Page 179 of Treacherous
Willow pushes her shoulders back, clearly mustering up any courage she has left. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. Why are you doing it? You don’t need to.”
Her chest heaves. “I–” Willow looks at her shoes, then back to me. “You’re already attached. It’s best we end it now.”
Her tone is cold, and my eyes widened in disbelief. Attached? She’s kidding herself if she is trying to minimise my feelings. “Attached? That’s what you think,” I tighten my fists. “I fucking love you, Willow!”
The confession falls from my tongue. It’s been waiting, urging to come out for the past month.
My eyes water, and I’m barely able to hold in the tears. My declaration echoes off the walls, slowly disappearing, leaving the two of us in silence.
Willow says nothing.
Nothing.
With every moment I wait for a response–any word to leave her mouth, the more pieces my heart spits into. Then, Willow does something even worse. She leaves.
No, that’s incorrect. She fucking bolts out of my room, slamming the door behind her.
My limbs ache, no longer able to hold me. I collapse onto the bed, sinking into the comfort of the mattress.
The left side has always been my dedicated position while sleeping, but now, I roll onto the right side. I try to inhale the remaining scent of Willow on my pillow, but there’s barely anything left.
Rivulets descend my face, falling onto the white sheets. The first time I lost the love of my life, I thought I was dying. That was nothing compared to the current ache in my heart. I want it to stop.
How do I make it fucking stop?
I flip over, reaching for my phone on the bedside table. It’s late for a Thursday night, but with Jazmine’s sleeping habits, I’m hopeful she is awake. I need to talk to my best friend.
I click on her contact. It rings and rings.
“Jay, is everything okay?”
My breath catches in my throat, and all the words I want to say are stuck.
“Jay,” Jazmine’s voice breaks. “You’re scaring me, are you okay?”
“Can I come over?” I whisper the words.
“Of course you can,”
I tell Jaz I will be over in ten minutes, packing a backpack of clothes and my phone charger. I make my way down the stairs, going as fast as I can.
I can’t be here any longer. This place is suffocating, especially my bedroom. It has too many memories of Willow that I can’t be around any longer.
Cooper and Aiden–the team’s resident night owls–are sitting on the couch, their gazes fall onto me as I reach the last step.
“Are you okay?” Cooper asks.
God, he’s such a good kid. I don’t know how he ended up with us as friends. I don’t face them–or I can’t. They probably heard every word of Willow ending things with me, which is honestly worse than them seeing me cry.
“I’m going to stay with Jazmine,”
“For the night or longer?” Aiden asks. His tone is laced with worry, which is unusual for him.
I shut my eyes, squeezing them tighter with each second that passes. “I’m not sure." And with that, I leave and don’t look back.
***
