Just a Game

Two More Lonely People

Alice // chapter thirty-one

M Y feet quickly scampered to stand. I was astounded by the person that stood in front of me. It had been so long since I'd seen him. "What are you doing here?"

His smile widened, his hazel eyes warming as I studied his features. "We went on winter break earlier this year and I wanted to pay you a visit. I missed you."

"You guys know each other?" Chris spoke up, shocking me back to reality with the amount of accusation that stood out from his tone.

Damon looked away from me and gazed at Chris, answering him with a fired up look before speaking. "We dated for a while."

Silence engulfed the table for a short while as everyone took in his answer. Seconds later, though, Chris let out a wolf whistle, causing roll of laughter. I let out a long sigh and pushed my hair behind my ear. This was causing a lot more turmoil than I liked and I needed to stop it know before assumption about Damon and I surpassed innocence. Reaching to grab Damon's arm, I turned his attention from the lot to me. "How about we talk outside? They're bound to get crazier and start embarrassing me."

"Wha-," Katie gasped, "how rude!"

I feigned a genuine laugh and pushed her away jokingly before grabbing my bag and leading Damon out of the café. I could've pulled him out of there quicker than the speed of light and it still wouldn't have been fast enough.

"Nice group of friends you got there," Damon commented seconds after we'd left. I led him to the outside bench in front of the café and took a seat, taking in a sharp breath when he took the seat right next to me.

My fingers ran through my hair again, not knowing what else to do. "Yeah, some of them, anyway. A lot of them aren't really my friends."

"So, I heard that you broke up with your boyfriend yesterday," he hinted, driving the topic off track and onto a path that I'd rather not discuss with someone who was practically a stranger now.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Who told you?"

He blinked, looking flustered for a quick moment, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. "Your mom. I stopped by earlier. So, it is true?"

I slowly nodded. "Um, yeah. I kind of messed up."

Curiosity flashed in his eyes, a troubling smile crossing his lips. "What happened?"

My lungs involuntarily took in a deeper breath than normal, a set of nerves rocking up my spine as I prepared myself to word what had happened again. My lips parted, ready to just let it all out, because honestly, at this point, I was ready to admit the fact that I had broken up with Jace. It was wrong, but nonetheless, I'd still done it. And actually admitting it to someone, whether it be family, friends, or now strangers, helped a lot more than I deemed.

But a figure that I could place from anywhere, at any point, walked out of the café and into my peripheral vision, causing me to swallow hard as my heart froze for an actual second before regaining its speed.

It was him.

It was Jace.

And as I sat there frozen and staring at Damon, I knew I wanted to run to Jace, to wrap my arms around him tightly and apologize to him in more ways than I knew possible.

Yet, I also wanted to push away, to wrap my walls around my heart and become defensive against everything and everyone. However, I knew what that would lead to. It's what caused me to break up with Jace in the first place. And if I allowed it to take control of my actions in this crucial moment, I know I will terminate the possibility of Jace and me ever working out.