-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17-year-old Griffin Campbell tightly gripped the steering wheel of his black Chevy pickup as he pulled over to the side of the road before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to call his girlfriend, Alexia Boswell, again, only to have the ringing fill the truck once again for the sixth time that night as he hung up again and got back on the road.
Deep down, he knew why she wasn't answering. It's the same reason she's been so short with him lately, abruptly ending their Facetime calls, and seeming easily distracted whenever they've hung out together. It had been coming for a long time, but he didn't want to accept the reality of the situation.
The sun was already beginning to set, turning the Louisiana sky into a pretty mix of pinks and oranges. When they first started dating, they used to always drive and loudly sing songs as they would hold hands and press quick kisses to each other's cheeks. But now, his heart is pounding in his chest like an orchestral drum as he pulled up to the sidewalk next to her two-story house in downtown Sulphur Springs and looked up through his windshield to see that the only source of light coming from the house was a lamp in her bedroom.
Thankfully, her parents and younger siblings weren't home, so this visit was going to be nice and quick, assuming she didn't try to play the victim card.
Breathing deeply, Griffin put the truck in park and took the keys out of the ignition before he unbuckled the seat belt and started to give himself a mental pep talk to ready himself for the incoming heartbreak before he saw her front door open, and she walked out of the house with a brown-haired boy, who had the smallest hint of a blush on his face, as they got into a beat up dark blue Honda and sped down the street. Suddenly, Griffin can't breathe as tears filled his eyes and he violently pounded on the steering wheel.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!" he yelled angrily as more tears stream down his face before he pulled his phone out once more and dialed her number, going straight to voicemail.
"You've reached Alexia, leave me a message! "
He let out a shaky breath as a few more small tears rolled down his face. "I don't know why you won't pick up the phone. Oh wait, I actually do. It's 'cause you're with him. Don't even try to deny it. I saw you walk out of the house with him wrapped around your finger. I wish you would've just told me you didn't give two fucks about me. That would've made this whole thing a lot easier for me. Call me back or don't. I don't fucking care anymore!!!"
After hanging up the phone, he doesn't really know how long he sat in his truck, watching for any sign of the blue Honda through his windshield patiently. He's so pissed off, and needs to let her know that they are done personally.
Eventually, her Honda did pull back into the driveway, and he watched intently as she ran a hand through her blonde hair and listened to the message he left her on her phone before she gazed at him with an innocent smirk on her face.
After pounding on the steering wheel a few more times for good measure, Griffin got out of the truck and walked towards her with his arms folded across his chest. He passes her and walks up to her front steps and starts to let himself into her house before she hurriedly pushed him inside.
"Don't fucking touch me!" His voice is sharp as her hands fly off of him, making sure that he's fully inside the house before she shuts the door as he throws his keys down onto the kitchen counter and scowls at her.
Alexia leans against the counter as he circles the room, getting all of his thoughts in order, before he turns to look at her.
"I'm so fucking angry at you," he sneers at her.
Alexia doesn't even flinch and just stares at him with a blank face, not showing any emotion.
"You ignore my calls, lie to me and tell me that you're busy with work and family stuff, when actually, you're busy fucking around with other boys!? Do you know how much that hurts me?!" he yelled at her with tears in his eyes.
She shrugged. "I'm sorry."
Griffin scoffed. "Yeah, well, sorry isn't going to cut it. Did you even really love me?" he asked quietly.
"No. And besides, you not that much better than me. Even though you're my boyfriend, you sure do love blowing me off to go hang out with that whiny bitch from your art class, Harper," she said with an angry frown on her face as she watched him walk further into the house before he turned on his heel and stared her down.
"Okay, one, Harper is not a whiny bitch. In fact, she's far from it. And I only hang out with her so much because she's my best friend and she's never gone behind my back to screw around with other boys!" he shot back at her.
For a few minutes, it's deadly silent in the house aside from the sound of Griffin's quiet sniffles before he spoke again. "Are you sleeping with any of them?"
Just by her silence, he already knew her answer and took a deep breath as he walked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table and put his head in hands.
Alexia sighed. "Look, in my defense, you're performance in the bedroom is very pathetic. I needed to find someone who could actually satisfy me."
Griffin sighed deeply, letting that insult slide as he looked up at her. "When did this start?"
She shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno......maybe about a month or so ago."
He chuckled dryly. "Before or after that weekend when I got in trouble with my parents because I snuck out of the hotel to come see you?"
"After that weekend."
Griffin stood up straight to face her. "So, let me get this straight: Almost immediately after I was grounded for three weeks, you went around town and found yourself a new boy toy to fuck around with?! God, you're the actual worse!!!" he yelled at her as he grabbed his keys and walked towards the entryway.
Alexia followed him and grabbed him by the wrist. "I'm sorry, Griffy. I loved you." she pleaded, trying to sway him to stay with her, only for him to push her away.
"Loved, as in the past tense of love. I let myself fall in love with you, and you just always hurt me. Don't talk to me. Don't call me. Don't come over. We're done." he said bitterly with more tears in his eyes as he grabbed a spare tote bag from the closet and walked upstairs to her bedroom, and put his stuff that he had given her while they were together into the tote bag and walked back downstairs to the entryway.
"I'm gonna go now," he said quietly as he wiped away the last of his tears and walked back out to his truck and tossed the tote bag into the backseat and then pulled his phone back out and opened up Instagram.
"You said that you loved me, and yet I got nothing back in return.....except heartbreak!!! Fuck you, @Lexi_B0sw3ll!!!" He cringed at the post. It wasn't his best, but he was pissed beyond words and needed an emotional outlet for his anger, so honestly, could you blame him?
As he put the truck back in drive, he looked up at her one last time, and saw that she was already back inside. She wouldn't even watch him drive away from her house for the last time.
The tears fall silently as he drives away from her house, knowing that they were finally over. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------About an hour later, Griffin was back at The Tremont and was sitting on his bed and was deleting all of the pictures of him and Alexia on his phone when someone knocked on his door, and he looked up from his phone and saw Harper walk into the room with a nice, hot mug of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows in her hands.
"Hey, Griffin. I saw your post on Instagram, and I just wanted to say I'm sorry. But if you ask me, she was way too bitchy for your taste and had that coming to her for a long time," she said with a small, timid smile on her face as she set the mug of hot chocolate down on his desk and went to go sit with him on his bed.
He chuckled lightly as he deleted the last picture off his phone and then stretched his arms out. "It's fine, Harper. And as always, you're right. I don't know what I was thinking believing that she actually loved me. What the hell is wrong with me?" he asked himself quietly as a few small tears fell down his face.
Harper gasped at himself asking that, and leaned in closer and gently held his face in her hands. "Griffin Campbell, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're perfect just the way you are, and Alexia really is an ass if she's not willing to see you for the amazing and cool person that you are. But I do. I see it every single fucking day," she said slowly with a blush on her cheeks.
For a few minutes it was very quiet and still in the room before she leaned in and pressed a gentle, yet passionate kiss to his lips. It happened so quickly that neither of them knew exactly what happened until Harper pulled away and her hand flew up to cover her mouth.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
She stood back up and started pacing back and forth on the bedroom floor for a few more minutes before Griffin stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her. "Harper, it's okay. Calm down. I actually liked that," he said with a wide, goofy grin on his face.
She blushed deeply, but wasted almost no time at all meeting his lips in another passionate kiss as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and placed her hands into his hair.
They stayed like that for a few minutes as they laid back down on his bed and held each other close. Harper let out a soft giggle as she sat back up. "I've been wanting to do that for a while now. Does this mean I'm now your girlfriend?"
Griffin smiled thoughtfully. "I'd like that, yeah."
"Good." They kissed each other again with small, secret smiles on both of their faces, and as he laid down on his bed with Harper, Griffin felt like everything was finally going to be okay now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few months later.....
Shortly after returning to school from Christmas break, it was the end of yet another long school day and Griffin was standing in front of his locker, and was putting his books away in his backpack for the day when three other boys who he shared some classes with walked up to him. "Wilbur, Lawson, and Nico. It's certainly a surprise to see you," he said as he slammed his locker shut and slung his backpack over his shoulders.
"We hope we're not interrupting anything, but we just wanted to know: You were Alexia's first boyfriend, right?" asked Lawson with a curious frown on his face.
Griffin nodded. "Yep, that's me. However, she really didn't give two fucks about me and was cheating on me with another guy. Why do you wanna know?"
Nico chuckled wryly. "Because, we made the same mistake of believing that she loved us as well. Shortly after you dumped her, her and I dated for about two months, but I broke it off after I found out someone else had been sending her dick pics. I was not happy," he said bitterly as he shuddered in disgust.
Griffin nodded at his statement. "I would imagine you weren't."
Lawson stepped forward. "Her and I lasted about three-and-a-half months, but after I told her that I realized that I was gay, she had a major freak out, and said that her reputation would be ruined if anyone found out she had been sleeping with a gay freak," he said dryly with a frown on his face.
Wilbur scoffed as he checked something on his phone. "Surprise, surprise. Boswell the Bitch already has a new boy toy wrapped around her finger. You know, I really wish someone could just set her in her place and give her a good lesson about being a player and lying to all of our faces. Anyways, it was nice talking to you, Griffin. We gotta go now. See you later," he said kindly as he and the other boys walked down the hall before they turned a corner and disappeared.
Griffin chuckled as he considered Wilbur's words about setting Alexia in her place. "Hmm, that would be nice. But, hey, what could I do? I'm just a loser who doesn't get higher than B's on his report card and has a guitar......" he said sullenly as the words died in his throat as he looked up at a flyer advertising the school's upcoming winter talent show, and right then and there, an idea slowly began forming in his mind about how he could give Alexia her comeuppance.
He just hoped that it would work. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, the night of the winter talent show, March 24th, 2025, arrived and after about an hour full of good, decent, and straight-up terrible acts, it was Griffin's turn, and he was performing after a junior's surprisingly funny ventriloquist act.
"Okay everyone, next up is Griffin Campbell!" exclaimed the announcer as someone from the set crew brought out a microphone and a stool for him to sit on before he trekked out onto the stage with a guitar in his hand as everyone erupted into a huge burst of applause, Harper especially.
After he was seated on the stool, and he was able to see everyone in the audience with the bright spotlight shining down on him, Griffin cleared his throat. "Well, first off, I just wanna thank everyone for coming out, including my family and my girlfriend, Harper, to support me tonight. Give 'em a hand, everyone!" he said excitedly, and everyone bursted into another short round of applause.
Griffin waited until everyone was done clapping before he spoke again. "But, if you ask me, the person who deserves the most applause is my ex-girlfriend, Alexia Boswell. If it wasn't for me learning that she had been cheating on me with another boy, I wouldn't have found the inspiration to write this song. So, give her a hand. I insist. She deserves it," he said with a knowing smirk on his face as he strummed a few strings on his guitar and began singing.
"So they told me all the things they said
Running all over my name, oh
And you're acting oh so innocent
Like I'm the only one to blame "
"You've been lying to yourself
Lie to everyone else
Only thinking about yourself
Darling, what the hell "
A few members in the audience erupted into a series of cheers and whistles, mainly some of the boys at school. Based on their reaction, Harper figured that Alexia had pissed off more than a few boys and that they also wanted to see her get her just desserts.
" I know what you say about me
I hope that it makes you happy
You can't seem to get me off your mind, oh
I know you're lying through your teeth
You told them the lies that you told me
I've had enough of it this time "
As Griffin continued to sing, Alexia began to fume angrily as she tried to block out the jeers coming from the male peers whose hearts she had broken over the years, but failed.
" So, you can lie, lie, lie, lie
Go ahead and try, try, try, try
It won't work this time, time, time, time
I kiss your ass goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye
Kiss your ass goodbye "
As he sang that verse of the song, Griffin stood up and looked in Alexia's direction and gave her a big, fat middle finger, which got way more cheers from the audience.
" So, you're telling them it's all my fault
You're the victim this time, oh
And you wanna make it seem like it's your call, oh
You're acting like everything's fine "
Griffin continued to strum the guitar with more passion and energy, and let himself lightly dance around as he closed his eyes and heard Harper loudly cheering him on as Alexia continued to fume. He had no idea giving someone their just desserts could be so fun, and he was loving every single minute of it.
"You've been lying to yourself
Lie to everyone else
Only thinking about yourself
Darling, what the hell "
"I know what you say about me
I hope that it makes you happy
You can't seem to get me off your mind, oh
I know you're lying through your teeth
You told them the lies that you told me
I've had enough of it this time "
"I know what you say about me
Oh, you can't get me off your mind "
Griffin stopped strumming the guitar for a few moments, and stood in front of the microphone with his eyes closed as he swept some of his hair back, took a deep breath and flipped off Alexia again before he continued playing.
"I know what you say about me
I hope that it makes you happy
You can't seem to get me off your mind, oh
I know you're lying through your teeth
You told the lies that you told me
I've had enough of it this time "
"You can lie, lie, lie, lie
Go ahead and try, try, try, try
It won't work this time, time, time, time
I kiss your ass goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye
Kiss your ass goodbye "
After he finished singing, Griffin stood in the center of the stage and bowed dramatically as almost everyone applauded and cheered for him loudly before he walked off to backstage where he met Harper and she kissed him on the cheek.
"Well, I could be wrong, but I think that song did the trick. I even saw someone pour a cherry slushy down the back of Alexia's shirt as I was getting up," Harper said with a little chuckle.
"That's good to hear. Now, what do you say we go home? There's nothing more to do here, anyways," Griffin stated nonchalantly as he heard Alexia let out a string of swear words as she tried to escape the auditorium and avoid her punishment from all the boys whose hearts she had broken in some way, mainly cheating.
Harper hummed in response as a small smile formed on her face. "I'd like that."
Griffin smiled back at her. He loved Harper so much. She knew him like no one else in the world did, and he never wanted to leave her side. Their faces were practically inches apart before he closed the distance between them. His lips met hers in a soft, passionate kiss. It felt much more meaningful and full of love than any kiss he had ever shared with Alexia. He deepened it for a few minutes to get his point across before they both pulled away with blushes and content smiles on both of their faces.
"I love you, Harper."
"Right back at 'cha, Guitar God. Let's go home." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry about the cheesy ending, but I hope you guys still enjoyed this one-shot. And believe it or not, but I was actually inspired to write this one-shot after I learned that @killiancaptainhook aka Nina's former best friend, Alexia, had been conning me by pretending to be Madeleine McGraw, who plays Zoey on SOSS, here on Wattpad. And if you don't believe me, you can always ask Nina herself.
Anyways, I hope y'all are doing well, and I'll see you in the next one. Ciao 4 now, besties. Love you all!!! <3<3<3<3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------