𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚋𝚎? {𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚘𝚗}

'ɪᴛ's ɢᴏᴅ,

My room seemed devoid of any semblance of joy. His absence had its own weight, and god, was it heavy. I couldn't shake off the urge to knock at his door. I didn't even know why, to slap him some more? Maybe kick him a bit? Or kiss him and leave this chaos behind.

It broke my heart to see no traces left of him in my dorm. The empty snack packets we shared had been cleaned out when I was gone.

A part of me was desperately hoping that he would be perched on my bed when I entered, a rose in his hand and a mouth full of apologies. But nothing, it was radio silent.

I shifted through the regular motions. Changed, showered, and prepared for tomorrow before going down to eat. I could afford to skip tonight, I had already eaten at the Danburry house, but not showing up felt like handing him a victory that he affected me.

I was tired of playing these sick games, but I had no choice. I put on my short black dress, with glitters faded around it — it looked like midnight.

If Nolan wanted to expel me, I'd much rather go out in style. I didn't care anymore, he could use this as the final straw to remove me from this place I now thought of as home.

What is a home without the people you love anyway?

I was sitting on the bench near the lake, the boys bustling around on the football field behind me to pass the time until dinner. I breathed the chilly air, my maroon lips trailing out a puff of air in its wake.

"Della?" Cameron called out. I turned to find a very sweaty, jersey-clad boy smiling down at me. His eyes faltered on my lips and his brows knitted in concern. "Are you alright? I haven't seen you after..."

I would've misinterpreted his kindness for love if it wasn't for Ginny. I refused to believe it when Charlie insisted Cameron had feelings for me, but unknowingly enough, I had started distancing myself from the innocent boy.

"I'm okay," I was suddenly aware that I had never worn dark lipstick at Welton. I always opted for gloss to keep my head low and not draw any more attention than necessary. "I met your girlfriend today."

"You—" He stumbled, "Sorry, you what?"

He looked away, he never was good at hiding his emotions. I patted the space beside me, and he took a seat and breathed deeply when another breeze enveloped us.

"Ginny is a sweet girl." I closed my eyes, imagining myself floating with the wind and going far far away from everyone and everything.

He snorted, it wasn't cruel, more like loving disbelief. "I wouldn't call her sweet. She made me pine for a year before she admitted she liked me too."

I took another breath, he continued, "We couldn't tell anyone here since everyone sort of hates me. I didn't want her friendships to change because of me."

"You're a kind person, Cameron," I opened my eyes and smiled at him. "Much better than people give you credit for."

"She makes me better," He admitted, a blush growing near his nose. "She was the one who put some sense into me when I was being rude to you. She said she'd leave me if I uttered another crude word to you."

"She did?" My surprise was evident, and he laughed at my reaction.

"Of course, she didn't tell you that," His eyes were glazed and he smiled fondly, "She's a treasure, that one."

"You're a lucky guy," He nodded in agreement. "Wait, are you saying you're not friends with me because of my stellar personality? How rude."

He laughed at my teasing, the sound bringing back warmth into my frozen heart. "At first, maybe. However, I'd be an idiot not to realise how amazing you are."