The Hard Crush 1 (Feelings For You)

FOURTY SEVEN

"Going somewhere?" Travis asked.

Winifred jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance. He was leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. As usual, he had that smug expression on his face that signified to her that he was there to be a complete nuisance.

"Can't you knock?" She snapped at him.

"I met the door open," he replied nonchalantly.

"Doesn't mean you can walk in here anytime you want."

"I'm not in yet," he corrected and then stepped in and went to sit on her mini-couch. "Now I'm in."

She scowled at him. "Go away and don't talk to me." She ordered him before returning her attention to her reflection in the mirror before her.

She continued fixing her hair; scrunching them up after applying some hair products. When she felt satisfied, she put on some lipgloss and mascara before grabbing the diffuser to dry her hair. As she focused on the task, through the mirror she caught Travis observing her from where he sat.

"What are you still doing here? I asked you to leave," she said.

"Are you going out with Jerry?"

She paused, slightly surprised. "What makes you think it's Jerry?"

"Well, you two seemed close I guess."

Winifred sighed. "Well, I don't know anymore."

Somehow, she expected him to pry more. Matter of fact, she kind of wanted him to pry more because she felt this sudden need to talk to someone other than Beatrice about her issues with Jerry. Not like Travis was the best option but he seemed to be the only trustworthy person who wouldn't let it reach the wrong ears. She could understand why Jerry wanted to keep it a secret from Tristian but still, she was slightly jealous of the fact that he prioritized his friendship with Tristian more than whatever the heck was going on between them. It was a petty feeling but she couldn't help feeling envious of how hard he was trying to save the bond he had with Tristian.

"Tristian?"

Oh, she almost forgot Travis was having a guessing competition with himself.

"Or Damon?"

She stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "How do you know Damon? Did you meet him at the party?"

"Ah, so it's him," Travis said, unimpressed.

"What actually happened at the party?" She asked impatiently.

"What difference does it make?"

"Huh?"

"Whether or not you know what happened at that party, it's not like you can magically go back and change it."

Winifred got up and approached him. "Do you even hear yourself? Imagine having zero memory of what happened to you and everyone is keeping you in the dark for no damn reason! You, Jerry, and Beatrice are keeping it a secret— "

"Don't bring Beatrice into this, she wasn't even there."

"— and that's really unfair," she went on. "It's eating me up inside. I need to know if I embarrassed myself in front of everyone or if Elijah and his minions pulled some nasty prank on me or something."

Travis shrugged. "Well, none of these is my fault. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Last I remember, you drove me to the party," she hissed.

"And you forced me to do that and then you ran off like a child and I lost you," he hissed back.

"Like an idiot."