Tethered Hearts | ✓ | Books 1 & 2

Episode 07| Losing Isn't An Option

"No, she hasn't."

"See, I don't get why you should worry then."

Kelsey nodded and dropped the topic. She slinked back into her seat and brought out her textbook for class and our recommended reading. As we waited for Professor Evans to make her appearance, I drifted my attention down to the row of seats ahead of me.

Sophia had a pencil out and she was jotting something down in her journal. A black Walkman was perfectly placed at the corner of her desk and she had her head phones on.

It was still the first couple of weeks of class. There wasn't much conversation going on in the room. A lot of people didn't know each other yet and everyone sat stiff in their seat, afraid to make direct eye contact with anyone.

Or maybe that was only a problem for me.

Because of the lack of noise in the room, I could slightly make out the loud music she had booming from her headphones. Just Like Honey by  The Jesus and Mary Chain was pouring out. It was a fairly old song. I was probably still in New York and in High School when I first heard it.

The guy that had taken the seat beside Sophia before I could get to it had a large bag with him, set in front of his desk. The weird thing about the bag, if anything, was how he had carefully sat it up, worried to tip it over. I didn't get what his deal was when he started to wiggle in his seat like he needed to go to the restroom. The back of his neck was a bright red and a thin layer of sweat glossed his forehead.

Kelsey poked me. "What the hell is that?"

I strained my neck to the left to see what she was pointing at. The guy ahead of us had bent down to his duffle bag and started to rummage through it. I wasn't at a perfect angle like Kelsey was, but I could see that something shiny was reflecting light.

A handful of students were in awe at the vase of flowers he had pulled out and the large heart-shaped box of chocolates with gold lettering over the lid. He faced them to Sophia, and my eyes naturally found themselves squinting at him. A girl adjacent to Sophia tapped her shoulder, causing her to look up.

It had Remy Annenberg written all over it.

Since he had payed someone to do all the work, I knew it was him. To add on to my pre-established hunch, the word "Sorry" was scribbled on the top like any other pathetic loser would add in if they messed-up.

Classifying that event as a "mess-up" was generous. Because like a lot of things in life, mess-ups are forgivable. What Remy Annenberg did though was not forgivable on any level.

I might seem like the worst possible person to go against someone like him - given the fact that I never commit to anyone. But at least, unlike him, I had the balls to actually be upfront on what I wanted, when I wanted it, and what I was willing to give.

Remy, on the other hand, was the kind of guy who would purposely drag a girl into a relationship and lead her on to believe that he'd give her the world, where in reality he wouldn't even give her the clothes on his back.

I will admit, I'm not a nice guy. I never claimed to be.

I wouldn't have so many people out to get me if I was a nice guy to begin with. But, disregarding that, I at least wasn't on his scum-bag level either. I had sisters of my own, and he was exactly the kind of guy I wanted them to steer clear from.

A while back, I had heard a couple of details about the break-up between Sophia and Remy. If I was close to her before that incident, I would've done something a lot worse than sprain his wrist at the party.