldly

before dragging me

away, leaving Seth

standing there with

the

same cold look on his

face.

I tore my eyes away

from Seth and looked

back at Cedric. I was

too relieved to see he

was fine that I’d

forgotten about being

mad at him for being

late. “Happy birthday,”

I

said.

He glanced at me. My

heart did this weird,

little dance when I saw

him look me over,

checking me out—

appreciating the fact

that I dressed up. But

the look on his face

was replaced by

something serious. My

smile shifted into a

slight frown.

“There’s something I

have to tell you,” he

told me, his voice

serious.