ALL THE LOVE WE LEAVE BEHIND

Chapter 2

"What the hell?" I whispered under my breath, struggling to answer; which size resistor should be connected across the terminals of a 12 V battery to produce a current of 500mA? This was one of those times, where I was desperately wishing that I had listened to Lexi and dropped physics.

Right now, she was probably relaxing, giving her econ paper while I was anticipating how many questions I needed to get right to get at least a C. About 65%? I guessed.

'Shut up, it's not that hard.' I told myself as I stared at the question, which was something even a 9th grader would've been able to answer, but because I forgot to revise all the basics I was now stuck, nibbling on the edge of my pencil and twisting it across my lips as I continued to guess through multiple choice. My feet were nervous as it is, tapping on the wooden floor of the hallway after being repeatedly told by the invigilator to stop.

I wasn't sure how time passed by, and the continuous anxiety that began to build up definitely didn't help, but alas, seconds turned to minutes, and before I knew it the chime buzzed and the 1 hour 45 minutes exam was over.

"So, how was physics?" Tyler asked, kissing my forehead as I walked out of the exam hall to my boyfriend that was now dressed in a fitted black t shirt, gray football tracks and his usual silver chain. I loved that look on him, and it made me more squeamish as our distance lessened- that was a feeling I hoped would never shake off.

I didn't feel like answering his question, and so buried myself into his shirt instead, as he reflexively wrapped his arms around my waist, instantly soothing my insides with comfort.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." He guessed as I mumbled into his chest.

"Mhmm."

His cologne was familiarly sweet. The scent reminded me of cinnamon with a hint of charcoal flames, that tempted me to kiss his neck and smile into his ocean eyes.

"Tyler, heyy."

I didn't even need to turn my head to recognize that high-pitched echo. I tried not to roll my eyes as I looked back, but it was impossible to not get pissed off at, even the thought of Charlotte. She somehow managed to ruin every cute moment I had with Tyler.

Remember how I said I had dealt with my anger towards her- well I had, but that didn't stop me from hating every single time she swooned my boyfriend, as if I wasn't there. Truth be told, it took every bone in my body to not strangle her.

And of course, I was envious of her. Everyone on campus said she was 'bewitching' or whatever they meant by that. Now, I understood that her strawberry blonde hair, angelic eyes, and plastic curves in comparison to my chestnut-colored locks, brown eyes and flat line chest- would obviously mean she was better looking, but truth be told, I didn't see what the hype was about.

"Hey, what's up?" Tyler replied with his chin on my head and his arms still intact around my waist.

"You know how I throw a party every year on my birthday?" She said, twisting her overly burnt hair- which was something that had probably been the repercussion of consistent straightening.

I felt Tyler's chin go up in a nod as I held on to his shirt- not wanting to even look at her.

"Since my birthday happened during finals and everyone was so busy, I decided to throw one this weekend. Everyone's leaving anyway, so it'll be like a goodbye party before summer."

"This weekend??"

I immediately blurted out, turning my head.

"Yeah. It's on Friday, and I'd love it if you came too," She looked at me with a clearly forced smile.