Morgan
I must've left Hanna a million text messages, missed calls, and vehement voicemails that went unnoticed, much to my chagrin, when Trevor called my attention, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
"Huh? W-what was that?" I said, blinking twice as I came back to reality.
"Calculus, Morgan," replied Trevor calmly. "I kind of don't want to fail?"
"Oh. Right." I'm in the middle of a tutoring session.
It was after class, and the classroom we were in was completely empty—everyone's presumably gone home. We sat across from each other, him working on his homework and me staring blankly at the countless ignored texts I've sent Hanna.
This is all Addie's fault. Hanna didn't have a clue about my liking Archer. Why would Addie tell me she knows? Why would she lie?
"Is... Is something going on with you?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.
"No, I'm fine," I answered immediately as I shut off my phone, determined to stop obsessing over the unanswered texts. "Um, so, where were we?"
Trevor shut his textbook and put his pen away. "I think this is a good place to stop for the day." He flashed me that charismatic, bad boy smile of his that never fails to make my heart flutter. "Thanks for tutoring me today."
I shook my head and laughed. "You don't have to thank me after every session, Casanova."
"You know I do," he replied in a soft chuckle as he gathered up his things and shoved them messily into his bag. "You're doing this for, like, nothing. I owe you a lot."
"Shut up," I laughed, waving him off. "You can make it up to me by treating me to a latte someday."
"It's a date," he grinned.
As we walked out of the classroom, I couldn't help but think of the other day, when I messed up badly.
"H-hey, Trevor?" I began, suddenly shy again. "I just... want to thank you again for the other day... You, uh... You handled the situation well."
He glanced over at me before sticking his hands into his leather jacket and saying, "Look, it wasn't a big deal. So you blurted out that you have feelings for me... That's fine." He shrugged, wearing a smile that told me everything was copacetic, before adding, "I get confessions all the time."
At that, I stopped in my tracks, and a scoff subconsciously left my lips.
"What?" reacted Trevor, raising an eyebrow.
"You're just so cocky, aren't you?"
Trevor looked completely bewildered as to why I'm suddenly pissed, and that honestly didn't surprise me. Yes, confident people say confident things that come off as arrogant to us lowlifes, but I wasn't about to explain that to him. For all he knows, I'm just PMSing or something—which I actually am, not that it matters.
"You know what? I'll see you next week for calc, Trevor," I deadpanned as I sped-walked further down the empty school corridor.
Only... It wasn't as empty as I thought.
As I turned the corner into the hallway, I'm suddenly stood face-to-face with Hanna... with Archer's arm around her shoulders. For some reason, though, Archer immediately brought his arm back to his side when he saw me.
My heart ached at the sight of the two of them, and at that moment, I regretted snapping at Trevor, wishing he was standing by my side so that I'd look less pathetic.
"Oh, hey, Morgan," Archer greeted awkwardly. "I was just—"
Hanna cut him off. "We were just waiting for Trevor," she said cattily, wearing a faux smile. "Are you done playing teacher or...?"
"Han, stop it," scolded Archer in a warning tone, as if he was torn between defending me and hurting Hanna—which I found strange because as much as I hated to admit it, he seems to fancy Hanna.
Before I got the chance to make this an even more awkward encounter for the three of us, Trevor—thankfully—showed up behind me and smiled upon seeing Archer.
"Oh, you didn't have to wait for me," he beamed, walking past me.
Hanna giggled. "Chase would've, too, but Addie dragged him away."
"Some sister of yours, huh?" laughed Trevor, elbowing Archer playfully.
"Come on, Trev," Archer responded as he turned his back on me and headed towards the exit. "Let's get going."
As Hanna, Trevor, and Archer walked away, I stared at their retreating figures, awkwardly standing in place, but to my surprise, Archer suddenly turned back to face me one last time, and then he said softly, "See you, Darhk."
The three of them turned the corner of the hallway, but as I still contemplated Archer's ominous words, Hanna suddenly looked back, too, to give me the coldest look ever, as if she was proving to me that she had won, that she had ultimately gotten the boy in the end, before she turned back and continued laughing at something the guys had said.
It was then when a sudden jolt of realization washed over me: I am completely alone. I've somehow managed to alienate all those I held dear and loved—first Hanna then Addie then Trevor, too, I guess.
Sticking my hand into my pocket, I reached for the little silver key chain that resided there.
I stared at the engraving for a moment—the words 'I love' still haunts my dreams. It was a curious thing, really, because even though I have no recollection of this strange trinket, I still felt this weird connection to it that made me think I was the owner of the lost object. I sighed aloud, flipping the key chain in my hands.
"Whoever gave this to me must've loved me, but... who could've possibly loved a mess like me?"