The Love (Dis)connection

Chapter 8

Summer school.

The bane of every college student’s existence.

The news about the new couple, Eula and Jack, were all over social media network, Friendbook, soon after school started. After all, they were spotted everywhere holding hands.

It did not help that I was sporting a bright pink streak on my hair—something I did in between bouts of crying and cursing Jack’s name when I got back from the hospital.

A lot of people came up to me, saying sorry that Jack and I have broken up. No one seemed to believe me when I told them we never even dated at all. Fortunately, I had two weeks to get a grip on myself so I managed not to cry every time I saw them together, or someone brought them up.

Therese tried to pry the details from me of our supposed ‘break-up’ several times.

“I’m really sorry,” she patted my back. “Do you want to talk about it? Like, when did they get together? When did you break up? How do you feel? Are you angry at them?”

I ignored all her questions, save one.

“For the last time, Therese, Jack and I never dated!” I said exasperatedly. I was really starting to wonder why I was friends with her in the first place.

“Yeah, but you were so close,” she remarked, peering at me, with her phone at the ready.

“We’re still best friends, he’s just busy right now,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

Mia saved me by introducing a new topic about this guy in their class who had a total transformation from dorky-cute to hottie in our two-week vacation.

Summer class went by in a blur. We just had six weeks of twice a week classes, and we all had to pass the single subject we all had to take before we could go to fourth year. Of course my class with the rest of my girlfriends were different because I had a different course; ditto with Jack. I was the odd one out during lunch, but their constant chatter and complaints about their classes helped distract me from the fact that Jack and I barely talked to each other.

It was totally me, of course. Jack kept trying to contact me, aside from not visiting me at the hospital, which apparently he never knew about when I finally confronted him about it one day.

“Why are you trying to avoid me?” He finally managed to corner me one day in an empty corridor. He touched the pink on my hair, perhaps wondering if it was real or one of those clip-on things his sisters used to play with.

“I’m not trying to avoid you,” I said, shaking off his hands off my person.

He caught the emphasis immediately. “Why are you avoiding me?” He let go of me when I glared at him.

“I just need more time,” I muttered.

He leaned against the wall. “But why are you angry at me?”

I looked him in the eye, trying to smile. I haven’t cried in weeks, but five minutes alone with him and I was reduced to a sniveling idiot again.

He saw my tears and immediately produced a clean handkerchief from his pocket. “Here, I haven’t used this yet. It’s clean.”

This was just another sign that things have changed between us. When before, he would have laughed at me and wiped at my tears himself, now he wouldn’t do something so sweet and thoughtful like that.

I swatted his hand away, grabbing my hanky from my pocket instead and turned away to dab at my eyes. “I need more time,” I said, with my back turned.

“Are you angry? With me? With her?” he asked my back.

I didn’t answer that. I didn’t have any logical reason to be angry at her. She didn’t take what wasn’t rightfully mine. Did I have reason to get angry at Jack? Did he lead me on through the years? “Why her? Why did you never fall in love with me? Why couldn’t it have been me?” I asked instead, turning around to face him.

He hung his head. “I don’t know. I just saw her one day in a whole different light, and I immediately wanted to get to know her. I can’t explain it, but that’s really all I can say.”

“And all I can say is I need more time, Jack. I don’t know how long, but I need it.”

I started to walk away when he spoke up again.

“But will you ever come back? Will I ever have my best friend again?”

I turned my head to the side so he will see my profile and my sad smile, then I walked away, and out into the sunshine.

—0o0o0o0—

After class, I was about to exit the gate when someone called me. “Aurelia!”

I turned around. Dante was walking quickly towards me. “Hey, how are you?” he asked as soon as he reached me.

He stared at the pink streak on my hair, and I wondered if he knew what I was thinking when I did it.

I squeezed his arm affectionately, drawing his attention away from my hair. “I’m okay. How about you?”

“I heard you and Jack are…had a falling out.”

I raised both eyebrows. “We’re fine. Peachy. Great.”

He smiled sheepishly at me. “I was in the lobby earlier, about to go to the corridor when I heard your voices so I…waited for you to leave. I couldn’t help but overhear you.”

I was feeling emotionally drained at that point. “What do you want, Dante, just get it over with.”

“Do you want to go boxing at my dorm?” he blurted out.

“What?”

“Boxing. I practice boxing in one of the spare rooms when I have time, or when I’m feeling particularly frustrated.”

“Is that what’s in the spare room, the one that was locked?”

He bit his lip, looking guilty. “Yes, I don’t have a roommate, but I was too shy for you to know about my other hobbies.”

I grinned at him. “Hitting something seems like the best thing I should do at the moment, among other things. Let’s go.”