𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 | an apocalyptic novel ©

Chapter 90

Heartfelt

2035

Aidan

I don't care.

I.

Don't.

Care.

I don't care.

Three words. And although Valencia whispered them, I still heard them. Three words - only three words that turned our argument into something more tangible than I wanted it to be.

I watch her leave. This time, I walk after her, but she doesn't notice it.

I don't intend to follow her but I want to knock some sense into her mind and make her listen to what I have to say. Her words were ill-considered, she knows it, she regrets it.

But she leaves. No, she runs - as if what I told her has given her energy.

Deep inside, I know - what she said is the truth.

We are done. I did my part. There was nothing that demanded for us to stay, but somehow, knowing that hurts.

Valencia left - packed her belongings and left.

No trace of her is left, almost - except a small booklet lying next to where she sat.

The small booklet she keeps her diary entries in. She left it in a hurry. I bend down to pick it up and want to pocket it.

But as I do so, something falls out in the process and lands next to my boot on the floor. It turns out to be a page of the book that has come loose from the binding. As I flatten the wrinkled page with my hand and trace the folding lines that make me suggest that Valencia might have pocketed the page separately, I frown at the actual entry.

It is from not that far ago, from Day 3242.

June 17th, 2035

Day 3242

I hate him so much. Not as a person, but how he has me running in circles just by looking at me.

I can't describe how that makes me feel. If he finds out ...

I keep reminding myself that we are just strangers. Nothing more. There is nothing between us. Nothing and there will never be.

But when I flip the paper, I notice another entry.

June 18th, 2035

Day 3243

Fuck the term stranger. What is going on between us? Something for sure, but we always tear apart. The tension is agitating. We both know it. He taught me how to dance. But we never got to finish our dance. Maybe it was wanted by the odds.

My mouth feels dry, my eyes numb.

I drop the paper and look back to the doorway she left through and will probably never return.

For the first time after meeting her, I can't comprehend what has happened.

There's no point in denying it, I can't handle my feelings, we both can't.

God, this stupid heart and how it can hurt.

I hastily try to wipe away the one tear that is running down my cheek. For the first time in forever, I feel hopeless.

Hopelessly in love with feelings we can't express because we think it is not real.