Unsteady

32. Hopeless

Save the turtles.

I shook my head at the weird thought and grabbed my carton, walking at a slow pace towards the exit of the store with Scott trailing quietly beside me. He was still waiting for an answer to his question, were Ryder and I still dating.

I tried to prolong answering his question, afraid if I said it out loud it would make the situation seem more real and more permanent than it already was. Somewhere deep down, I had this huge hope we would work things out.

But on the surface, I knew it was hopeless.

"No, we broke up," I said quietly, as we stepped out of the supermarket into the cool air.

Scott looked taken back for a second before he recovered and rubbed at the nape of his neck.

"I'm sorry to hear," he said, but his expression didn't look sorry. In fact, he looked like a kid who was told to buy anything he wanted from a candy store.

I narrowed my eyes at his expression but didn't say anything, only giving him a small nod as an answer. He seemed to have a hard time controlling his excitement at the news of mine and Ryder's break up.

It struck me as odd that Scott was unaware of mine and Ryder's split, since news got passed around Grey's Town faster than Usain Bolt on a track.

We stopped walking once we reached Scott's car which he opened and placed his groceries in the trunk.

"So..." he trailed off, giving me the idea he wanted to ask me something.

A part of my brain figured out what it might be, while the other prayed and hoped he just wanted to converse about our history marks.

"Do you want me to give you a ride home, or did you drive here?" Scott asked, trying to buy time.

I bit my lip and glanced up at the grey sky, the colour a painful reminder of a certain someone's intense gaze. The clouds looked like they were about to give in to the water they were holding, and I did not want to be around when that happened.

I assessed the options I had.

Option one, accept Scott's offer and allow him to drop me off knowing very well he might be trying to ask me out.

Or, avoid Scott and the rejection you'll give him by walking home and risking ending up getting soaked if it starts to rain.

I glanced up at Scott as he waited patiently, his eyes gleaming with excitement. I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the shrill sound of my ringtone.

I flashed him an apologetic look and swiped the answer icon when I read Violet's name.

"Hello," I said, sounding slightly monotonous.

"Don't sound so excited to hear from me now," Violet sarcastically answered.

I grinned and shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. For someone so tiny and cute, she sure had a whole lot of sass.

"Sorry Violet, what do you need?" I asked, my voice sounding more light this time.

I heard shuffling on the other end of the line, as if she was maybe walking around.