“Trust should be earned and not given out on a silver platter.”
…
~ Elizabeth ~
“Oh… God! No!” I paced around the hotel room aimlessly, not knowing what to do with either my time or my life. The memories from earlier haunted me as I paced, only pausing for a few seconds to catch my breath.
How could he have me so figured out?
How come he knew I liked him, without me even saying a word to him?
“Gosh, how?” I covered my face, feeling ashamed all of a sudden.
Boys aren’t supposed to know when a girl likes them, are they? Especially if, well, they don’t feel the same, right?
“Oh… gosh! What am I going to do now?” I continued pacing, hoping some creative energy would materialize as I kept myself in motion.
But nothing came, even after so many moments had passed. Gosh! What the hell is going on?
I walked over to my bed and sat cross-legged on it before grabbing my iPad, as the urge to talk to someone flooded my senses. I scrolled through my contacts… and paused when I came across Evie’s.
The thought of calling her hadn’t crossed my mind until now… and then I hesitated. Why?
‘Have fun…’ Her words rang in my head, along with the insincerity that came with them.
What could be going on? Evie isn’t one to be jealous… of something as petty as a guy, so why the sudden behavior?
I acted on impulse and logged into my social media account to check her page. And then I caught her latest update.
There was a picture of her standing on the beach, in a bikini and a hat. Her milky white skin stood out. Her outfit highlighted her beautiful long legs, and I suddenly felt insecure.
Why had she posted this all of a sudden? I thought as I checked her previous post, which was made five months ago before we met. Even then, it was simply a picture of her cat.
I checked her posts once again and sighed… I was about to log out when the caption caught my eyes.
‘I am beautiful and desirable.’
I felt something stir inside me as I read her words. What exactly did that mean?
I checked the comments and realized there were hundreds, both from names I recognized from school and others I didn’t.
Most of them were one word: “Beautiful,” as one would expect, but one of them caught my eye…
“Now that’s how we do it here, Beauty.”
The comment caught my attention, but not as much as the username: Sarah Hampton.
With a beating heart, I checked the profile, and that’s when I saw her bio.
The one and only Queen Bee @ Hollands High.
But wait, Sarah? How is Evie connected to her?
Aren’t they sworn enemies or something?
I turned off my iPad with shaky hands and dropped it by my bedside.
I was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to talk to someone. But who would I talk to?
I grabbed my phone from the charging port and thought of calling Dad, but what would I say? That I think I might have lost my best friend?
Or would I dare disturb Anita, who was living her dream of being a mother to two adorable twins?
Or Mom? I paused as I recalled the text Mom had sent me about spending the day with some of her childhood friends she’d recently reconnected with.
But what about Luke? Yes, Luke. He should be available, shouldn’t he?
I opened my contact list, only to realize, to my dismay, that I didn’t have his number. Oh gosh! How could I not have asked for it?
But then it dawned on me—how had Patrick gotten my number if I hadn’t given it to him?
‘He could have gotten it from the administrative office, couldn’t he?’ I nodded, trying my best to convince myself of that. His dad is a major shareholder of the school, so he could do whatever he wants, right?
But what if that isn’t the case?
“Beth, relax… you are getting worked up over nothing… maybe it’s all a coincidence. So just relax.”
…
“You’ve been quiet, Lizzz…” Mom commented later that night as we had dinner. “Are you okay?” Her voice was laced with genuine concern, which warmed my heart.
“I’m okay, Mom… just have a lot on my mind.” I replied, pushing a forkful of spaghetti into my mouth.
“Um… okay. You know you can tell me anything, right?” Her gaze bore into mine, and for a second, I felt like she could read me like a book. But that’s impossible, right? She might be my mom, but she wasn’t a psychologist or anything.
“I know, Mom…” I reached out and placed my palms on hers, which were resting on the table.
“Okay then.” She sighed, and I could almost guess what was on her mind.
“You know we are heading back home in a few days, right?”
I nodded, an emotion crowding my thoughts. It was only then I realized how much it seemed like I had been living in a fairy tale all along. Heading back to California was more or less like heading back to the real world.
“I miss this place already.” I sighed, though what I didn’t dare admit was that I was going to miss the version of Patrick I had met here.
“Me too.” I knew she was going to be missing Luke too.
“But you can always FaceTime each other, right?”
“I know, right? But it won’t be the same.” I nodded, not asking more. I knew we’d be having deep conversations soon that would lead to decisions that, though tough to make, would be absolutely necessary. But well… I wasn’t really ready for that yet.
I still have to speak to Luke about my issues! Hopefully his degree in psychology will be of help to me.
Hopefully.
…
A/N: What do you think of the chapter, guys?