Diana Hargrove has gone through enough tragedy for three lifetimes, yet she still has an affirming smile on her face. She's lived and travelled all over the world, but the last straw that broke the camel's back, brought her back to her hometown, Cre...
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𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 | 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴
"You want me to open my birthday present? Now?"
I nodded, keeping my mouth shut.
Jayden sat on his bed and started rifling through my portfolio. He needed to look at everything in order, or else he wouldn't understand the story being told.
"Can we talk about what you found first?"
I shook my head. "Right now, I don't know if I want to kiss you or shove you off a bridge," I murmured, keeping my eyes on my shoes.
"Can I pick?" Jayden asked.
"Absolutely not. This is my choice," I said. For some reason, that word burned my throat. I couldn't look at Jayden without feeling the anger bubbling up. "The word choice might not mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me!" I shouted.
I don't know why I'm shouting. Jayden doesn't deserve to be on the receiving end of my anger.
He's not the one to blame.
Everyone in my life has always taken away my choices.
I need this moment to be my choice. Nothing that happens in this bedroom will be out of my hands. I'm being brave. I can't allow for external factors to ruin my chance to tell Jayden the truth about how I'm in love with him.
"What makes you think it isn't important to me?" Jayden questioned, pushing my portfolio to the side. These eyes of sadness lurked between us. He's only looked at me like this once. It was when I dismissed him the first day back at school. Where I claimed to never want to think about our kiss again. "I've never been someone's first choice before."
My eyes burned with unshed tears. I couldn't bring myself to let them fall.
"What are you talking about? You're this hot shot hockey player, everyone adores you, and you've always been free to make your own choices!" I shouted back.
Jayden stomped his way over to me. His big, strong hands gripped and kneaded my upper arms. I could've fallen asleep feeling his touch. My eyes closed on their own, but Jayden wasn't done talking, so I opened my eyes.
"I'm no one's first choice. Everyone in my family has always chosen Emi over me. People say they adore me, but my parents would rather go to Emi's mock trial events than my hockey games. Emi would rather be with her boyfriend than me," he explained.
I shook my head and said, "I'm going to tell you something right now. It'll make me sound like an obsessed stalker, but I need to say this and you need to hear this."
Jayden's eyes never left mine. He gave me his undivided attention. If I wasn't head over heels in love with him, then maybe I'd feel scared about telling him the truth.
