The Heartbroken - S01 E36

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E36

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 36

I could feel my cheeks

flaming as I stared at

the teddy bear placed

on top of my desk.

It was early in the

morning, right before

the first bell rang. I

came a little too early

to the classroom. A

few of my classmates

were already there,

looking at the little furry

stuffed toy perched

innocently atop my

desk. The coffee brown

bear stared back at me

with its dark glass

eyes. There was a piece

of paper attached with

a pink lacy ribbon on its

hand.

My name was printed in

a loopy handwriting I

recognize but couldn’t

quite place, so there

was no mistaking who

this was for. It was for

me. If that wasn’t

enough proof, the first

two gifts I’ve received

the past week was

enough. At first it was

just a letter. Nothing

big, just my name, a

poem and a simple

drawing of a rose bud,

not quite fully bloomed

but halfway there.

Then it was an actual

rose, almost similar to

the sketch on the

letter.

For a plain, freshman girl

who was pretty much a

wallflower that no one

noticed, receiving these

gifts was something

that really made my

heart beat faster. Hail

nudged me.

“Oh my god, girl. Go get

it.”

I stood there, unsure of

what to do as all my

classmates stared at

me and the little

stuffed toy, and all the

words and feelings and

the beat, beat, beat

that came with it.

Three weeks later,

Cedric told me he was in

love with me.

Dear god.

Today it was a song. A

freaking song. In the

cafeteria.

I’ve been so used to

eating alone ever since

I’ve changed. After my

Literature class, I went

straight to the

cafeteria. Just a few

months ago, I would

have stayed in the

library to wait for Hail’s

class to end. I would

stay there for at least

thirty minutes because

her Arts teacher

always, always

dismissed his class late,

even after the bell rang,

which should be against

the rules but no one

complains because Mr.

Cooper was not only a

fun teacher, but was

also hot. Hail really liked

art, and she took the

class seriously. Also,

Michael Larkin—her

ultimate crush—was in

that class.

She would come to the

library with a glint in her

eye, almost always

smelling of paint and

acrylic, some bright

color still stuck on her

hands, completely

content with her Arts

class. Together, we

would go to the

cafeteria to eat, and

Cedric will appear, and

we would eat together,

the three of us.

Now, I’ve been so

accustomed to eating

lunch alone at a table

that I’d also gotten

used to being

completely ignored.

Not today, though.

Today, Seth shone a

spotlight on me as he

suddenly decided to

approach my table with

a guitar, making

everyone fall silent and

me look up at him with

wide eyes, silently

asking him what he

was planning to do.

“Hi there, Evans,” he

said, pulling a chair and

sitting on it, looking at

me as if no one was

staring at the two of

us.

“What are you doing

here?” I asked him. I

tried my best to appear

amused, to seem

excited.

“Well, I was done

eating, had pretty much

nothing to do, and

decided I’d drop by and

say hi,” he said.

“With a guitar.” I set

my fork down.

He smiled. “That”—he

positioned the guitar on

his legs—“is just a

bonus.”

I wasn’t quite sure if

this was a show meant

for the whole student

body or if he was just

being his weird self,

striking up a random

conversation. “Don’t tell

me you’re going to play

a song for me.” And by

that, I really meant

don’t tell me you’re

going to play a song for

me. I tried to send the

message with my eyes,

as if I would suddenly

develop telepathic skills

if I wished hard enough.