No One Has To Know

-15-

Song: I Love You

Artist: Billie Eilish

*~*~*~*~*

It was a quarter past 8:00 pm, and Heather was doodling cat ears and whiskers in her diary. She felt too drained to write anything because she had been crying her eyes out for the past two hours. She had never been so grateful for makeup because she knew she'd have swollen eyes in the morning. Thank God it's the weekend, too, she thought.

She laid down, pulling the covers over herself. Her room suddenly felt cold. She sighed when she remembered Bruiser was downstairs eating. He'll come up eventually and keep me warm. She shut her eyes to get some sleep, but her imagination ran wild. She could feel Alejandro's strong arms wrapped around her waist and hear his soft heartbeat. If he were here, he'd keep her warm.

Heather whimpered and shifted uncomfortably on her mattress. She rubbed her forehead. She'd give anything to forget about him—to make the pain disappear. She wished she had never kissed him, let him touch her so intimately, or allowed him inside her. The worst part wasn't even what he told her earlier that evening; it was all the beautiful, happy memories from the other night.

Alejandro had made Heather laugh harder than anyone she knew. She wouldn't have enjoyed watching that cliché movie if she and he hadn't added their critical and goofy commentary. And she loved that he scratched her back almost the entire time and when he gave her those little forehead kisses. And his voice...it was sultry and soothing at the same time.

Heather also admired his dedication to his job and family, especially since she had never experienced "conventional" familial love. Every conversation left her wanting to know more about him. She pined for him more than she thought she was capable of. Alejandro gave Heather feelings she had never experienced before. Nothing came anywhere close to the way she felt about him. She thought back to yesterday when her parents were talking about her. At least I know I can feel emotions to the same extent as a "normal" human. But now I don't want them if they hurt this much.

"Ugh!" Heather chucked her diary across her room.

Her phone lit up with a text from Cody. Heyyyy you promised you'd text meeeeee

Heather pursed her lips as she picked up her phone. Oops. I never promised😉

Cody: But you saiiiiid🥺

Heather: Go cry about it🙄

Heather frowned while she pressed send. The talk about texting made her think of-unsurprisingly-Alejandro. She wanted to bang her head against a wall until she couldn't think anymore. The man was driving her crazy.

Cody: I already did😔💔

Cody's reply elicited a small chuckle from Heather. She began typing back when her dad's caller ID covered her screen. She groaned. Why is he calling me so much lately?

"What?" She picked up.

"Heather Feather, are you alright?!" Rob asked frantically. "I just now heard there was an accident on the road back home from the University a couple of hours ago! Good God, I would've called so much sooner if I hadn't had one of those late evening classes!"

"Yes, I'm fine," Heather told him. "I'm in my room right now." Bruiser came in and jumped into bed with her. She scratched behind the cat's ears, and he purred in response.

"Oh, thank goodness. I think the crash involved one of the professors, though."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "—Who?"