An Angel Wears Hightops [A Sequel to The Devil Wears Girl Jeans]

An Angel Wears Hightops (Chapter 24)

He'd gotten a haircut, for starters, the kind that you'd expect a college guy who wears a lot of beanies and longboards a lot to have, so I guess it was fitting. He'd started growing a bit of a scruffy beard too, and had a hint of dark circles under his eyes. His whole appearance was decidedly not very Tristan-y, and it made me sad, a lot more sad than it probably should have.

“God, I was so happy here,” he murmured, gazing off into the distance with a far away look in his eyes, “Why did I leave?”

“I don't know, you tell me.”

He blinked slowly, and turned to look at me for what felt like forever, before he finally sighed and said, “I guess I left because you never asked me to stay.”

“Are you serious right now? I thought it was a given that I didn't want you to go. Things would have been so much better if you'd stayed, Tristan.” His name felt foreign and strange in my mouth, like trying to read German when the only language you know is English.

“I know, and I'm so sorry. I used to constantly worry that one day, you would leave me, but it turned out to be the other way around, didn't it? I'm so sorry, the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you.” he told me sincerely, resting his warm hand on my cheek, his thumb stroking my cheekbone.

I closed my eyes, and leaned towards him slightly, my heart hammering in my chest at what I knew was about to happen. Tristan and I had never kissed before he'd left for college, but now, things were different. We were alone, we were together, and we had nothing stopping us anymore.

At least, that's what I'd thought. Seconds later, though, his hand wasn't on my cheek anymore, and when I opened my eyes, he was glancing down at his phone, smiling slightly. Well then.

“What's going on?” I asked, nodding down at his phone. He just laughed and shook his head slightly.

“Nothing, my girlfriend is just being a dork. Someone had the bright idea to buy her a latex horse mask, and well, let's just say that she's definitely getting her moneys worth out of it.” he laughed, showing me a picture attachment, but I didnt even glance at it.

“Wait, you have a girlfriend?” I asked, my heart plummeting into my stomach at a million miles per hour. He looked up quickly, as if suddenly remembering who I was and the connection that we had. He was kind enough to at least look guilty about it, though, so I guess that made me feel a bit better.

“Ah, yeah. Her name is Jules, she's majoring in the arts, and she does a lot of protests for the environment and stuff too. She's pretty cool.”

This Jules kid didn't sound so great. I mean, I liked the arts too, and I protested for the environment all the time, so why did he pick her over me? Okay, so maybe I lied about the last part, but I mean, I recycled sometimes so it was essentially the same thing.

“Oh that's wonderful, I'm really happy for you guys." I lied, plastering a phony smile across my face,  "How long have you been dating for?” 

“Okay first of all, don't even try that, I've know you for 14 years and I'm fully aware that you hate me right now, and I don't really blame you. But yeah, we've been together for about 6 months now, I believe.”

When he told me that, I was sad. The saddest kind of sad, the kind where your lip quivers and you try not to cry. So instead, I smiled and said, “No, I'm really, really happy for you.” and that's when you know it's really sad, when you can feel your heart breaking into a million pieces, but smile and nod anyways, trying your hardest not to let any tears escape your eyes because you don't want him to think you're crazy for still caring about him.

Or maybe that's just me.

“Hartley, please don't give me that look.”

“What look?”

“Like I just killed your cat in front of you.”

“I am most definitely not giving you that look.”

“Yeah? You're not the one looking at yourself right now.”

I sighed, and stood up, nodding towards the house half halfheartedly, feeling trapped by the conversation.

“We should go back in, I heard Quinn calling us.”

“Hartley, no one called us. Please just stay out here for a few more minutes, I feel so bad right now. I just... I just want to talk to you, okay? I like being with you, and I missed you, and I just...”

I swear, my heart stopped beating for a few beats before I finally snapped back to reality, wanting so badly to run back over to him and hug him, but I stopped myself. Chill it, Hartley. I reminded myself, He's already found what he was looking for, and it wasn't you.

And with that, I turned and walked back inside, being the one to leave Tristan for once instead of having it be the other way around again.

*********

As was the usual with my friends, I ended up stepping out of one bizarre situation and into another within the span of a minute. I entered the living room only to see my friends standing in a loose semi circle, Lacey, and who I assumed was her boyfriend, Gunner, standing in the centre of it.

“What'd I miss?” I whispered to Grant, squeezing in beside him and Miguel, who greeted me with a small salute.

“I don't know, but they're both slightly drunk and highly amusing to watch.” he replied with a chuckle. I had a feeling that there was something wrong with that statement, but it took me a moment to remember what she'd told me at the coffee shop this morning.

“What? She drank? But she's pre-” I stopped myself as Grant turned to look at me with alarm, quickly trying to come up with a save. “She's pre...calculus.”

“She's precalculus?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at me as if I was crazy. I didn't blame him, it was a terrible save.

“Yep, that is exactly what I meant.” I told him, and luckily for me, he just shot me one suspicious glance before turning back to the centre of the room where Gunner appeared to be telling Lacey a knock knock joke.

“Knock knock.” he said, sticking one hand in his pocket and pulling something out. I tried to see what it was, but it was too small to see, completely engulfed by his large hand. 

“Who's there?” she giggled back.

“Mary.”

“Mary who?” she asked, just as Gunner got down on one knee and whipped out a super sparkly ring that probably cost more than my entire life, and gazed up at her adoringly.

“Marry me.”

There was a collective gasp in the room as he slid it on her finger, and my eyes got so wide I swear they were going to pop out of my head.

Well then. That sure complicated things.

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okay so i have a question do you want me to post what i imagine some of the characters look like or do you guys prefer making them up in your mind because i know i prefer that whenever i read stories so yeah please let me know thank you darlings <333