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Excuse the mistakes!
I'm getting the username of the person who made the cover on the side, but it's so fabulous and I love it! It was my phone background for a while, actually.
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“Wait, Harper! Wait!”
I could hear Duke scrambling after me as I walked up the basement stairs, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I reached the top of the stairs and slammed the door shut behind me. Duke swore loudly as it hit him in the face, and if I were in a good mood, I would probably be laughing.
Without stopping, I hopped up the stairs to my room, again, shutting the door behind me. I grabbed my shoulder bag from the floor. As I dumped the contents onto my bed, the door to my room banged open, and Duke stood in my doorway.
“Harper.”
My name came out in a pained whisper, and I felt a tug in my heart. Immediately, I looked away from Duke. I didn’t want to let him make me cry, and if he did, I didn’t want him to see his handiwork. He didn’t deserve that satisfaction.
I didn’t say a word, but instead pulled out a change of clothes from my drawers. I shoved it into my bag, and when it became clear what I was intending, Duke broke away from the threshold of my room and stepped up next to me.
“Harper, please let me explain,” he pleaded, but I didn’t respond. “Harper!”
I crossed my room and grabbed my laptop, which I shoved into my bag along with my clothes. The charger quickly followed, and then I snapped the shoulder bag shut. I slung it over my arm, and I finally looked up at Duke.
“Please,” he begged breathlessly.
I struggled to find the words to say. I was feeling such a mix of emotions that I wasn’t sure what the dominant one was and what I should do about it. It took a moment, but then the words came to me like getting slapped in the face.
“I knew it,” I replied quietly, “I knew this was too good to be true.”
“Harper, no, I—”
I didn’t stay to listen to what Duke had to say. I didn’t want to hear his excuses. I couldn’t hear them. As angry as I was at Duke, there was part of me that just wanted to forget what had happened and go back to us being happy and fine. However, that would be pathetic after what he had just done, and I wasn’t planning on being pathetic.
I walked out of the room, not bothering with the door, and I stepped down the stairs. Duke still hadn’t quit, and he was hurrying after me, still calling my name. I grabbed my backpack from the doorway of the living room and then my keys from the hook near the door.
I pulled the front door open and almost felt like laughing when I saw Gretchen’s car gone. We hadn’t been in my room for that long, which means that she had to have booked it out of my house. That made it easier for me to leave, since I didn’t have to pull out around her car.
I opened the passenger door of my Jeep and threw my stuff in carelessly. Suddenly, before I could cross over to the driver’s side, there was a hand on my shoulder and I was quickly spun around.
“Harper,” Duke said, holding me firmly with both hands on either one of my shoulders, “I need you to hear me out.”
“Let go,” I commanded, and I could feel my skin burning under his palms.
“Harper, you just have to—”
“Let go!” I yelled angrily, and before I could stop him, I shoved off one of his hands with my own, and with that arm now freed, I raised my other hand. I swung my hand, but I stopped myself before it made contact.
“I’m not going to hit you,” I spat through my teeth. “Now get away from me.”
Duke’s eyes widened, and he hesitated before lifting his hands. He took a couple steps back, and we looked at each other for a moment. Then, I closed the passenger door and walked quickly around to the driver’s side.
I buckled myself in and turned on the car, and I pulled out of the driveway without hesitation. Before I drove away from the house, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at Duke one last time.
He stood in the grass next to the driveway, his entire body turned to the car. He was still as naked as I had found him when I’d gone down to the basement, and I wish this were a situation where I would’ve found that funny. There was a fleeting moment where I thought about pulling back into the driveway, but I forced myself to push down on the gas pedal and speed down my street.
When I reached the stop sign at the end of the street, the first tear rolled down my cheek. It was silent, but I felt it slide coolly down my hot skin, and it hung on my chin for a moment before dropping into my lap. I didn’t wipe away the trail because more tears followed.
“Fuck,” I whispered to myself, and I gripped the steering wheel tightly as I drove. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Even though I’d been trying to block it, what had just happened slammed into the forefront of my memory. Images of Gretchen, shirtless, and Duke, only in his boxers, flashed in front of me, and I shook my head. It didn’t work, and their surprised faces at my entrance plastered themselves on my eyelids.
Without thinking, I let out a short, loud scream. Then, I turned on the radio and blasted it, desperately attempting to drown out my thoughts. I didn’t want to be alone with myself, and somehow, the radio helped with that.
For a moment, I thought that I didn’t actually know where I was going, but when I surveyed my surrounds, I realized that I had subconsciously picked a destination. I turned left onto a residential street, and two seconds later, I was parked in a driveway with my car turned off.
“Fuck,” I muttered, and I climbed out of my car and shut the door behind me.
I walked up the front path of the house, quickly wiping my eyes on my arm, and I let out a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. I crossed my arms tightly around myself, suddenly feeling cold, and I shifted impatiently. For a moment, I thought that maybe there wasn’t anyone there, but then I heard feet scampering inside and coming closer.
“Harper?”
The door swung open to reveal Olive, clad in a penguin onesie with a mud mask on her face. She was cradling a bowl of popcorn in her arm protectively, and she looked confused.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, titling her head to the side, “I thought you were working on that project and then going on a date.”
I shook my head. “We… Duke…” I couldn’t bring myself to say anything, and I fought back more tears.
“Oh,” Olive whispered, everything clicking in her brain. “Duke is a shithead. Come inside and let me get dressed, okay? We’ll go somewhere and talk.”
*
I grimaced as the waitress placed a pistachio milkshake in front of me.
When Olive had pulled into the parking lot for Frank’s Diner, a knot had formed in the pit of my stomach. The last time I had been here was when I got the root beer floats and fries for my date with Duke, and it was one of my favorite memories with him. Olive hadn’t known, and it made sense for her to come here because it’s where we went when one of us was having a shitty day.
I had almost told Olive to go somewhere else, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Also, I really wanted ice cream, and I figured that maybe, if I didn’t get my usual root beer float, there wouldn’t really be a problem.
I was wrong.
“Alright,” Olive said, breaking the silence, “I’ve let you sit there quietly for long enough. Tell me what happened so you’re not just in your head with your thoughts.”
“I don’t know where to begin,” I replied, chuckling sadly.
“Begin with when I left you,” Olive said, leaning over the table towards me.
“Alright,” I breathed, and I took a big sip of my milkshake, which was painfully delicious. “Duke had taken the Jeep home, so I got a ride from Gretchen. When we go to my house, we were standing in the living room, and I got a call from Ruby. I went upstairs to take it, and she told me that one of my pieces was chosen. So—”
“Wait!” Olive cried, snatching my hand, “Back up! One of your pieces was chosen?”
“Yeah,” I confirmed, allowing myself a small smile.
“Harper, congratulations!” she squealed, drawing attention from neighboring tables, “That’s huge!”
The old man at the table adjacent to Olive’s side of the booth turned around and glared at Olive, and he slowly raised a finger to his lips. “Shh!” he hissed, and Olive rolled her eyes.
“Shh!” she mocked, and then she jutted her finger at me. “Excuse you, but my best friend just got a piece accepted into the Marx Art Gallery, and I don’t know if you know anything, but that’s kind of a big deal.”
“I don’t care!” The old man replied, “Just be quiet!” Then, he gave her one more glare before turning around and returning to his food.
Olive turned to face me again, and she raised her eyebrows. “Rude much?” she muttered, and then she shook her head and a smile returned to her lips. “That’s really cool, Harper. I’m proud of you!”
“Thanks,” I said quietly. I wanted to feel as excited as Olive did, and for the first moments when I’d heard, I’d been ecstatic. However, we all know what put a damper on it.
Olive, sensing this, pushed my milkshake towards me and said, “What happened after that?”
“Well,” I replied, “I wanted to go and tell Duke, since I was really excited and wanted to tell anyone. He was the only one home, other than Gretchen, and obviously he was my first choice.”
I hesitated, playing with the straw in my milkshake, because I was about to get to the tough part. Olive realized this, and she slipped out of her side of the both and squeezed in next to me. She grabbed my hand tightly, and I felt better. Best friends are best friends for many reasons, and this is one of them.
“I went downstairs and walked over to the basement. I thought I heard voices, and when I opened the door, I noticed that all the lights were off, which I thought was weird. But I went downstairs anyways, and when I got down there, I found… I found Duke in his boxers, and Gretchen didn’t have a shirt on.”
I kept the tears in, and Olive’s eyes widened in shock. “What?” she asked, shaking her head. “Your Duke?”
“My Duke,” I whispered.
“I can’t believe it,” Olive said, leaning back against the booth. “I mean, I don’t want to believe it, but what else could’ve happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s so weird, though,” Olive continued thoughtfully. “I was convinced he wasn’t actually an asshole. He didn’t come off like that to me.”
“Me too.”
“What a dick!” Olive declared, and she looked at me and squeezed my hand. “You deserve better than him, Harper. What he did was disgusting and awful, and I hope he knows what an amazing girl he lost.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say, since I was still in shock. Call me pathetic or hung up, but honestly, I didn’t think Duke would do that to me. At least, I hoped he wouldn’t. I guess a little part of me was afraid of his ladies’ man past, but he seemed done with that when we had started our flirtationship and subsequent relationship.
I was confused and I was hurt.
I reached for my milkshake and started sipping it slowly, and Olive let go of me and returned to her side of the booth. For a few moments, we sat in silence, and then Olive clapped her hands together.
“Alright,” she said, and she locked eyes with me. “It’s time to cheer you up. I love you, and I can’t let you stay sad. So, tell me, which piece got chosen for the gallery?”
“Oh, it is—”
I stopped talking as I remembered. My piece, my winning piece, was of Duke.
“It is what?” Olive asked, tilting her head to the side.
“It is…” I searched for words, “it’s an abstract one. Mostly black and white, but there are some colors in it.”
“It sounds really cool!” Olive replied, grinning, “What’s the name?”
“Reader,” I stated, curling my hands into fists under the table, “It’s called Reader.”
“I’m very intrigued,” Olive commented with a laugh, “I hope I get to see it.”
“Of course you will,” I said, smiling at her, “You’re my best friend, so it’s my duty to make you come and see it.”
I plastered a smile on my face as Olive giggled, and suddenly her phone buzzed loudly on the hard tabletop. She ignored it, since she wanted to be polite, but I could tell she wanted to answer it.
“Go ahead,” I said, waving towards the phone, “I don’t mind, and it’s probably Lillian.”
“You sure?” Olive asked, and I nodded.
Without hesitation, Olive grabbed her phone. As she read, a smile formed on her lips, and I felt pangs of jealously and anger in my chest. Immediately, I got mad at myself. I shouldn’t feel angry and jealous of Olive just because she was in a wonderful relationship and mine had just crumbled.
I pushed down my unwanted feelings and looked out the window and the street. As cars passed one way or the other, I sighed. My thoughts returned back to my winning piece, and I had to stop myself from grimacing.
How could something I worked so hard for be tarnished mere minutes after I accomplished it? I was going to go to the gallery, and my piece would be there, taunting me. A piece I had loved and believed in had turned on me, just like the person it depicted.
I had a sick feeling in my stomach, which I quickly tried to drown with more of my milkshake.
It didn’t work.
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Woo update! Also, I would like to point it, it's been less than a month between updates, so I was better with this one.
STOP ASKING ME ABOUT FUCKING UPDATE. K, thanks.
So what do we think? Hmmmmmm? I've been reading some of the comments, and some of you are close-ish to Gretchen's reasoning, but no one has hit the nail on the head yet. So keep those guesses comin!
3 chapters left!!!!
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