Lovely

Friendships: Broken and Formed

The rest of the day was haunted by Niall. He seemed so innocent, as if he really didn't do anything wrong.

But of course he cheated! You knew he would!

But we had been in love. Or, I thought we'd been in love. But it had been a lie. All of it was a lie.

Every time I saw Florence Dollwood in the hallway, I wanted to punch her. She ruined my life.

Or...maybe she was the innocent one? What if Niall had made the move on her?

And even if he hadn't, he still let her kiss him and run her hands all over him. Even thinking about it made me shudder.

Just seeing Niall made me feel guilty. I wanted to apologize so badly it ached. Of course, he tried to look at me, but I avoided his gaze.

Finally, I'd had it.

"I can't do this to him!" I told Blair after school. "He looked so hurt when I yelled at him."

Blair rolled her eyes. "Please, Pepper. You forget that Niall is a teenage boy and is a perfect liar."

"But-"

"No 'buts'!" Blair screamed. "Niall is completely over you, understand?!"

I coiled back as I felt for my backpack in my open locker. "Sorry," I muttered. I then started to walk briskly down the hallway.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Blair shouted.

I turned slightly. "I'm walking." Blair shouted for me to come back, but I proceeded to run down the front steps and the parking lot. I didn't want to see anybody right then.

I walked on the sidewalk for a long time before I admitted to myself the I didn't want to go to Blair's house. Her words echoed in my head as if they would never die:

"You forget that Niall is a teenage boy and is a perfect liar."

"Niall is completely over you, understand?!"

Eventually, I started to wander. I walked and tried to clear my head from all the negative thoughts, while find a place to stay for the night. The sun was starting to sink when I came to a place I recognized. There was a beautiful river and a large tree with comforting shade. When I sat down in the shade and looked at the glistening water, the memory suddenly hit me like a wave.

This was where everything began. This was where my life was turned upside down. This place was my downfall and my upbringing: my joy and my grief. This is where I had told myself: screw normal.

This place was where Niall asked me to be his girlfriend.

I finally burst into tears. They'd been pricking at my eyes all day, but they finally gave in. I put my head in between my knees and sobbed until I heard a voice.

"Are you okay?"

I looked around and sniffled. Someone walked from behind the tree, but I couldn't see their face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. But you seemed unhappy."

I shrugged. "Yeah. Today wasn't a very good day."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"I guess," I sighed. The figure walked forward and then I saw their face.

It was James.

I backed away and grabbed my backpack. "Why are you here?!"

James threw up his hands defensively. "I'm not trying to hurt you. I want to start over."