Secret alliances

0.3

"Hey!" Emerson says, engulfing me in a hug.

I return the hug, my eyes roaming around, looking for someone. "Where's James?" She asked.

"Uh, he should be here?" I looked towards the door and saw him walking in. "Ah, there he is,"

Emerson runs off to go get snacks and Miles who walked in with James goes to the bathroom, leaving us two behind.

"Hey," I go in for a side hug.

"How are you?" He asks, wrapping his arms around me.

"Good, how are you?" We both untangle and move to the concessions for popcorn.

"Excited for the movie," I got a minuscule smile. "What do you want? I'm paying,"

"Nah, just split it, like I'll buy the popcorn and you buy the drinks or something."

"Okay, you wanna go first?"

"Sure." I turn to the cashier and order. "Can I get a large bucket of popcorn and four trays?"

"Sure, that all?"

"Yes,"

"Okay, your total is 10.36, do you have a regal card?"

"Yeah I do, gimme one sec," I pull out the card and money and hand him the card.

"Okay your new total is 8.95, cash or card?

"Is cash fine?" He nods and I hand over a ten dollar bill.

I wait for James to order and after that Emerson and Miles. Then we all head up into the theatre.

We chose seats toward the top middle, so we clambered past everyone and sat. It was Emerson then me, James and Miles on the other side of James.

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"That was really fun," I tell James while Emerson is in the bathroom. The movie ended roughly ten minutes ago and Miles had already left.

"Yeah, we have to do that again," he says absentmindedly. "Hey, I gotta go but I'm glad we did this."

"Drive safe and lemme know when you get home, okay?"

"I will,"

Emerson walks out of the bathroom a minute later and then we both get picked up soon.

I walk into my house which is surprisingly empty. Only my grandparents are home so I ask where mom and dad are.

"Kyā chē?" (Where is everyone?)

"Amisha foi's house," my grandma says sounding half-asleep. (Aunt.)

I retreat to the living room and grab my book and annotation supplies. Airpods in, phone on reading mode and book open.

I was so engrossed in the book that when I next looked at my phone it was around six thirty pm already.

Jeez. I got home around four, two and a half hours of reading well deserved though.

Instead of making dinner, I go into the sunroom with my book and stuff and plop down on the swing, my AirPods almost fall out but I manage to keep them in place.

I look up from my phone and see Wes lounging on his swing in their sunroom. He's wearing his glasses this time. Why is he everywhere I go.

I pretend I don't see him and go back to swinging the swing as high as it'll go.

After a few minutes, I feel as if someone's eyes are on me. My doubts are confirmed when I see Wes's eyes trained on me. I raise my eyebrows in a question-like manner, while he just shakes his head and goes back to his book.

What book is he reading?

I try to subtly peek at the cover, Pride and Prejudice.

Did not peg him for a 'classics' kinda guy.

Ugh and it was the pretty cover too, the Barnes and Nobles exclusive edition.

He picked up a pen and wrote something down and then tabbed the page. He annotates?

A notification buzzed underneath me where my phone was laying. I'll get it later.

I focus back on my book and the music flowing into my ears. When I next check my phone, it's almost seven thirty and there's a notification from James.

Grabbing all my stuff, I head back inside and sit at the kitchen island.

Another notification pops up from James and it has something along the lines of "I'm so sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen" so I rush to open it up.

Why is he apologizing?

James: this is so off topic but I like Emerson
James: I'm so sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen and I know we just went on a date but I don't like you like that anymore

What the fuck-

What the actual hell is this? Water prickled my corneas as I began to process what the hell I just read.

Meera: I'm sorry what-
Meera: James what are you saying

James: I really like her Meera
James: I'm being honest

Fucking bitch.

What did I do for this whole situation to end up like this?

Meera: how much do you like her on a scale of one to ten?

James: a seven

Well shit. I'm not even gonna argue, this is not worth my time and she doesn't even like him like that anyways. Emerson's still too hung up over Tristan, a senior on the basketball team.

Meera: okay

Tears cascaded down my face, salty water coating my lips.

I shut my phone and ignored him for the rest of the night.

So many thoughts flooded my head as I ate mindlessly and sat back down on the couch.   My parents came back home around this time as well. They played their show and I just sat there.

He fucking knows she's still not over Tristan, so he did this for what?

Was he just using me to get closer to her?

Did he even want me?

What ran through his mind?

Am I not enough?

Maybe I am the problem.

I think about all my friends compared to me. Yeah, maybe it's me. Maybe I am the problem.

No one really wants the Indian girl when the really conventionally pretty white girl is standing next to her.

I love my friends to death, but I never really stood a chance standing next to them. It was always going to be them first.

Like I'm friends with some of the most gorgeous girls and I really do love them but when next to them I'm always a second choice or priority.

I start crying again and excuse myself to the bathroom. Once I get there, nothing comes out. No tears. No more sobbing.

I look up into the mirror and just lose it. Even looking at myself hurts now because all I can think about is how fucking pretty she is and how she's so much more better looking. All of my flaws that used to be invisible started popping up out of nowhere.

Even as I go to bed, all I can think about is how he chose her over me. That thought kept me up till seven in the fucking morning.

Chapter 0.3
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James<<<<

What do we think?

Also this chapter really brought out a lot from memory lane so that's fun

What do we think is gonna happen next?

Next chapter is from Wes's pov