1.2 | Breakup Formula | ONGOING

10 | forgive

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f o r g i v e

Somehow, I managed to school my face into a perfect mask when Declan revealed the girl's identity.

"Where're you going?" Declan hissed, when I headed for the counter.

"She probably wants to order something."

"Kira - " he began, frantically, but I ignored him and walked over to the counter.

Sliding past the counter, I stepped in front of the cash register and forced a smile onto my face. "Welcome to Savvy's!" I greeted, but the cheeriness in my voice sounded utterly false and hollow. "What can I get you?"

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Declan watch me, a guarded expression on his face. But I forced myself to look at Fiona instead. She was, as I had always expected, absolutely gorgeous, befitting of someone like Joey. Her brown hair fell over her shoulders in pretty waves, and when she smiled back at me, she looked absolutely stunning. But then she opened her mouth and said the few words that I knew were about to change everything.

"Is Joey here?"

I stared at her, chills running down my spine. I felt light-headed, my hands were clammy, and I knew there were two options at hand. I could lie to her and tell her that no, he wasn't. Or I could tell her that he was.

"Yes," I found myself saying, rational and practical as always, "He's just unloading some crates in the back. Would you like to wait?"

Her eyes lit up with a smile, and she nodded, before heading to the nearest seat. A sudden movement from behind me made me turn, only to see Joey coming out from the kitchen. And before I could say anything, Fiona beat me to it by jumping from her seat and leaning against the counter, a huge smile on her face.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, brightly, "I've been looking all over for you."

The surprise in Joey's eyes was unfiltered. He quickly glanced at me, then at Declan, who was still watching the exchange with guarded eyes, before looking back at her. "Fiona," there was a hint of caution in his voice, "What're you doing here?"

"Can't old friends meet to catch up - "

"We're not old friends," Joey cut in smoothly, "What do you want?"

She frowned, disarmed by the abruptness of his question. "Well, I do need to speak with you, but could we go someplace private - "

"Just say it here."

"Alright," Fiona said, a little stiffly. "I know this is going to sound horrid and I am in absolutely no position to say this. But I'm sorry for breaking up with you. And I lied because I was scared."

Joey stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

"When I broke up with you and said it was because I'd dated you for revenge and you deserved to get your heart broken. It was a lie, Joey."

I saw the expression in his eyes soften, his shoulders relax a little. "What do you mean?"

"I meant - " and she looked him straight in the eye, and I knew she was telling him the truth, " - that somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you. And it wasn't just a game. It was real and it frightened me, so I had to let you go."

Her words sunk in the silence. We were all taken aback. None of us had seen this coming, for this was bigger and quicker than a meteorite crash landing on earth.