The Heartbroken - S01 E35

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The Heartbroken - S01 E35

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 35

*CONTINUES*

No,” I immediately

answered, blinking

away tears.

Almost too gently, he

brushed away strands

of hair from my face,

tucking them behind my

right ear. “What is it?

Come on. I can’t help

you if I don’t know

these things.”

Around us, the people

were doing different

things, doing their

planned activities for

the day, their worlds

still moving even as

mine seemed to have

stopped. A gust of wind

rushed past us, blowing

with it a few leaves. A

single dry leaf made its

way to us, landing

neatly on my dress.

Yellow, almost crispy—

seemingly a dead,

fragile thing. It

reminded me of me.

After a moment of

prolonged silence, he

said, “Hey, it’s okay if

you don’t want to tell

me. But you should also

know that it’s okay to

just tell Cedric that you

still like him, that you’re

still hurt. That you

want him back.”

“But I don’t want him

back!”

“Are you sure?” he

asked me, unfazed by

my outburst.

“I… I don’t know. But I

don’t want to want him

back. I keep… I keep

telling myself that he

hurt me, that he broke

my heart, that he will

only break it again, over

and over again, but I

don’t know why the

f--k I still feel like I like

him.”

Silence aired for a while.

Yet behind it, behind

this silence, heavy

words were waiting to

be said. Words loudest

in the passing silence.

“I think that’s normal,”

he said. “To feel that

way, even after you’ve

been hurt many times.”

Hearing this from him

made me stop. Had he

been hurt before? Had

he been brokenhearted

once?

“That’s why I think it’s

okay to cry,” he said.

“It’s better if you do.”

He shifted again, sitting

right beside me so we

were shoulder to

shoulder. He pulled me

closer as he draped his

arm over my shoulders,

not saying anything

more than what was

needed to say.

The tears didn’t spill

over. I was better than

that. After a moment

of silence, I decided it

wouldn’t hurt for me to

tell him. It’s not like I

have anyone else to

talk to, seeing as Hail

and Cedric were

officially in the bottom

of my friend list.

“Hail used to be my

best friend,” I said, a

pang of hurt making it

harder to continue. “I’d

always been kind of

socially awkward. I only

had two friends. Hail

and Cedric. Back then,

though, I thought they

were enough. I thought

I didn’t need anyone

else as long as I had

then. I was so, so

stupid,” I said, my

hands taking the dried

leaf from my dress,

slowly, slowly, tearing it

apart bit by bit.

Unlike the way Cedric

broke my heart—not

slowly, not bit by bit,

but all at once in one big

crash.

“Now I can’t even have

either of them,” I

continued, regretting a

lot of things, a feeling

of anger washing over

me.

“Well,” he said, pausing

for a while before

saying, “then they don’t

deserve you. You

deserve better than

them.”

I looked down at my

hands, the dried leaf

now fully crumbled.

“You know what? It

seems as if this day is

ruined, but fear not!”

His tone changed from

his serious, gentle,

weirdly understanding

voice into his playful,

happy one. “I know

something that will

take your mind off of

this.”

I looked at him

quizzically, puzzled.

Then suddenly, he

leaned into me and

kissed me as if he had

every right to do so. My

eyes widened, and I

would have pushed him

away if he hadn’t

broken the kiss before I

could. He was grinning

impishly at me. “Well, I

do kiss better than that

guy, right? What the f--k? You

are so full of yourself.

I–I only said that to

make a point. I didn’t

mean it!”

“Honestly, Kyla, I’ve

lost count on all the lies

you’ve told me.”

“You are such a pig,” I

told him. “Here I was,

telling you my stupid,

stupid thoughts and

here you were thinking

about shit that could

boost your ego.”

“Hey, I was only trying

to help,” he said, raising

both his hands—the

universal sign of

surrender.

My mouth dropped

open. “How is this

supposed to help?”

He simply shrugged.

“See, now you’ve

forgotten about hating

him and started hating

me for kissing you,” he

said. “Which is better,

right? For you, anyway.”

I was more than just

surprised to hear this

from him. It didn’t

make sense. How could

this guy, this vain, self-

centered, egotistic guy

who knows nothing but

fool around with girls,

be so different?

He smiled at me,

ruffling my hair with his

hand in a surprisingly

brotherly gesture. I was

rendered speechless,

my mouth slightly

parted as the weight of

his hand rested atop

my head—warm,

gentle and friendly.

The exact opposite of

the Seth Everett I had

in mind back then.