The Heartbroken - S01 E17

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The Heartbroken - S01 E17

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 17

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“You know him,” he

said, the word him

coming out like an insult.

“He will only break your

heart.”

“Oh, that’s funny. I

thought that was your

job,” I said and turned

away completely,

dismissing him as I held

a hand out for Seth.

“Come on.” I plastered a

smile on my face, my

lower lip quivering in the

effort.

Seth didn’t miss a beat.

He took my hand

without a question and

even without telling him

anything, he knew

what I needed most at

the moment. He didn’t

look back as he led me

out of the cafeteria, his

hand guiding me all the

way.

As soon as we got out,

a strangled sob

managed to make its

way out my throat.

Seth’s hand tightened

around mine as he

pulled me into an empty

corridor. He stood in

front of me and held

my face im his hands,

as if checking for any

signs of injury.

“Hey,” he said. “You

okay?”

I took three calming

breaths, refusing to let

out another sob,

another weakness to

show. “He sucks.”

“I know.”

“He has no f-----g

right,” I said, my

breathing starting to go

haywire once again.

“I know.”

“He thinks he knows

me so well, but he

doesn’t,” my voice

broke at the last word.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said.

“He thinks—he thinks

—” Another sob pushed

its way out of my

throat and I didn’t care

that I sounded so

helpless, so weak. “He

told me he loved me,

and I really thought he

did, but—”

Seth tilted my chin up

so he could meet my

gaze. His blue eyes

were firm on mine as

he said, “It’s okay,” he

said, “it’s okay. And

you’re going to be okay.

And we’ll make him

pay, all right?”

I swallowed and

nodded, trying not to

cry, even as my eyes

started to water.

“I don’t know what he

wants,” he told me, “I

don’t know if he wants

you back, or if he just

doesn’t want you with

me, or if it’s just his

ego. But that doesn’t

matter, Kyla. What do

you want?”

If he wants you back.

The words sent a

tingling down my spine.

But not because I

wanted them to be

true. It was because I

wanted to hurt him,

more than he could ever

hurt me. So I looked at

Seth and said, “I want

payback.”

“Okay.” He ruffled my

hair, not unlike to a

master’s gesture for a

dog. I was about to say

something about this,

but then he was smiling

and his blue eyes were

so blue and his face

was so near and his

smile was so real.

It made me stop.

“By the way? Nicely

done,” he said. “You

handled him pretty

well.”

“Yeah, right,” I said,

looking away because I

suddenly felt awkward

about the whole thing.

He seemed completely

unfazed. “See how that

ended up, with me

crying in an empty

corridor.”

He grinned. “Well, we

could work on that.” He

stepped away and

made an After You

gesture with his hand. I

started to walk and

after two steps, he

said, “By the way…”

I turned to look at him

and said, “Uh huh?”

A smirk. And then the

words, “A picnic, huh?”

—

I remember a time

when I wasn’t so alone.

I had Cedric and I had

Hail. Hail, who became

my best friend the

moment we figured out

that we were so similar

back in seventh grade.

And I guess

sometimes, I do miss

having someone I can

talk to. When Cedric and

I broke up, and I

“changed,” Hail walked

away from me.