𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎; 𝚓𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚛

𝐱𝐥𝐢𝐢. 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬

Cora

I walk through the mall, glancing around nervously. Kio had texted me earlier saying they're all there right now. It's been a week since Jaden stormed out of the studio, a week of management nagging at me to get on with the song.

several people glance at me suspiciously, not that I can blame them. I'm currently walking around with my hood up and sunglasses on.

"where the hell are they?" I mutter, slowly spinning around to get a 360 view. "okay if I was a group of insignificant little tiktok boys, where would I hide?"

as soon as I say that, it hits me. Kio said all of the sway boys, which means Anthony would be there. Which means... food court. and more specifically, Taco Bell.

just as expected, I find the group of them sitting around a table near Taco Bell. Anthony and the others are digging into their food, random strips of cheese scattered everywhere. I stifle a laugh as I watch Anthony slowly reach around Blake and grab his bag of chips, playing it off as a friendly shoulder pat.

Jaden is just sitting there, staring down at his untouched food. His eyes are just as red as they were last week, hair just as unkempt. I watch sadly as he looks like he's about to have a breakdown after the falafel falls out of his burrito.

Instantly the other boys are stuffing it back in for him, pushing the burrito back into his hands. Bryce even stuffs some of his own falafel into Jaden's food while Josh wraps an arm around the shaking boy's shoulders.

you hear that? that's the sound of my heart breaking.

sighing quietly, I force myself to work my courage up. alright, keep it professional. just try and pretend like he didn't have a break down, sing to me, and storm out of my studio all in one day.

before I even have a chance to say anything, he slowly looks up and meets my eyes. he coughs slightly, choking on... well, choking on air. reminds me of our first date, when I started choking on my onion-

okay cora, shut the fuck up. play it cool. play it cool.

"uhh hey. I see you're... eating" I instantly cringe at myself, wanting to slap myself while simultaneously burying myself into the ground. Instantly the other boys spin around, all of them looking surprised except Kio. He offers me a small smile as I turn my attention back to Jaden.

Anthony just slowly raises a finger to his lips, eyes darting between his arm around Blake, the stolen chips bag, and me.

"y-yeah, I am," Jaden stutters, fists gripping onto the table.

great! 10/10 for awkwardness, Cora! and even more points for making the only guy who ever meant this much to you have a break down whenever you're around! of course, the burrito definitely didn't help.

"so..."

"I'm assuming you're not here to talk about food?" Griffin interjects rather rudely, causing me to shoot him an equally dirty look. None of his friends are aware of it yet, but Dixie had shown me screenshots explaining that he cheated on her. She wouldn't let me beat that smirk off his face, so nobody else knows about it yet.