The Heartbroken - S01 E225

Story 2 years ago

The Heartbroken - S01 E225

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 225

If it had been any Saturday morning, I would have

been lazing around in bed reading the books I

recently bought with Hail last Wednesday. Then I

would probably head over to Cedric’s so we could

watch some movies and grieve over the fact that he

was going to start chemo the next day. Then when I

come home, I would probably watch some sucky

reality TV Show with Mom while eating some Ben

and Jerry’s straight from the tub.

But it wasn’t just any Saturday morning.

“God, Justin, can you please just hurry the f--k up?”

Alyssa shouted as she rolled the car window down.

From the backseat, I raised an eyebrow at this and

met Warren’s eyes on the rearview mirror.

Warren twisted around to give me an apologetic

smile. “Sorry. She hasn’t had her coffee yet.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, shaking my head a little.

“And you’ve been with her for half an hour already?”

Alyssa turned back to look at us with a glare. Huffing,

she said, “I’m right here.”

“It’s not exactly hard to forget that, considering that

you keep—”

Alyssa punched him on the shoulder before he could

even continue.

I could tell he was about to say something about

this, but then the door to my right opened and Justin

quickly slid in. The scent of his cologne immediately

filled the car, making my eyes water almost

immediately.

“Holy shit, did you, like, bathe yourself in your

cologne or something?” Alyssa said. “You stink.”

“Duuude, what’s up with her?” Justin eyed me and

Warren, pointing at Alyssa with a hand.

Warren merely shrugged in a Don’t even ask gesture

as he pulled out the driveway.

“How can you guys not freak out?” she all but

shrieked at us, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Seth is leaving. In, like, an hour. And we’re never

going to see him again for who knows how long.”

At this, we all fell silent.

It’s been a week since Seth did his little disappearing

act; a week since I found out about the fact that he

was leaving for New York. That night, I managed to

force him to come with me to Jim’s Burgers so we

can at least put some food in that empty stomach of

his. It wasn’t the best fast-food joint out there, but it

was open 24/7, so we figured it would have to do.

We took my car instead of his, which was parked on

the other side the picnic ground. He was silent for

most of the ride, which bothered me more than it

should have, but once we got to Jim’s and I

successfully convinced him to eat two burgers

instead of one, I said the only two words I could

think of.

“Question game.”

I wasn’t sure, but I swear it seemed like he chewed

his food slowly on purpose before swallowing and

agreeing to it.

“It’s your turn,” I reminded him.

“I know.”

I waited for his question. He was looking at anything

but me, a thoughtful expression on his face. I took it

as an opportunity to study his face more closely.

Back at the picnic ground, the shadows managed to

hide much of his exhaustion, but in the bright

fluorescent light of Jim’s, I realized he was more

affected with his parents’ looming divorce than I had

originally thought.

After a prolonged silence, he finally took a deep

breath and brought his gaze to mine. “You said you

like me.”