The Purple Backpack ✔️

Chapter Sixteen

ANDREW'S POV

You know what bothered me most about having friends who didn't know what the word boundaries meant, it was exactly that. It pissed me off when the three musketeers as Pierra referred to them together with Ned took it upon themselves to cheer me up. In their definition that meant a party which was the last place I wanted to be. It had been four against one so I had I lost by a landslide.The guys had decided to abduct me and drag me to the party because according to them I was too mopey and was killing their vibe. They could have just left me behind to wallow in my sadness but that wasn't an option for them either.

It's not like I wanted to be sad, I just was. It had been two weeks since I'd confessed the truth to Pierra and I had not been able to sleep, eat, work or study well. She was in my head all the time and it was messing with my performance both academically and professionally. She had stopped coming to the Tuesday morning class and I even stopped catching glimpses of her to and from class. I knew for a fact that she was still going since the stall keeper she bought Corn puffs from told me she took the extra packet I paid for every day. I had no idea how she was managing to escape me but she was doing a great job of it and it was getting frustrating. I had thought about visiting her apartment but I chickened out everytime.

"Still thinking about her?"Ned shouted over the loud music as he dropped himself next to me on the sofa.

He shoved a plastic cup filled with keg in my hand as if he didn't already see the one in my other hand was still halfway full. I didn't like keg but it was cheap and the best option for broke university students who still wanted to have a good time with the right kind of buzz.

"I'm always thinking about her."I confessed draining the half filled cup before tossing it away.

"I thought you confessed everything, why didn't that fix things?"Ned asked the same thing I'd been asking myself for the past two weeks.

"I guess I messed up more than I thought I did."I replied giving the only reasonable answer I had been able to come up with.

"Have you apologized?"Ned asked.

"How can I apologize to someone who doesn't want to be found. She's determined to stay away from me and I've got to admit she's doing a really good job of it."I admitted the frustration I was feeling seeping into my voice.

"I know you haven't visited her place yet you know where she lives. Why is that?"Ned asked.

Before I could reply Cass did it for me as he sat next to me on the other side"Because he is a wuss and is afraid of rejection."

"Yeah that."I replied slumping back on the sofa.

"That's why I don't date or allow myself to catch feelings. It turns good men like me into... this."Cass admitted pointing a finger at me.

"Sheesh thanks Cass, feeling the love."I replied sarcastically.

"You're welcome bro."He laughed and I shoved him away from me.

"Don't listen to him Andy, when you find a girl you really like you fight for her no matter the cost. Great girls are rare and true love is even rarer. If you really like this girl then you've got to fight for her." Ned advised and both Cass and I turned to look at him with shocked expressions on our faces.

"Since when did you become a love guru?"Cass asked speaking for the both of us.

"Stop looking at me like that and I'm speaking for experience. I lost a special girl once and I regret it to this day. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get a second chance but until then I'll always regret not fighting for the first one and letting her go. Don't repeat the same mistake I did dude, you'll regret it forever."Ned explained with a sad and lost expression on his face as he got up, patted my shoulder comfortingly before disappearing into the sea of drunk dancing of students.