~Alyssa~
“—and the winner is Team Cole and Alyssa! Let’s give them a round of applause!”
“Did you hear that Alyssa? WE WON! We freaking won!” Cole’s face lit up in happiness as he charged toward me and hugged me tight, planting a kiss on my cheek.
I just stood there, rooted to the ground, too stunned to say anything.
Cole, who probably noticed by now that I wasn’t jumping in excitement, awkwardly released me from his embrace and turned in the direction where I was spacing out at.
At the other side, Jeremy and Isabella were staring at Cole and me with an incredulous look on their faces. Anger contorted Jeremy’s face as he pointed an accusing finger at me.
“I knew it! I knew there was something between you two!” He bellowed at the top of his voice, but it was somehow muffled by the cheers and the noises of the crowd. He clenched the finger that he was pointing with into a fist, and for a moment, misery flickered across his face, but he quickly covered it up with a scowl. He stormed off, disappearing into the crowd.
Too dumbfounded to react, I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I was choked with emotions. Did Jeremy really think I cheated on him? When did he—how did he become so unreasonable? Was I the one at fault?
Tears threatened to pour out of my eyes as I fought them back. Finally finding back my voice, I squeaked. “Wait! Jeremy! You don’t understand!” I ran into the crowd, letting the tears that welled up in my eyes flow down my cheeks, my neck and onto my dress.
~*~*~
~Cole~
I watched as Alyssa chased after Jeremy. I left my mouth dangling open as I saw Isabella amidst the crowd.
“Here’s the special photo we took for you and your girlfriend.” Mr. Garfield handed me a Polaroid picture that still was unclear and blur. “The picture will come out later; just shake it a little bit. You and Alyssa make a really cute couple—“
“Thanks, but she’s not my girlfr—“I shook my head at Isabella who was probably listening to our conversation, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.
“Oh and here’s the Barbeque coupons you both won!” Mr. Garfield cut in, anxious to get those coupons off his hands so he could knock off early or something. He frantically stuffed the coupons into my hand, and before I could mutter thanks, he was already gone.
I quickly jammed everything into my pocket and spun to look at Isabella with pleading eyes. Betrayal was written all over her face and her eyes were red and puffy, tears spiking her eyelashes.
“Look, Isabella, things are what it seems to be—“I reached out my hand to grab hers, my voice forlorn.
She sucked in her tears and forced a smile. “It’s okay Cole; I always thought you and Alyssa were cute together.” She pulled her hand closer to her chest so I couldn’t touch her. Her face was creased with sorrow as she wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “Hah’don't mind me, these tears just can’t stop pouring out—“She sniffed. “I’m really happy for you two. Really.” She choked on her tears before running away, her head buried in her hands.
My heart sank, and I stooped my shoulders. Why did things turn out to be this way? I concentrated on her back as it became smaller, smaller, and then out of my sight. Next thing I knew, my vision grew blurry with tears as I quickly rubbed them away.
~*~*~
~Jeremy~
I spun into an alley, deftly avoiding the people as I tried to shake Alyssa off. I raced blindly ahead until I reached a dead end. I hid behind a red-brick wall. I didn’t want to see Alyssa. Anger and sorrow mixed within my heart and it built up within me. Why? Why did she do it? How could she? I hate her. I hate her. I can’t believe I trusted her.
“Jeremy! Jeremy where are you? Please. Please respond. Please let me explain!” I heard her call out from the distance. “Please…” Her voice slowly trailed off, and I could only hear sobs.
I faced the wall, focusing on it, trying to block her sobs out of my mind. How could she cry? Why was she crying? Aren’t I the one hurting inside?
I had to release that anger and grief or I would burst. I dealt a powerful punch on the wall, screaming my head off until I cooled off. I didn’t care about the curious stares of passerbys. I balled my fist tighter that was a disgusting fusion of blood and sweat and stung real bad. But it wasn’t painful compared to how I was feeling inside. Water trickled down my face. I can’t be crying. Shit. It’s just sweat Jeremy, don’t cry over that bitch.
“Jeremy…” A clammy and cold hand touched my shoulder gently and I twirled around immediately, making Alyssa jump in fright and retreat a little. We were so close, a little more and our lips would touch. But who would kiss her, after she had kissed Cole, that betrayer.
“What are you doing here?Go back to Cole.” I spat, hesitating to say the last word out.
She was now shaking uncontrollably, her tear-stained face etched with sorrow and regret.
“I-Jeremy…look, you’ve misunderstood.” She bit her lip, stumbling over her words.
“No, you look here. We are officially over.” I crinkled my nose and bared my teeth into a snarl.
Tears brimmed in her reddened eyes once again as she gazed at me longingly, her eyes so full of sadness I couldn’t look away.
But after a few seconds, I clenched my fist and tore my stare away from her, taking to my heels. “Jeremy!” She cried out, her voice so desperate. I could hear her footsteps coming closer to me and I ran faster but my vision was blinded by tears.
I felt her hands wrap round my waist, as she held onto me tightly. Her tears soaked into my shirt. “I-I….sorry. Forgive me.” Her words made my heart skip a beat, before finally shattering into a million pieces. Sorry? What did she mean by sorry? Does it mean that she admits that she had let me down? I gritted my teeth, reluctant to let her go. She was making me regret my decision.
I broke away from her, avoiding her gaze, turning my back on her.
“…No.” These words escaped my mouth as I closed my eyes, swallowing the lump on my throat. Those words stung my tongue, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
~*~*~
~Isabella~
Hiding under the tree where Jeremy and I had fallen asleep on, I pulled my legs close to my chest, hugging it tight. My heart ached so much as I tried to shake off thoughts of Cole and his gorgeous face. I bit my lip, trying to prevent the sobs from escaping my mouth. But it failed as I broke out into loud, controllable sobs which escalated into wails.
I shouldn’t have fallen in love with him. Who knew falling in love would hurt so much? I shouldn’t have fallen into this deep pit, when I knew that I would have trouble climbing out from. People were casting curious glances my way, whispering among themselves in hushed tones. Gee, don’t they know it’s rude to stare?
I probably looked like a mad woman now. Because: a) Mascara was probably dripping down my face. b) I was rocking back and fro and screaming my head off. c) I was pulling out my hair. d) I’m still crying like a baby.
Drying my tears and sniffing, I saw a hand reached out to me. It was Jeremy’s hand. He looked lonely and worn-out too, his eyes a little pinkish. He cried too? At least now I knew I wasn’t the only one with a broken heart.
“You know…the best way to cure a broken heart is to eat tubs of ice-cream right?” He coughed, pulling me up. “My chauffer is here, and if you like, we can go to the ice cream parlor for some ice cream.” He shrugged.
“Oh, can I have Strawberry Swirllie with a cherry on top? And sprinkles too?” I sniffed.
“Sure.” He gave me a faint smile and led me to a black limousine.
~*~*~
~Alyssa~
It was already night when I stopped curling in a ball at the dark alley bawling. I found Cole leaning against the car, the parking lots around us all empty. It was that late already? Cole looked really tired and his eyes were red. I knew he was in his do-not-piss-me mood, and I was also too drained of energy after all that had happened to piss him off.
He looked up and unlocked the door for me and waited for me to get in the passenger seat.
“What about…them.” I couldn’t bear to say their names.
“Them? Oh, I saw them leave in Jeremy’s limousine.” Cole mumbled.
“Oh.” Hearing him mention HIS name made me my heart throb.
Our plan had totally backfired. Wait, it was MY plan. My stupid idiotic plan. I shouldn’t have interfered in other people’s love affairs. It only made it worse, and made mine worse.
“Here, the photo they took of us. I haven’t taken a look at it yet.” Cole dug his hands in his pocket, fishing a picture out, his eyes still on the road.
We had to squint our eyes to be able to look at it, our surroundings were too dark. I made out a close-up of Cole trying to chew off the last bit of the chocolate stick, and a constipated look on my face as our lips touched. Actually, it just looked like we were kissing.
I quickly stuffed it in my pocket before Cole could see it. “Hey! I haven’t taken a good look at it yet!” Cole complained, but his voice sounded dull and lifeless.
“It’s…nothing.” My cheeks pinkened.
And after that, the whole journey home was pretty much silent, except for me whimpering. The things that had happened today replayed in my mind like a looped videotape, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret and hurt. Oh, and that stupid GPS made too much noise too. It was super annoying, especially when Cole and I needed some peace and quiet.
When we had finally arrived back home, I didn’t even bothered to change out of my dress. I ducked my head under my pillow and sobbed the whole night, until my makeup was a mess and had imprinted a mess on the pillow too. I wiped away my tears until I realized that there was something on my finger.
I tried to make out what it was beneath my tears. It was the strawberry ring that Cole had pushed into my finger. At this, I also took out the photo of the two of us “kissing” and the photo of us raising our foot victoriously in the air. I couldn’t help but smile.
I looked out of the window where Cole had just changed into his oversized tee and striped pants. I raised the finger with the ring on it, and after an awkward second, he did the same too. He flashed a smile and I grinned too.
Crying really helps a person to sleep more fitfully. Before I knew it, I was drifting off to dreamland, praying today had never happened, but at the same time, hoping that the ring would still be on my finger when I woke up.
~*~*~