Not The Same (sequel to "Abby Ultimate Dance Competition: Season of Love")

Chapter 10

We both stood there in silence as the first bell rang and the students around us hustled to class. I still hadn't met his eyes and I closed my locker. I started to walk away when he grabbed my hand.

"Madison wait." I slipped my hand out of his and didn't look back as I made my way towards homeroom. My breaths started to get heavier and the halls started rotating. My vision became blurrier because of the tears and my head was pounding. I could feel my face getting red and my chest getting tighter. I stopped walking and leaned my back against a wall in the now empty hallway. I closed my eyes and slid down and sat with my head in my knees. I took deep breaths and after a few minutes looked up from my knees. The hallway was dead, no people, no voices, no judgement, no Travis. I stood up slowly and went into the bathroom. I splashed some water on my face, and fixed my hair. I stepped out of the bathroom just as the bell rang. I slipped my way into the herd of students and made my way through the rest of the day, not mentioning my breakdown or break to anyone.

Lunch arrived, and I hadn't seen Travis since before school started. I looked around to see if he had found a new table, or was buying lunch today.

"Looking for someone?" Nick asked as he sat down next to me. I looked up at him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I gave him a hug, letting a quick tear fall. "Hey, you okay?" He squeezed me and I sat up.

"Mhm, just uh, have you seen Travis today?" I asked him, trying not to draw attention to me.

"You're his girlfriend, not me." He chuckled and pulled a sandwich out of his bag. I gave a small smile and saw Tyler sit at a different table. I excused myself and slowly made my way to Tyler's table.

"Hey." I stood in front of Tyler, who looked up and gave me a warm smile, filled with his lunch. He gestured for me to sit down as he swallowed his bite. I sat down awkwardly and took my backpack off.

"I know what happened. If you're wondering where he is, he went home before school even started. Called our mom and said he threw up, so she picked him up. Between you and me, he was just too upset for school." He explained as my heart shattered for the hundredth time today.

"Oh my gosh. I have to go see him." I said quietly and started to stand up.

"Don't go. He needs his time, and I'm sure you need yours." Tyler placed his hand on top of mine and I stopped packing up. I stayed like that for a moment, reflecting on everything that had happened that morning. "So is it for sure, or for now?" Tyler asked me. I bit my cheek trying to decide.

"I dunno."

Tyler let out a breathy laugh and I cocked my head slightly.

"I know everything that's happened. He's been a dick. If I were you, there'd be no question." He took another bite of his sandwich, and I stood there in shock. "You did nothing wrong, and you need to know that. Don't let any of his comments or stupid opinions get in the way of your decision. The ball is in your court, don't waste it." He gathered his belongings and walked out of the cafeteria. Did his own twin just tell me to break up with him? I walked back to my usual table to find Zack sitting in my normal seat, between Nick and Hadley.

"Oh, hey! Sorry." He stood up and I motioned for him to sit down again.

"Don't worry about it. I think I'm going to call my mom and have her pick me up. It's been a long day and I don't have any tests or anything. Might as well get a nap in before rehearsals." I pulled out my phone.

"I think our moms are out together right now." Zack reminded me and I sighed.

"Yeah, they are. She told me that earlier." I put my phone back in my bag.

"I could drive you home. It's not like you'd be leaving your car here, and I don't have any tests either." He looked up at me and I smiled.

"Would you mind? Because I can suck it up for the rest of the day." I brushed it all off. He stood up and grabbed his backpack.

"Not at all." He winked and we waved goodbye to everyone. Hadley's jaw dropped and Riley flashed me a thumbs up while Brianna just smirked. We got into his red pickup truck, and I felt at home. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the seat. "So what happened?" He asked me as he started the engine.

"Just an off day." I lied as I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head towards the window.

"Oh come on. That's a total lie and you know it. I'm not driving you home during school because it was an "off day." Mads, what happened?" He kept glancing at me as he drove towards our neighborhood.

"I don't know. This morning feels like months ago. It was such a long day. It's been such a long weekend, and not in a good way." I sighed as he pulled into an empty parking lot and parked the car. He turned his whole body to face me. I mirrored him and gazed into his beautiful brown eyes. I mean his normal, standard, basic brown eyes.

"We've got plenty of time." He smirked and I took a deep breath, reluctantly reliving the past weekends events. I told him everything, from the football game, to rehearsal with Ricky, to my phone dying, to waking up to Travis sitting with Kyle, to my movie night with Brianna, to what happened this morning.

"Then I told him I wanted to take a break." I finished my story as I played with the patch on the passenger seat. Zack slowly nodded and ran his fingers along the cup holders. We sat there like that for almost ten minutes, lost in our own worlds, yet our thoughts crossing paths constantly.

"After all that, you still didn't break up with him?" He asked me and I pursed my lips into a thin line and shook my head no. He smirked and shook his head lightly.

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"Nothing." He shrugged and I rolled my eyes as I tossed my head back. "I just- never mind." He shrugged again and I asked again what he was thinking. " I just think you're too good for him." Our eyes met and my heart stopped. I blinked a couple of times, genuinely confused.

"He's put you through hell and back in the matter of twenty four hours, and you didn't want to hurt him so you said you just wanted some distance for what, like a week?" I could sense judgement in his tone.

"No! I just-"

"What Mads? Why wouldn't you break up with him?" He softened his tone drastically, something Travis never learned to do.

"I did. I do. I just didn't know how." A tear dropped for the thousandth time today and I broke eye contact with Zack. I let another tear fall, followed by another, followed by another, followed by a stream of them. Zack immediately wrapped his arm around me as I sobbed into his chest. He ran his hand up and down my arm trying to calm me down, but the tears kept flowing, and soon I started hiccuping.

"Shhh, it's okay. It's all going to be okay. I'm going to take you home, okay?" He started to sit up and I stopped him.

"No, not yet. Please." I begged as I held onto him tighter, my tears taking over. The last thing I needed was my parents asking for every detail, my dad going off on rants about how he was going to kill him and saying how I should never date again, and my mom calling Travis's mom trying to "work things out like an adult".

"We can stay here as long as you want." Zack pulled me closer and ran his fingers through my hair.

Travis made me feel alone.
Made me feel like I was being overdramatic.
Made me feel like I was wrong.
Made me feel like I was stupid.
Made me feel like it was all my fault.

Right now, with Zack, I felt safe.