The Heartbroken - S01 E50

Story 5 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E50

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 50

“Seth?” I said.

He looked at me, raising

an eyebrow.

I took a deep breath.

“This is the third one.” I

tried not show any

emotion on my face.

“Why does Cedric hate

you so much?”

God, I hope I’m not

right. I hope it’s just a

coincidence.

Maybe there was

something about the

way I looked at him,

but judging from the

look on his face, he

must have picked up on

the hint that I might

have an idea.

“Cedric hates me,” he

paused, running his

fingers through his hair

and making an

expression that made it

seem as if saying the

words physically pained

him, “because my

mother is having an

affair with his dad.”

You know those

moments when it

seems as if a huge tidal

wave was coming

directly at you, but you

can’t move away and it

hits you full in the face,

the water rising over

your head until you’re

completely submerged,

grasping for oxygen.

That’s how I felt after

Seth told me about his

secret.

I’d been somehow

expecting it, but it still

came off as a big

surprise that made me

freeze all over.

“Oh, my god,” I gasped

out. I couldn’t help but

pinch the bridge of my

nose as the information

threatened to give me a

headache.

“Yeah.” He looked down

at his now-empty

bottle of beer.

“All this time, I couldn’t

figure out why Cedric

hates you and I just—it

never occurred to me

that it could be

something so serious.”

He didn’t say anything

else, so I took his

silence as a chance to

think things over. I’d

always thought it was

simply like a childhood

thing or someone

bullying the other. I

never thought it went

deeper than that; I’d

never expected it would

be something like a

twisted family thing.

“Could it have

something to do with

why he broke up with

me?” I suddenly found

myself asking.

I felt Seth’s shoulders

become rigid. I looked

over at him. There was

a surprisingly blank look

on his face. “Do you,

uhh…” He trailed off,

placing his free hand at

the back of his neck.

“This is my third

question. Do you still

love Cedric?”

Saying “no” felt like

lying, but saying “yes”

felt stupid. It was one

of those questions

where you know the

right answer but still

felt like giving the

wrong one. Still loving

Cedric shouldn’t even be

an option—he dumped

me without even giving

explanation

whatsoever. Just

“goodbye” and it’s done

—gone in an instant, all

those years of being

best friends and then

being more than just

that.

He took it all and left

me with a goodbye that

didn’t even feel

necessary.

He didn’t even tell me

about his dad’s affair

with Seth’s mom. He’d

told me he was having

problems coping with

his Dad’s new girlfriend,

but never said anything

about that “girlfriend”

being a married woman.

We used to tell each

other everything. As

best friends, we had

this unspoken

agreement that one

should never keep

secrets. I wonder,

when did we stop being

best friends? Did our

relationship as

boyfriend-girlfriend ruin

our friendship?

“I don’t know,” I finally

answered. “It’s like—I

keep holding on to this

image of him. I want

him back in my life

because—because my

whole life, he was there

with me. I can hardly

even remember a time

when he wasn’t a

constant presence in

my life.”

“He’s an a-----e, Ky.

You can do better than

him,” he told me, his

eyes lidded as he stared

at me from under his

lashes.

“He’s not an a-----e.” I

couldn’t help but feel

defensive. It was

something close to a

reflex. I got his back

and he got mine. We

used to, anyway. “He’s

one of the sweetest,

kindest guys ever and I

don’t want to judge him

just because he

dumped me. But yeah, if

it makes the two of us

feel better, he’s a

f-----g a-----e.”

The hand on the back

of his neck started to

move towards his hair,

running his fingers

through his sandy

brown locks. “So you do

still love him.”

Biting my lip, I let my

hair fall in such a way

that it served as a

curtain, shielding my

face away from his

unyielding gaze.

“This… thing we’re

doing. Are we really

doing it for revenge?”

There was a noticeably

serious pause before he

continued in a quieter

voice, “Are we doing

this so you can get him

back?”