PRANKS and KISSES | 1 ✔️

Chapter 17: Pawns and Queens

I always thought it would take some major cataclysmic event to break a heart.

I missed you too.

I was wrong.

I missed you too.

Thirteen letters. Four words. One sentence.

I miss you too.

That could be all it takes to break a heart.

I miss you too.

Well, at least that was what it took to break mine.

It was like watching those old, black and white movies with no dialogues. I felt a sense of melancholy and nostalgia as I stood there watching Hunter and Maria.

They didn't say anything else, just held each other tight with an aching familiarity as if they'd done it a million times before.

All the other sounds were muted but in my mind, I could still hear the sound of Hunter's four words echoing repeatedly like a broken record. He said the words so softly, so intimately, that I knew they'd spent countless of nights whispering to each other before.

I almost laughed when it finally dawned on me. Of course! Hunter and Maria were once a thing. How couldn't they be? They were perfect. Even more perfect than Hunter and Heather if that was even possible. I'd ship them if I wasn't so hopelessly in love with that exceedingly annoying, and utterly confusing boy.

I realized I was smiling. Everything just seemed so funny and I was genuinely amused. I didn't even have time to feel jealous. God, I was so stupid. How could I fall in love with someone I didn't truly know?

I clutched the front of my shirt and was surprised when I felt my heart beating normally inside my chest.

Do broken hearts still beat?

"Sky, let's go. We're going to be late."

Shawn's voice woke me out of my trance. I felt him reach for my hand. I realized I was clutching my shirt too tight, my nails digging on the skin of my palms. He gently unclenched my fingers and laced his with mine. With difficulty, I managed to tear my gaze away from the scene in front of me and focus them on my best friend's face.

I didn't expect to see him smiling. He jerked his head towards the crowd discreetly, warning me that breaking down in front of the whole school wouldn't be a great idea. I was impressed. We'd been spending a lot of time with Hunter and his friends that we had already learned how to play their games.

Without taking the smile off his face, Shawn squeezed my hand, telling me wordlessly that he understood, that he knew what I was feeling and that he got my back. I couldn't love him more for that.

"Okay." I said, surprised that my voice didn't crack. I thought I even sounded cheerful in an asthmatic sort of way.

I attempted to move but realized I didn't really know where to go. If I move forward, I'd have to pass by Hunter and Maria. If I turn around, I'd have to pass by Cain. It was like having to choose between a viper snake and a hungry hyena. Joy.

Shawn waited for me to decide. I took a deep breath then turned around. There wasn't really much of a choice. I had to choose the way blocked by Cain and his cronies because that was the way to our first class. Thinking about it, I wondered why Hunter tried to lead me to the opposite way? He wasn't the type to avoid anyone.