Andrea.
"Malay ko ba magiging ganito?" my best friend, Leah, said to me. I stare at myself in the mirror, mascara running down my face. My boyfriend, ex now, had just broken up with me.
("How would I have known that it would end up like this?")
"Binigay ko na nga lahat sa kanya, pinagpalitan pa ako! Tanga!" I wail. We were together for 4 years. I thought he was my endgame. Turns out, he'd been cheating on me with different girls since our second year together. How stupid am I to not have seen the signs?
("I gave him everything, yet he replaced me! Stupid!")
Leah sighs, "You know, you can do so much better than some coward who snuck around behind your back. You are Andrea Santos! You are hella smart, hella funny, and hella good looking too." she winked.
I appreciate her words, but it's just hard to believe stuff like that when you're in a college bathroom crying because your four year relationship had just ended. My eyes were puffy, my cheeks were red, and my makeup was all ruined. "I just don't know how I could've been so damn stupid!"
The bell rings.
"That's the bell. Come on, we only have ten mintues 'till Ms. Kistrana marks us late again." Leah says, tugging at my arm. I do my best to clean up the mess on my face and head out of the bathroom with her, head low. My thoughts couldn't stop running.
Why the hell would he do this to me? Why couldn't he just break it off? Did he really mean to hurt me like this?
All that thinking stops when I bump into my one and only cheating ex-boyfriend, Calum Hood. He stares down at me, expressionless. I tried to do the same, but I'm sure I wasn't successful. "Andrea, halika na." Leah pulls me away.
("Come on")
-
We've been in our statistics class for only 30 minutes. We have an hour to go and I still can't get myself to absorb anything Ms. Kistrana is trying to teach. I stare blankly at the numbers being flashed on the projector screen. Her explanations to these numbers go in one ear and out the other. I was totally out of it.
"Ley, I seriously don't have the headspace to be in class right now." I whisper to Leah who was taking notes right beside me. "I know that, Drea. But you know damn well that we don't have a lot of cuts left for this class." she replied.
It's true. Leah and I tend to cut this class a lot. We're not the biggest fans of statistics, but the curriculum gives us no choice. I sigh and slump back in my chair. "Fuck, oh my god. What did I miss?" my other seatmate pants as he sits down next to me. "Dude, I honestly can't te-"
"Mr. Clifford! You're late. Again! What excuse do you have this time?" Ms. Kistrana scolded before I could even finish my sentence. "My apologies, miss. I ate something that didn't quite agree with my stomach." he said with utter confidence despite the class having a little chuckle.
Ms. Kistrana rolled her eyes and continued to lecture. "I took the biggest dump of the century in the third floor bathroom. If the toilet is clogged, you already know." he joked. "Why aren't you laughing? My jokes always send you through the roof." he said, pouting.
"She found out about Calum and his side bitches." Leah sighed. I put my face in my hands, not wanting to be part of this conversation any longer. "What? Fuck. I'm so sorry, Drea. We all know he's an asswipe for pulling that shit on you." Michael said, rubbing my back and trying to console me. "Thanks, Mikey. But calling him an asswipe really won't turn back time and make him undo it."
-
School was finally over. I could finally crawl into the hole I call my dorm room and sulk. "When are we meeting for that group assignment for stats?" Michael asked as we left the classroom. "Uh, it's not due for another 3 days. Maybe we can work on it over the weekend?" Leah suggested.
"Sure! We can do that over at mine. I'm only a couple blocks over." Michael offered. We all agreed and said our goodbyes to each other.
As I walked back to my residence hall, I passed through a parking lot. Just my luck, Calum was there too about to get into his car. He stopped in his tracks and locked eyes with me again. What is he trying to do? What's staring at me going to change?
"Hey, Calum! You heading to Tessa's party later?" his best friend, Luke Hemmings, asks as he runs up to him from behind me. "U-u-uh, y-yeah! I'll be there." Calum stutters as he finally takes his eyes off me. I try to walk fast enough for Luke not to see me. I'd really rather avoid getting called out for whatever reason that would be.
I finally reach my dorm room. The moment I step inside, my knees give out and I'm sitting on the floor, crying like there's no tomorrow. All our pictures were still hung up on my wall. His highschool graduation photo still on my desk. The stuffed penguin he gave me still on my bed.
Everything reminded me of him.
~ ~ ~
DAMN NEW BOOK
hello! 2024 has made me INSANLELY bored so i thought i'd continue this story that's been stuck in my drafts for a while
hoping u guys like this one!
xoxo
- v.d.
