Heartbreak Hypothesis

t w e n t y - n i n e

When you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes.

No one was dying, but I couldn't stop the memories of me and Daniel from flooding my mind.

It'd been exactly seventeen hours and twenty five minutes since Daniel left the hospital for his game. Since Chanelle had promised to end what we had. And I'd not received even a text from him. Part of me wanted to believe he was passed out from the game, but the other part knew that wasn't the case.

Daniel knew what I'd done. I could feel it in my gut. And that feeling hurt more than anything I'd ever experienced. All I wanted was just a chance to see him. To talk if he'd let me.

"Noah?"

I turned to face my mom who was now staring at me with concern from her bed. Ironically, I was the one supposed to be looking after her. I hummed in response.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she sat up. My gaze flickered to the top of her head where a few strands of hair had started to grow back. They still looked like stubble though.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

I bit down on my lip and shook my head, avoiding her eyes.

Mum chuckled and drew in a breath. She let it out and faced me squarely, her feet hanging off the side of the bed barely centimetres from the floor. "I might have been a bad mum, but I sure as hell know a lie when I see one." Her eyes seemed to zero in on me, but they weren't piercing. Instead, the concern in them thickened.

"I'm still your mother, Noah. You can talk to me. I might be unable to do anything, but I can listen."

Looking at my mum, with Daniel running through my mind, it felt like I couldn't breathe. And then when I could, my heart felt heavy. Too heavy. Tears threatened to brew if I didn't let out the weight on my chest. So that was exactly what I did.

My voice broke as I spoke, throat clouded with emotion. "I—I might have agreed to play with Daniel's heart for money."

In one second, Mum's eyebrows pulled together, putting the words together in her head. The next second, they shot up and her eyes widened. She let out a small cough to clear her throat before turning to me. "You did what? Why? He's been good to both of us."

I bit down on my lip, swearing in my head. Now that I'd said it out loud, I realized just how terrible what I'd done was. It made my chest tighten. "I needed the money. With my new school, and your constant demands for money. I hoped I could use the money to fix—" It felt like someone had driven a knife through my chest.

I'd wanted to fix the bad things in my life so badly that I'd agreed to do something so cruel. And I'd lost Daniel while at it.

Without warning, I broke into little sobs, wiping at the tears as they rolled down my cheeks. I shook my head and looked at my mum. "He's never going to forgive me."

She reached for my cheek and wiped a tear away with a sad smile. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have been so demanding. I—I didn't know—" She swallowed and shook her head. "Have you tried sending him a message?"

"No. I don't think he'd want anything to do with me any longer. He didn't even tell me how his game went yesterday."

Mum pulled her lips together in thought. "I think you should. There's no harm in trying."

A voice in my head tried to convince me that maybe Chanelle hadn't told Daniel anything yet. The reason he'd gone silent on me was because he was busy with school or practice. But the better part of me knew better.

Drawing in a small breath, I sat upright and wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand. I nodded. "Okay. I'll text Daniel." The least I could do was try.

Mum smiled slowly. "Good. And if he is mad at you, you need to fight for him. Let him see past that anger and remember what you both have. It's too beautiful to just throw away."

Mum was right, but I couldn't help the feeling that I'd already ended us before we even began. Yet, I braved a smile. "Thanks, Mum."

...

I didn't text Daniel until later that day. And the text was simple:

To: Assface

Hey. Can we talk?

"That's the umpteenth time you're staring at your screen. You need to calm down, Noah."

I looked up from my phone to Ali who was staring at me like she was scared I'd pass out.

"It's been almost an hour, Ali. He hasn't replied yet," I said, tossing my phone on the table and leaning into my chair with a sad sigh. "He's definitely avoiding me. God, I'm such an idiot."

"Yes, you are," said Manu beside Ali in a flat tone. Ali smacked her hand, causing her to shriek. "Hey! It's true. Everybody knows Chanelle is literally the worst. I mean she signed a fucking contract." Then turning sharply to me she added, "No shade though."

I rolled my eyes. "None taken." I wrapped my braids up into a bun and swore under my breath. "I just want to talk to him. Hopefully, Chanelle hasn't gotten to him yet."

"Speak of the devil," Ali muttered, her eyes following someone behind me.

I followed her gaze to see Chanelle, walking into the library alone. My brows furrowed and my eyes dug holes into the side of her head while I wondered where Carol and Cherry were. It was the first time ever that Chanelle was on her own.

Without noticing the three pairs of eyes on her, Chanelle walked past us to the back of the library and disappeared into the bookshelves. Ali, Muna, and I turned back to each other when she was out of sight.

Part of me wanted to find Chanelle and find out what exactly she'd said to Daniel—If she'd said anything to him. But I knew it wasn't worth it. The Important factor here was Daniel and he was currently dodging my texts.

Just great.

Manu growled, "I just want to break off her fake nails and shove them up her stupid —"

"Woah," interrupted Ali with wide eyes. "I do not want to hear what you were going to say. Thank you very much."

A ping went off from the table, silencing the snarky remark Manu was about to drop. I shot out of my seat as my phone's screen lit up. After staring at the screen for less than a second, my gaze snapped up.

"It's Daniel."

Both Ali and Manu blinked with eagerness. "What did he say?"

My heart pounded in my ears, anticipation, fear, and hope running freely through my veins. In my head, I changed a silent prayer. All I needed was just a place for us to meet. For me to fix things. A second chance.

My prayers weren't answered.

From: Assface

I think I've got your message, loud and clear, Noah.

*Image attached*

Just like that, all the hope I had crumbled to a million pieces. Daniel had attached a picture of the contract, with my signature on it.

I held my breath as my grip tightened on my phone. This was it.

"Noah?"

I couldn't tell who was speaking because all my attention was solely on my screen.

How do I fix this?

The tears I'd been holding back all this time rushed to my eyes and down the sides of my face. One fell to the screen and I stared hard at it.

To add the icing to the cake, he blocked me. And all I could do was watch as what was left of what we had, shattered.

This was it. I couldn't fix my mistake. Daniel and I were done for good.