Page 92 of No One Else

A hysterical laugh escapes her before she presses her lips tightly together, the blood draining away till there’s just a slash of white across her face where her mouth used to be. “It’s too late.”

I drop to my knees in front of her, my pride long gone. “It’s not too late,” I beg her. “I’m sorry. Just give me another chance.”

She looks back at me with blank eyes, a tear escaping down her cheek. “We can’t date anymore.” The finality in her voice has my heart cracking in two, laid out open at her feet. She turns away, ignoring it. “Goodbye, Evan,” she whispers, scanning her keycard and opening the door, the slam of it behind her making me flinch this time.

What the-

What the fuck just happened?

***

IDRIVE HOME, AVOIDINGDad when I walk in, and head straight to my bedroom, lying down in bed to face the wall and pull my blanket up over me, blocking out the world.

She just needs time, I tell myself. She’s still mad about last night, even though I secretly think what I did wasn’t that bad considering what Carter was doing, and she’ll cool off about it soon and we can work it out. It’s the only option.

Except she doesn’t cool off.

She avoids me at the gym on Monday, finding somewhere else to be every time I approach the front desk. And she sits in the back of the class Tuesday during Marketing after spotting me at our normal table. We’ve already finished our project, so there’s no real reason for us to sit together, but it still cuts deep watching her go to such lengths to avoid me. To ignore my texts, my calls, any time I even try to make eye contact with her when we’re in the same room.

I can’t keep on like this. This constant aching in my gut, sick to my stomach knowing I caused her so much pain she had to break up with me. That I acted so terribly she can’t give me another chance. I wouldn’t have told her in the car dropping her back at her dorm that I’d do the same thing again. That was what probably sealed the deal.

On Wednesday I run into Morgan of all people, in line behind her at the library’s refillable water bottle station. She does a double take when she notices me, her eyes narrowing. “You’ve got some nerve,” she mutters.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you know how much it sucks listening to Natalie cry at all hours of the night? I’ve had to start wearing my headphones to sleep.”

Natalie’s crying? She would only do that if she cared, right? If she still felt something for me? Assuming she’s crying about me, that is. “What’s wrong with her?”

Her eyes widen incredulously. “What’s wrong with her? You broke up with her dummy!”

“I didn’t break up with her. She broke up with me.”

Her eyebrows raise. “Could’ve fooled me. Well, whichever of you did it, please work it out quick. I’m tired of listening to her.”

Hope wells within me. I immediately get out of line, pulling out my phone and call her. It goes to voicemail after a minute, as usual, but I don’t let that deter me. I’m pretty sure she’s out of class right now, and she doesn’t usually go back to her dorm in the middle of the day.

I’m tempted to call Charlotte or Samantha, but I’ve hesitated to turn to them. They’re her friends and I wouldn’t want to put them in an awkward position. I already feel bad leaning on Luke, who has connections to her too through work and Charlotte.

He let me get drunk at his apartment Sunday afternoon and play video games with him well into the night, never once prying for information. I couldn’t have spoken then anyway, still too much in shock.

For now, though, I know he doesn’t have the answers to where Natalie is. If only I could just find her to talk to her, somewhere she can’t avoid me. My next class isn’t for another hour so I’ve got time. I pull up Instagram, knowing she sometimes posts her plans or what she’s doing there, but I’ve been avoiding it, not wanting to get sucked into staring at her photos for hours.

Looking at her profile, though, it’s not pictures of only her I see.

It’s her and Carter. Tagged in three different photos from this week.

The two of them at brunch Sunday morning, just hours after she broke up with me. Walking together on campus Monday, his arm around her shoulders. And one from last night, her looking beautiful in the same navy dress she wore on our first date, staring into the camera like she has a secret. The caption reads,Taking this gorgeous girl out to dinner, followed by a string of hashtags, including one that says#threeyearsstrong.

I nearly drop the phone as my fingers go numb, sinking into a chair at a nearby table. Did I cause her to go running back to him for comfort?

Or was that kiss between them Saturday night not as uninvited as I thought?

God, I was such an idiot. Acting like I was her savior. No wonder she was mad if she wanted to get back together with Carter. Or already was back together with him. Did our time together overlap? Or were they really just on a break this whole time as he claimed?

She said she loved me. That there was no one else.

Was everything a lie?

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