Chapter 008

ELIANA

The redhead has her hands wrapped around Ethan's neck and he's leaning forward slightly, his hands tightly secured around her waist and they're kissing passionately, lost in the moment as though the outer world doesn't exist, they're in their own bubble of passion.

He's sucking her lower lip, slowly and gently, his eyes shut and he pulls her closer as if he can't get enough of her. Like she's the sweetest thing that he has ever tasted in his entire life.

It feels like time has stopped for a split second, everything moving in slow motion, the celebrations by the python team becoming distant noises.

I blink once, twice, thrice, hoping maybe, just maybe, my eyes were playing some dumb games to me but…my heart twists inside my chest when reality sinks in, hard for me to grasp.

It's really happening.

The box slides from my hand and drops on the concrete floor.The red velvet hits the concrete floor with a thud, cracking open and the watch that I bought for Ethan as a gift using a part of my savings slides from the box.

All attention at the locker turns towards me, and so is Ethan's and the red head’s.

He looks surprised, perhaps not expecting me to walk in on them while in that position or maybe he was just pretending. The redhead doesn't look surprised at all, instead, the corner of her lips curves into a smile.

I open my mouth to say something, anything. Perhaps scream at the top of my lungs but no word comes from my mouth, my tongue is too heavy to utter even a single word, my throat clogged with emotions that's almost choking. My lips part in a silent scream as my heart breaks into a million pieces.

“E-Eliana,” Ethan calls hesitantly, “I-I can explain. It's not what you think.” He says.

Ethan takes a step towards me but I step backwards, shaking my head in denial, my vision becoming blurry as tears burn in my eyes, threatening to fall.

“Wh-why?” I ask desperately, my voice a whisper and shaky, not sure what to ask him exactly because I have so many questions but I can't form a coherent sentence at the moment.

“It's not like what you saw. Please give me a chance to explain.” He makes another step towards me but I step back, still shaking my head.

What is there for him to explain to me when I saw everything? Tess was kissing him and he kissed her back, passionately. He didn't try to stop her or pull away. He leaned in for the kiss, his hands tightly wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer.

"Please…” He tries to plead, making another step towards me. I look into those brown eyes that I love, those lips that I can't believe kissed someone else. And...those strong hands that always wrapped around me whenever we hugged, making me feel safe and protected from the world.

I want to ask him why he would do this to me. However, I don't have the courage to do so at the moment because I can't find my voice. I step backwards, turn around and walk away. I don't care to pick the box or watch because all I want is to be away from him at the moment.

Tears stream down my cheeks but I wipe it almost immediately using the back of my hand, not wanting him to see how heartbroken I am. The hallway locker is quiet, all attention turned to me as they watched me walk away with tears in my eyes like the loser that I am.

“Eliana please wait…” I hear Ethan call behind me, his voice hurried as he chases after me. However, I don't turn back to listen to what he has to say. Instead, I break into a sprint and run down the hallway, my vision foggy with tears and I have no idea where I’m going.

I don't care where I’m heading to. I don't care if I will end up at the end of the world. Anywhere else but here…

I miss a step and bump into something hard and stumble back. However, a hand wraps around me tightly and protectively before I fall on the concrete hallway. Slowly, I raise my head to check whom I have bumped into and a breath catches in my throat, not expecting to be him out of all the people.

He's still wearing hockey gear, the blue jersey and the helmet.

His eyebrows pull together into a frown, his blue eyes darkening as he stares down at me and for the very first time ever, I see some emotions cross his eyes which I can't wrap my head around.

“Everything okay?” He asks, his voice deep. I can feel the slight worry and concern in his voice even though his face doesn't show it.

I want to tell him the fucking truth. I want to tell him that nothing is okay. Everything is totally wrong and it hurts like a bitch. I want to tell him that my heart is broken into tiny little bits and no experienced doctor in this world can fix it. I want to tell him that I watched my world crumble before me but there was nothing I could do to fix it.

I want to tell him that… my chest tightens and I force a smile on my lips, blinking as I push back the tears.

“Ye-yes,” I say, my voice a little shaky. I wriggle from his arms when I hear the echoes of footsteps nearby, never looking back.

I can't let him see me break. I can't allow him to see how pathetic I look as tears stream down my cheeks. I don't want him to know how fucking bad it hurts that I want to scream so loud. I can't let him see my weaknesses.

Not him out of all the people.

“Eliana?” I hear Zoe's voice scream my name and I can feel the concern in her voice. A sob breaks free from my lips, more tears carving down my cheeks but I bite my lower lip, blocking off the sobs, holding onto the tiny self respect that I have left.

I want to stop and talk to Zoe. To explain to her about everything because I know she’ll understand me better than anyone else but…I can't. Not when I’m this broken that I can't speak a full sentence without my voice cracking.

Not when I can't think straight.

I arrive at the parking lot and walk hurriedly towards my car, opening the door with my shaky hands and getting into the car.

“Eliana, Eliana, Eliana?” Ethan bangs on the left window, asking for me to lower the window so that he could talk to me. However, I reach for the wheels, not giving him a chance and drive away.

From the side mirror, I can see him running after the car and pleading for me to slow down but I increase the speed instead, tears falling down my cheeks.

Zoe is chasing after the car too but I can't stop no matter how badly I want to. All I want is to be away from Crest Hill. A way from this heart wrenching, suffocating pain.

“I’m sorry Zoe.” I choke out, hoping she’ll be able to understand. She always does.

From a far, I notice Jackson watching my car as I drive through the gates, his face unpredictable. I think he must be so happy out of all the people…