Heartbreaker

Chapter 24: Letters

Gold watched (Name) from his spot under a tree as she walked across the courtyard. He had been talking to Morty until the blonde suddenly went quiet. Gold glanced behind him to see what he was looking at, and it was, of course, none other than (Name). "There's your chance, Gold." The male stiffened in response.

"I'm not ready," he stated lamely. Morty raised an eyebrow.

"You got your father's and her brother's approval, those were the two things holding you back. What's stopping you now?" Gold's copper gaze watched attentively as Crystal and Jasmine ran up to (Name), and they started talking. "Oh."

"Yeah," his friend mumbled. "After I sent that text to Silver, it got me thinking. Who else could be hurt by me asking her out? And I thought for a while, and I remembered Crystal."

"Well," Morty stated sympathetically. "You've messed up a lot lately. You need to make sure that's cleared before you approach (Name). She's not dumb; she literally won't give you a chance if you screw up again. Go talk to Crystal."

"But what can I say?" Gold asked miserably.

"Apologize," the blonde boy said simply. "Crystal can be hot-headed, but if you show that you actually mean it, she'll hear you out."

"You're right." He pushed his dark hair from his face, sighing. "I'll talk to her."

"Hey! Gold! Morty!" The pair turned to see Crystal and Jasmine waving, while (Name) just stood there, smiling uncomfortably.

"I guess that's our cue to join them," Morty remarked, smiling and waving back. Gold nodded, before reaching up and tapping his nose. Crystal got the signal immediately. They had made it up as kids. Whenever the grown-ups were talking and they wanted to sneak away together, they would touch their noses.

Slowly, the bluenette touched her nose as well, nodding. The two didn't notice (Name) glance at them with a mixture of confusion and envy as they walked off together. It's okay, calm down, what do you expect? They're best friends. "So, (Name)," Jasmine's voice cut in sweetly. "Ready to go in?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure," (Name) stuttered awkwardly, still a bit distracted, while Morty and Jasmine exchanged knowing looks.

Gold sweated nervously as he and Crystal walked toward a private spot to talk. He wasn't sure where to begin. 'Hey so I know you kinda hate me after I broke your heart, but I really love your best friend and want to date her?' Yeah. no.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Crystal asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"I messed up," Gold stated.

"With what?"

"All the stuff I've done to you." The female sucked in a deep breath.

"I know what you're trying to do," she murmured. "You're trying to get (Name), aren't you?" Gold nodded reluctantly. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not about to let you hurt her the same as you did to everyone else."

"But I won't!" cried the ravenette.

"But why should I trust you?" Crystal seemed to be in deep thought. "I have an idea how you can prove to me that you really mean it."

"How?"

"It's not gonna be easy, I'm gonna warn you."

"I don't care, I just want to show you that I'm not going to hurt her."

"Hmm." The blue-haired female hummed. "It's really not just about me, you know. Think about all those girls that you absolutely shattered. They didn't get an apology. I'll tell you what, if you write an apology letter to every single girl in the school, I'll give you my approval."