I See You

Chapter 5: Betrayal

James

Tuesday, October 20

I can't get it off my mind. The fact that I had made plans that aren't happening. I also don't want to stay in the same house that is being emptied. I know that I have agreed to it, and I don't regret agreeing to it, but it doesn't make it any less painful. Aaron won't expect me to help him pack in preparation to move, because I told him that I am fully booked today, a long time ago.

So I decided to text Daisy.

Contact name: Shortie🦋

J: Are you free for lunch today?

D: Yea, I am, but... aren't you meeting your girlfriend?

My heart pangs at her words, even though she didn't mean to trigger anything. She is just asking an innocent question.

J: No, not anymore. She said something came up. She's busy.

D: Oh... okay. Same place, at 12:30 later?

J: Yep, sure. See you!

I hope that being with Daisy can lighten my heart, even if just a little bit. No, I know it will. So I grab my wallet and my keys, and close the door behind me, pretending that everything is okay. Pretending that everything is the way it used to be.

Daisy

We end up skipping lunch, obviously. We spent time standing outside the restaurant and staring at the pages of food, even though we knew we wouldn't actually go in. He is never hungry when he isn't in a good mood. And I'd rather not spend money if I can avoid it.

Window shopping is more fun. It always is. It may not be for everyone, but it is for us. Maybe it is because it is him. Everything is fun when I am with him, even just looking from window to window, stopping by the various shops.

And, him trying to sneak a peek at my identification card. He claimed that he wanted to know my birthday. I think he just wants to take a photo of my picture on the identification card, and use it as blackmail against me. I roll my eyes, but the corners of my mouth twitch. He's so immature.

"When's your birthday?" James asks, holding an invisible microphone to my lips. See, he can literally just ask me this, instead of having to look at my identification card. Sneaky bastard.

"Well, my birthday was the day that I was born. It is some date, on that specific year. But I shalt not tell you, it shalt remain a mystery," I raise my hands to the air, posing. One hand on my hip. There is no way I am going to tell him so easily now. He is going to have to find it out for himself. I turn to him, grinning. "But, why do you ask?"

"To get you a gift, my lady," He swings his arm twice in the air and bows.

"Then, I shall not tell you," I say pompously, folding my arms and pretending to upturn my nose. This made me want to share my birthday even less; I don't want him to spend his money on me. He barely has enough money for himself, and even less so because of Jessica.

"Please, ma'am, I begeth of you-" He suddenly stops in his tracks. Roots seem to grow out of his feet and dig into the ground. My eyes follow his gaze, which leads to that of a girl.

She has red hair, and light brown eyes. Her eyelashes are blond, and her freckles decorate her nose bridge and her cheeks. When she laughs, it tinkles throughout the entire hall, brightening the atmosphere of the mall. Her white pearly teeth shine under the light. It's almost as if she's...floating. Gently. Like an angel. I could almost see her white feathery wings, and the halo right above her head. As I look at her, it feels like all is right in the world, and that everything will be okay. I understand why he is staring at her now; she is so captivating. Anyone else in the mall would be staring at her all the same.

Until I see her run into the arms of a guy and plant a kiss on his cheek.

She stops glowing. The temperature of the mall increases drastically, like we are in the desert. Thunder seems to fill the room, lightning blazing all around. His eyes glow bright red, and I think that daggers are almost coming out of his eyes. Then I know who this is. And I take everything I thought about her back. If looks could kill, she'd drop dead.

James

"Jessica," I say so softly that I don't expect her to hear me. But I think she turns around because of the chills I am emanating, because if she didn't turn I would be close to pulling out her hair. What. The. Fuck. Hahahahahaha. I have to be dreaming. I have to be. This can't be real right now. It can't be. She shouldn't even be here. She should be at home or at tuition, studying her ass off for her exams. That is what she said she was doing. That is what she told me she was doing!

"Oh, uh, hi J-James! Nice to see you, what are you doing here?" She stutters, shoving the guy aside and holding her hands behind her back. When I look closer at him, I realise it's worse than I could've imagined. It's Peter.

She has this fake-ass smile plastered across her face. The smile that she uses to get her way with me. I had thought it was real for a long time. But today, I know it is fake. Then again, everything about her looks fake to me right now. She has the audacity to face me like this and smile like I didn't see anything, and like she did nothing wrong. How. Dare. She. She literally told me that she was studying, and I trusted her! I never once doubted her. But wait... did she even tell me that?

"You...you..." I'm so furious that I can't even speak properly. I can't even form words. Rage has nearly overtaken me completely. My brain is trying to process what I want to say. I don't even know where to start! I run my hand through my hair. Fuck her. Fuck this. Fuck everything. I don't even know what I feel or what I want to say anymore.

My heart sinks deep into my stomach as I realize that she had not even told me she was studying. She had just said that something came up. I was so naively in the palm of her hand that I had assumed that she had been studying. How could I have been so... naive? It was so obvious all along. Why hadn't I seen what was right in front of me?

"James..." Jessica reaches out to hold my hand, while Peter is trying to creep away. Out of all people, why Peter? One of my acquaintances at school. She knows that I appreciated him. She knows that I spent time with him. Did she do it on purpose? Because he was what others would call my best friend?

Daisy does something I least expected, and smacks her hand off my wrist for me. I am stunned, especially when I see the red hand mark on Jessica's wrist. Daisy winces, and it dawns on me that while she meant to hit Jessica, she didn't mean to hit that hard.

"Hey! That hurt," Jessica whimpers, rubbing her wrist. Daisy looks apologetic, and opens her mouth to apologise, but instead closes it. I see the gears turning in her mind.

"Well, not more than the way you hurt James," Daisy whispers, her hands trembling. She slowly clenches her hand into a fist, the other pinching her thigh. Her lower lip is also shaking, so she bites it, and blood starts to flow. But she stands through the silence. She withstands Jessica's gaze. She doesn't break. So Jessica caves in first.

"I'm sorry, I can't help changing feelings for someone, can I?" Jessica says defensively, indignant that she is being reprimanded right now, in front of her ex and her new boyfriend, by someone she doesn't even know. Her face is turning a brilliant shade of crimson.

"You're right. You can't help your feelings for someone, but you can help cheating on someone. You could've told James that you fell out of love, instead of resorting to lying to him and betraying his trust like this," Daisy says quietly, but firmly. She stares at Jessica, without rage or anger. But with eyes of disappointment, as if she expected more from her, even though she doesn't know Jessica at all. "Maybe you would've even remained friends"

"Well, that's... That's..."

"Come on James, let's go," Daisy pulls my hand and leads me away. I need her to do it for me. I don't think I can move on my own. I look back at Jessica, only to see her cuddle with Peter. It feels like the scene in the bible when the angels told Lot's family not to look back at the burning city of Sodom, but Lot's wife did, causing her to turn into a pillar of salt. At that moment I wished that I was a pillar of salt. So that I don't have to deal with Jessica's lack of remorse for what she did.

So that I don't have to feel this pain anymore.