Blinded by Limerence

29 | Broken

Having someone is more than enough.

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"Hey, M," Addie called out as she caught up with me walking down the street. "Thought we were walking home together."

"We are," I replied casually. "Just decided to ditch you, is all."

She paused then shook her head. "Okay, I'm not even going to pretend that didn't hurt," she responded. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing," I answered almost too quickly.

"Please, M. I've been your best friend for like, what, four years?" She scoffed. "You'd think I'd know when you lie your ass off."

To that, I replied calmly, "Addie, I'm not in the mood."

"Okay, well, maybe it'd help if I told you I'm not the only one worried about you," Addie ventured.

I stopped in my tracks. "Huh?"

"I mean, you haven't been showing up to class, you 'conveniently' have something to do whenever I try to talk to you, and you avoid... well, frankly anyone who tries."

"That's not true. I was in history class today," I said, the corners of my lips twitching down into a frown at the memory of the dreaded class. "Addie, I'm fine," I reassured once more as I resumed my walk away from school.

"Did something happen between you and Mr. Donavan?"

My feet involuntarily ceased walking, my heart clenching at the mention of his name.

Without turning around to face Addie, I stammered, "N-no. We're fine."

"Are you, though? Didn't you go out with him last Saturday? What happened?" interrogated Addie, her voice noticeably laced with concern.

Facing her, I asked, trying to remain unfazed, "How do you know about that?"

In response, she simply shrugged. "Archer must've mentioned it, I guess."

"Ugh, I'm gonna kill that—"

Addie almost instantly cut me off. "Hey, hey," she scolded, "watch the tone. Don't drag him into this." With a soft sigh, she added, "Wasn't it just a few days ago when you were head over heels in love with my brother?"

Averting my eyes from Addie's piercing gaze, I mumbled, "Yeah, and now I'm over him. He's with Hanna, anyways, so what does it matter?"

In an attempt to change the subject, I thought back to Addie's previous statement. "S-so, who else exactly is also worrying over me?"

That's when Addie let out a light chuckle. "Well, who else?"

"Collin?" I ventured a guess, anxiously biting the insides of my cheeks.

"Col— Mr. Donovan?! Fuck. No," she screeched, annoyed. "Literally anyone else."

"Uh... Eric? Killian?"

"Oh, well, wasn't the person I was referring to but yes and no."

"Then who?"

"Trevor, duh," Addie finally answered.

I blinked twice. Trevor.

"H-he's worried? Why would he be worried?" I asked almost immediately.

Addie shrugged. "He's into you, M. Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me!" I gasped, and it was the truth. No boy has ever showed any interest in me—much less liked me—and now Addie was saying that I had somehow bagged Trevor? Someone whose social standing was eons away from mine?

"Oh. Well, you always were an oblivious one, honey," responded Addie with a cheeky grin. "You freaking tamed the bad boy, and you didn't even know it!"

He's not just a bad boy, I thought, but I held my tongue. Instead, I managed to let out a giggle that came out a little too schoolgirl-ish for my liking. "Oh, shut up, A."

At that precise moment, my phone sounded from my jean pocket. Fishing it out, I opened it to see two new messages:

Trevor Parks
need to talk

Trevor Parks
meet me at my place

Giving my best friend a sheepish smile, I showed her the texts and said, "Well, speak of the devil."

"Oh, my gosh, M," gasped Addie, "he wants you at his place. Do you know what that means?" She clasped her hands together and added dramatically, "Oh, please tell me you know what that means!"

"Of course I know what that means!"

A brief silence dawned on us as a cyclist passed us on the otherwise empty street. It was getting dark.

"Well?" demanded Addie with a curious, raised brow.

Broken. I may be broken... but maybe Trevor could see past that.

"I think I'm going."

Addie immediately extended her arms and blocked my way. "M, are you sure? You know what this means."

"Trevor means no harm, A—that I can promise you. He's... He's a good guy. He wouldn't do anything I'm not okay with," I explained, my heart skipping a beat at the sudden thought of him, "and... I wouldn't... do anything I'm not comfortable with."

Addie put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and nodded. "I trust you, M. Be safe, okay?"

I smiled and nodded.

"So... we're good?" my best friend asked hesitantly as she rocked back and forth on her heels.

"The best," I grinned from ear to ear. "I'll see you tomorrow, Addie."