Drawn to You | ✔️

35

This morning seems worse than the others. My head still hurts but not as much as my heart does. It's like nothing even matters anymore. I must look like a freaking zombie just walking around. I can't even remember if I had a shower this morning or when the last time was.

It's been three days since I was confronted with Landon and his friends. He's been calling and texting me nonstop but I keep ignoring him. I don't really know what he expects from me. He lied to me this entire time. Made me fall in love with him. Make me turn my back on all of my friends and my parents. But somehow I still hope to wake up one morning and realize that this was all a bad dream and that Landon is the guy I thought he was.

Luckily, my parents hadn't woken up to realize I was out before I came home the other morning. I tiptoed up the stairs while the tears were running down my face and I practically threw myself on my bed and sobbed in silence for what felt like hours until they asked me if I wanted some breakfast.

At lunchtime, I walk slowly over to Chelsea and the rest of the gang. My hands are trembling while holding the tray with my food. As I get closer, Chelsea and Garret notice me and stop talking to the others. They are sitting at the other end and continue talking. I guess they haven't been included in all of this mess with me and Landon, which I'm kind of happy and relieved about.

"Hey, guys." They both smile carefully at me. "Can I sit here?" I look hopefully at both of them.

They give each other a knowing smile and Chelsea says, "Of course." She waves me over to her side. At that moment my heart relaxes and I can finally breathe again. They include me in their conversation about Garret's next game. If they win, Chelsea owes him burgers at Susie's next time, and if they lose, burgers are on Garret. It's nice to have a normal conversation again. Not about lies, drugs, or boyfriends.

We sit there and talk for a while, the others join our conversations. I look around them. They all look so happy. No heartbreaks. Real friends. I smile for the first time in days. But that smile vanishes quickly as the doors to the halls open and in comes Landon and his friends. They don't look so relaxed this time. They don't walk laughing and pushing each other like best friends. It's almost like they look ready for any fight that could happen.

I'm too slow to turn my head away when Landon's eyes meet mine. He looks at me...like there's hope in his eyes. I quickly move my gaze to the others and hope he doesn't approach me here in the middle of the cafeteria in front of everyone. I don't know how I would react. And I definitely don't want others to start questioning what's going on. But luckily, his friends push him further away to a table outside and I let out a long breath.

*

As the hours go by, my mind slowly turns black. I don't even listen to Chelsea's conversation as we walk down the halls. I think she started talking about her sister's new boyfriend but one minute ago I heard her talking about her last pop quiz. Having no perception of time, I just follow her, and hopefully, she won't notice my lack of presence and I'll get through the rest of the day if not the rest of the week.

"So, what do you say?" She turns to me.

"Huh?" I look at her in confusion.

She raises her brows. "I asked you if you wanted to come back to my place after school. I need some help to go through my closet. My mom wants to give my clothes away for charity. I don't see any problem in that, though."

"Oh, um. I can't. I promised my mom that I would help her clean the house. Brandon is coming home this weekend." It's actually not a lie. My mom told me a couple of days ago that he's coming home. I haven't seen him in weeks and I can't wait to see him and get my mind on something else. I just lied about cleaning the house. But that would probably be a good distraction for a couple of hours this afternoon.