"There's only so many times I can put my heart back together"
"Why are you so sure I'll break it again?"
🖤🤍🖤
Andrew had a perfect life. Or so others would think.
Living under his father's control was a nightmare. Having his dreams ignored and bei...
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"Watch it!" someone yelled as Alice diverted out of the way barely in time.
She was quite careless that day, nothing able to shake her mood. It wasn't just that day, though. The entire week had gone by with some sort of fantastical ease. She felt like everything was pink and fluffy, but she'd never say it out loud to her friends, knowing too well she'd be mocked.
Perhaps Alice was considered the most childish, someone who lived within the false belief that the world was a sweet place and life was worth all the trouble, but wasn't that what made her also the happiest? There had to be a reason she was the only one who never hit rock bottom.
"Ali!" a voice called somewhere on her left.
She stopped mid-stairs and turned to the girl sitting on the stone rail at the side of the stairs, sunglasses on top of her blonde curls.
"Nicole!" she smiled, joining the girl and dropping her bag by her feet. "Don't you have classes now?"
"Just had my last morning class. The next starts at three. I'm going to work now."
Alice frowned. "But your shift is later."
"I know. I'm covering for Oliver," she said. "Are you having lunch alone?"
She didn't realise Nicole was only asking because she was alone too; she assumed Nicole was just concerned about her.
"I was going to ask Andy to have lunch with me. We have the same lunch time most days."
Nicole scrunched her nose. "Andy?"
"Yes. You've met Andrew before. He has French with us."
The girl blinked, but Alice didn't elaborate, knowing she was playing dumb on purpose. She didn't understand the need, but accepted that there were some things about Nicole she would never understand.
"So you're... having lunch with him?"
"Yupe. I just need to call him. He's always available, he hasn't made many friends so far."
"So you're clawing at him so he doesn't meet anyone more interesting?" Nicole asked.
"Are you saying I'm not interesting enough?"
Nicole laughed at the girl's sudden preoccupation. To her, the only problem with Alice was caring too much about other people's opinion.
"Of course you are," she jumped, landing on a step of the irregular stair in her black heels. "Is he interesting, though? He looks boring."
"Can you not? You don't need to bash down every single man you encounter in your life. Besides, I think he might be the one."
A shy smile grew on Alice's lips when the words came out, and her cheeks tinted a bright pink as Nicole's scrutinising eyes stared at her, fighting herself not to roll them. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look like she was hoping for a congratulation that would never come.
