Wonderland

❅H24❅ Short-Lived

Chapter Twenty-Four

Heather's POV

Short-Lived

 

November 15

A selfish part of me regretted having persuaded Brayden to make up with Berkeley. Sometimes, I speak before I can think about the consequences of my words. I could tell that everything was well between them again, because I saw them together the next day when I was grabbing dinner from the Eight.

I recovered from my mild fever overnight. I didn't even need to take Tylenol. I was up and running again the next morning.

After having finished my dinner alone in my room, I got a text from Brayden. He wondered if I'd be available to do a group study with him and Berkeley. I wanted to reject. I sent him a message telling him no, but a few minutes after having sent it, he came over to my room and dragged me out, telling me that I would be joining him and that was that.

The feeling of his fingers around my wrist sent butterflies to my stomach. That feeling, however, dissipated as quickly as it came when I saw Berkeley.

I silently prayed that she hadn't noticed the redness of my cheeks. I mean, what if she correlated that to my liking—

Wait. Stop. I don't like Brayden. I seriously don't. He's my friend. I'm just overthinking again. Thinking about the impossible. It's a known fact in my life that I will die alone. No guy would want me as a girlfriend, let alone a wife.

"I said I wanted to study alone," I said, once I was out of my room.

"Yeah, well, I don't take 'no' as an answer," he said, smirking. "You know me."

"You should respect people's decisions, though," Berkeley said, through gritted teeth, as she linked an arm through his. "Like I had told you earlier." Her eyes suddenly shot my way, and I flinched. She was glaring at me. I'm sure Brayden didn't notice, though; he had his gaze focused on the hallway he was walking through.

I trailed half a foot behind them, my head bowed.

If it weren't me, she wouldn't even be with him right now, I found my inner voice snarling.

Like you would've had a chance with him anyway, my conscience retorted. Think about it: you've never been asked out your entire life. No guys have ever even crushed on you. What makes you think Brayden would be any different? If he weren't going out with Berkeley, then he'd be with some other girl. No guy would ever want you. Like ever...Unless, that is, you were beautiful. Or maybe lost some weight. You're fat.

I furiously blinked back tears, forcing myself to not break down. I don't like anyone. I'm one hundred percent sure. I've never liked anyone in my life. Brayden's just my friend, and friends don't fall for friends...

I kept chanting that silently in my head as I painstakingly tried to ignore the PDA between them when we were studying. When it became too much for me to handle, I excused myself to the snack bar beside the room we studying in. I brought a slice of Oreo cake and rejoined them, however, Brayden was nowhere in sight when I came back. Only Berkeley was there.

She flickered her gaze between the cake and I.

"What?" I wondered, looking down at my cake. Was there a bug on it?

Berkeley wrinkled her nose. "Don't you think that's a little fattening?" She looked at the cake as if it were poison.

"I don't eat it often," I murmured, stabbing my fork into it.