book #1 | be with me | jenzie

48

chapter 48 - cold

"they say that love keeps the cold out better than a blanket,

but now love makes me feel colder than ever,"

k e n z i e

I had no idea where to go. Everyone was still cheering loudly in the stadium, but here I was walking around with no inkling at all about where I was heading. My sneakers scraped the floor as I rubbed my arms. It was cold.

As cold as Johnny's face had looked. Burying my face in my hands, I plopped down onto the bench.

It's over. It's over. I should learn to accept it and get on with life. Nadia's smug face surfaced in my head as I clenched my fists. I can't even imagine how satisfied she would look right now, knowing that she had won.

As if on cue, my phone vibrated. Scowling, I unlocked it to see that it was none other than a message from Nadia Turner. Perfect. What I needed now was to sit with the Queen for an afternoon tea and gossip about what a failure at life I was.

Hoping that I would not regret my decision, I clicked her message open.

nadia
hey babe <3 just wanted to thank you for making my plan work :) because you kept your promise, i did too. i didn't tell daddy about what a horrid boy johnny was and thus your dearest boyfriend wasn't disqualified. (did i say boyfriend? oops it should be ex-boyfriend, my bad) great mackenzie sacrificed for her dearest johnny, how touching. oh how happy i am for both of you :) if only he knew why you broke up with him. just wanna say i'm sorry (for not being sorry) you poor baby :(

I wanted to hurl my phone at the ground and stomp it into pieces along with Nadia's face till both of them were smashed into pulp. Then I would take her face and rearrange it into a mop before wiping the ground with it.

I could barely feel anything except anger and hot, hot fury as my hands shook. Was she happy now? Because I sure wasn't. She had ruined everything that I ever loved.

The cheering slowly died down as I sat in a trance. I had nowhere to go. If I headed home, I would just end up at the window again, desperately hoping for some kind of miracle. As I continued to stay immobile, people started to file out of the stadium, chatting amicably with their friends.

Everyone looked happy. This was unfair. I was supposed to be happy too. Thinking about Nadia's message, my nails dug into the wood of the bench. If only Johnny knew what had happened. Maybe I could...

. . .

Pearls of rainwater hit my arm lightly, forming small puddles of droplets as they spread out across my hand. It was raining. I looked up just in time to see a bright streak of lightning flash past the sky, followed by a booming clap of thunder. Dark clouds gathered on the sky, forming a cocoon around the stadium.

I smiled bitterly. Even the sky knew exactly what I was feeling. It could reciprocate my feelings so well. I knew that I should head home, but I couldn't bring myself to stand up and walk. As the rain started falling harder, I tightened my sweater around me, shivering.