Chapter 52
1443words
It's been a week since i left the apartment, I'm in the hall restrooms when dark wavy hair and blue eyes catch my eyes in the mirror. Marisa.
Suddenly, my own saliva feels like grass to swallow. She's a bit taller than me, about five feet five if I'm correct, I'm just five feet two.
The bitch has the nerve to smile at me and say,
"Hi, i guess it's high time i officially introduced myself since you must already know of me, judging by how you kept looking at me back there. I'm Marisa, Brandon's first love."
I just ignore her hand and walk past her but she just won't stop, she follows me.
"You know, if I were you, I'd be worried too, Brandon almost died because I left him."
I turn around to face her.
"What do you want Marisa?"
"You know what I want, Kimberly."
"And what you want doesn't belong to you, it never will."
Her stupid smile is still in place and I want nothing more than to slap it off her right now, but Nao's words stop me.
"She's going to try to provoke you, she'll look for a crack in your shield, try to see if you've got insecurities and use them to hurt you and drive a bigger rift between you and Brandon, don't give her that space, trust me, I've been there."
Yep, she definitely has been there. I won't give Marisa what she wants, I might be mad at Brandon, but that doesn't mean I'll throw away everything just because of a jealous bitch of an ex who hurt him and is trying to force herself back into his life.
I know he didn't cheat on me, I saw it in his eyes when he said it without a doubt. I've spent years with Brandon, I know when he's lying or hiding something. I just needed to hear it while looking into his eyes.
What I'm most angry about is the fact that he hid everything from me, he didn't trust me, he entertained her by giving her his phone number, he let her touch him.
"Then why did you leave the apartment?" She pouts her lips out and it takes all my self restrain not to punch her like Sam advised me to.
How does she even know that? Did Brandon... No. Don't show her a crack.
"Girls time."
"Come on Kim," my lips twitch when she addresses me like we are some sort of good friends. "I know there's a bigger reason why you left. I wonder..." She taps her lip as though lost in thought, then she gasps exaggeratively. "Could it because of me?" Her eyes widen then she smiles.
I smile back at her.
"You're not that important,Marisa. You're just a past, a death he survived from and then he found his life, me. You're his first love, right?" She keeps her smile in place, so I press harder. "How many years was it? six? Seven? How come he didn't marry you after being in love with you for such a long time? Because he sure did propose to me after loving me for only a year."
Her stupid smile finally drops.
Her hands ball into fists at her sides, I finally got to her. Good.
"Love doesn't kill Marisa, love gives life, builds life." I make sure to press on the word 'builds'.
She might brag about how Brandon almost died because of his love for her, but I won't do the same, I'm not that type of person who will be proud of such horror just to shove her down, what happened to him back then because of me is not something I'm proud of.
"You might have been his first love, but I'm his true love, Risa." I use the name i believe is only for her friends.
Before she can say anything, I turn and leave. My heart is beating brutally against my chest, I leave campus and walk all the way back to girls' apartment, needing some fresh air.
I close the door and take deep breaths in and out with my eyes closed, my fingers go to messages and i read the one he sent me this morning.
Bran: Come back to me.
My eyes close and all I can see is him, his lips, his green eyes, and his voice asking me to go back to him. I stopped replying to his messages and days ago.
My eyes peel open and a tear slides down my cheek when my mind answer what my heart doesn't want.
I can't.
* *Two Days Later* *
I've been seeing the worried stares from my friends, it's hard to miss.
I've been out of myself lately, being away from Brandon while knowing things didn't go down well the last time we spoke or saw each other has been tough. I don't like how tight my chest feels, this was our major fight ever since we got together after our breakup back in high school, the Ronan chaos.
Ronan and I are still friends, we do meet up when we're back in Blackwool on breaks or holidays. He's doing well and dating a very nice girl whose name is Haylee. She's Mexican and I love her brown glowing skin and thick curly hair, we're not friends but we do follow each other on social media.
Sam flops down on the bed next to me.
"So, what are we watching?"
She scrolls through the movies on netflix and settles on a steamy romance.
"Gosh I need to get me a man!" She groans in frustration, which has me rolling my eyes and chuckling.
"Sooo...I invited someone over for dinner tonight."
She side eyes me and I honestly pray to God that she's finally decided to give herself a chance.
She must read my thoughts because she rushes to say,
"It's Matt."
And just like that, my excitement fades. I know what she's trying to do, make Brandon jealous.
"Sam..." I start but she cuts in.
"It's just dinner, Kim. Besides, you need to remind Brandon that he's so damn lucky to have you and shouldn't make any mistake because once the door is open, he might lose you quicker than he thinks."
"Sam," I groan. "Even if Bran and I were to..split." the word breakup feels way too heavy for me to utter, I can't even dare say it because that's not what i want to happen with me and Bran, it wouldn't get that far.
"He can come for dinner, but I'm not going to use him to make Brandon jealous, I don't want to go down that road, we both know where it would lead and how it would end."
"In world war four!" Nao says when she steps out of the bathroom.
"Don't listen to her," her eyes narrow on Sam who narrows hers right back at Nao. "Just give it time, the two of you will clear things out," she looks at Sam when she says the last part. "The right way."
Sam rolls her eyes and focuses back on the TV.
"Gosh he's so hot!" She crunches on a crisp.
* *Café * *
Xander and I talked on video call last night, he apologised for not telling me about Brandon's visit to him in Sam Diego.
I don't blame him at all, it wasn't his place to tell, if Brandon is keeping secrets, i won't blame someone else for that. That's exactly what I told Xan and he assured me that Bran would never do anything to hurt me intentionally. Of course I ended the conversation, I didn't want to break down in front of him.
I'm waiting for Nao when someone slides into the seat opposite me, I look up and find a girl I'm not familiar with staring back at me.
I look around.
"Can I help you?"
"Someone sent me to give these to you," she hands me a bouquet of flowers. I hesitantly take them and ask.
"Brandon?"
"I don't know, but he was an older man, really tall, with blonde hair.
I frown, i don't know anyone who looks like that.
Before I can ask more questions like how old he looked, she's already walking out the door.
The flowers look very expensive and I must admit,they do smell so nice. I check for a note but there's nothing.
I wonder who could send me flowers apart from Brandon. I push down the odd feeling and text Nao, informing her not to come to the café, then i stand from the chair and head out.
