The Heartbroken - S01 E172

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The Heartbroken - S01 E172

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 172

The rumors of our breakup had

travelled quickly around the school,

each one more ridiculous than the

other. I could feel the stares

following me as I made my way

through the hallways without

Seth’s arm slung over my shoulder

or him meeting me at my locker.

The last time I’d seen Seth was

right before he drove off from Lily’s,

after that last conversation of ours.

I hadn’t been crying then, feeling

oddly detached to the world and

my feelings. It was like I was hardly

bothered by the way I shivered in

the chill of the night and I hadn’t

moved until I felt Alyssa’s hand on

my shoulder.

All I wanted was to go home and

curl up in my room, and Warren

offered to drive me using my car.

Halfway home, however, Hail had

called, saying Alyssa told her about

what happened and suggested I

should stay the night at hers.

I took up on the suggestion and

when we got there, Hail was

already prepared with a pint of

cookie dough ice cream and a DVD

of 50 First Dates already waiting for

me. I thanked Warren and he got

back to Lily’s with a cab and I pretty

much spent the night holed up

with Hail in her bedroom, watching

one of my favorite movies of all

time.

Halfway through the movie, I began

to tell her what happened.

When I was done speaking, she

reached for my hand.

“Hey.”

I looked up at her.

“I don’t think he wanted this to

happen, either,” she said. She’d

always been level-headed when it

came to stuff like this, so I was glad

she offered the impromptu

sleepover. “From the looks of it,

he’s only doing what he thinks is

right. He’s afraid.”

“Of what?” I shook my head,

feeling the bitterness clawing at my

throat. “Getting hurt?”

“Of hurting you.”

That shut me up.

I allowed myself to think of the

roles in reverse. I wouldn’t have

wanted to start anything with him

if I still hadn’t worked it out with

Cedric. And of course, this led me to

the realization that I had been the

irrational one, jumping into telling

Seth my feelings for him when it

was clear neither of us were ready

for anything.

It also led me to think that I still had

to talk to Cedric, despite the way

Friday had gone. It was ridiculous

how I agreed to drop the topic,

because obviously, I shouldn’t have.

I still had to talk it out with him, to

eradicate the issue completely,

because running away from it

would never solve anything.

At lunchtime, Hail and I decided to

meet in the courtyard to plan an

appropriate course of action for

the time being.

“So,” Hail said in lieu of a hello, “the

worst one I heard so far has

something to do with a

homosexual wrestler, a drunk

pianist in a bar, some tequila shots

and you getting into a fight with a

masked matador.”

“What?” I wrinkled my nose. “All of

those in one breakup rumor?”

She nodded solemnly, like it was

truly something worth being sad

about. “The wonders of high

school.”

The black eye Nicole had given me

had intensified the ridiculousness

of the rumors. Earlier this morning,

the one I heard of had something

to do with me breaking up with

Seth or being an abusive boyfriend.

How it had morphed into other

ridiculous stories was beyond my

understanding.

“Do we sit with them at lunch or…”

she trailed off uncertainly, in a way

that suggested she would go with

any decision I come up with.