The Heartbroken - S01 E73

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E73

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 73

Warren sort of punched

her softly on her arm.

“You are such a girl.”

“But it’s the Swans!”

Alyssa crossed her

arms over her chest.

Pretty soon, everyone

was back to throwing

ideas out and debating

over it. I didn’t know

going to the

amusement park

required so much

energy. Amused, I

finally said, “Let’s try

the bump cars?”

Everyone paused and

slowly agreed. Seth

gave me a look and

laughed, shaking his

head with an eye-roll.

“They are such kids,”

he said.

I had never been in a

group before. It was

always just me and

Cedric or me and Hail. I’d

never been surrounded

by peers like this,

where everyone has

something to say and

argue and have debates

on the most random

things ever. I always

thought having a few

friends was enough.

But the way I could see

it now, I realize I’d been

missing out on a lot. As

much as I didn’t want

to admit it, I had Seth

to thank for letting me

be here.

Now in an argument

about whether or not

we should share cars or

get one each, we all

walked towards the

direction of the bump

cars. They were giving

out map printouts by

the entrance earlier, but

Seth and the others

refused them, so I was

blindly trailing behind

them. I couldn’t help

looking around as we

walked, marveling at

the sheer size of the

rides and listening to

every sound.

Right next to a colorful

corndog stall, I noticed a

little girl in braids,

holding hands with her

mother on one side and

his father on the other.

I forced myself to

breathe in, breathe out

as I looked through the

three of them, seeing

myself instead, several

years ago, standing in

between my mother

and father, the warmth

of their hands linked

with mine.

I felt cheated. Some

people still had both

their parents, and I

didn’t even have one of

them.

Taking a deep breath, I

ripped my gaze away

from the family and

searched instead for

Seth’s familiar mop of

sandy brown hair.

Which, of course, was

nowhere to be found. I

should have thought

something like this

would happen and

thought of grabbing one

of those maps at the

entrance. Taking my

phone out of my

pocket, I realized I

hadn’t even bothered to

charge it earlier before

getting out of the

house.

I decided to look around

once more, hoping to

find the bump cars

were actually just a

few yards away or

something, but it didn’t

seem like it. I randomly

walked in no particular

direction, trying to stay

alert to look for

everyone. If I didn’t

manage to find anyone,

I could maybe just ask

other people for

directions.

“Kyla!”

I looked up, to see Seth

emerge from the

crowd. His phone was

pressed to his ear. His

eyes locked with mine

and he finally lowered

the phone.

“I can’t reach your cell,”

he said when he was

near enough.

“Oh. Um. Sorry. I forgot

to charge it,” I told him.

That was the moment

a running kid chose to

bump into me from

behind, making me trip

between my feet,

teetering for a heart-

stopping moment as I

lost my balance.

Seth grabbed me just in

time, both hands on my

waist. I let out a sigh of

relief. Seth dropped his

hands when I

straightened, forgetting

to consider the distance

between us as I raised

my gaze to his. My

heart nearly jumped out

of my chest as I

realized he was closer

than I thought he was,

faces only inches apart.

I took a panicky step

back, nearly losing my

balance all over again

but managed to stay

upright. For some

reason, I could almost

hear the beating of my

heart, too loud and too

fast.

“You okay?” Seth said,

clearly unfazed.