BOUND 2 (GxG)

You knew better

"Jesus, you've been looking at that picture for like ten minutes straight now," Cher said over the bassing music of the party, grabbing us two of the airplane bottle shots of Fireball.

I shook my head looking at the photo that a random student had captured of me and Karter at the football game.

It was right when I had reached out for Karter to catch me—my arms were wrapped around her neck and my legs wrapped around her torso. You couldn't see my face, but Karter's held a cleary surprised smile on it as her arms remained secured around my waist.

"You can't even see your face, it's not a big deal," Cher said, knowing exactly why I was acting this way.

I shook my head, tapping on my phone as I switched over to the school's Instagram account, that just posted the photo that we had taken after the game.

This time, my face was shown it—clearly, I was surprised, but my face was there, and I was also being held in Karter's arms yet again.

I showed Cher the picture pulled up on my phone, "What about this one?" I said, my tone full of sarcasm.

Cher rolled her eyes, "I doubt she'll see it."

I shook my head, "She technically still goes to Montrose, Cher. She's only away for competition—so I'm almost positive that she'll see it."

Cher sighed, "Who's to say she actually checks Montrose's account? Or sees the random photo posted of you and Karter?" she said, walking into the crowd.

I followed behind her, "I don't know... maybe because it's being reposted practically everywhere?"

"Look, you've moved on Lo. She's just going to have to get past that," Cher said as we walked through the crowded party toward the even more crowded backyard.

But I haven't moved on.

What Karter and I are doing isn't actually real. None of this is real.

But when she takes even one look at either of these photos, it'll look real. That's how social media makes life look—real.

Sensing my quietness, Cher turned around, stopping us both on the slightly crowded patio. Her dark eyes peered into mine with a clear look of seriousness, "Look, she left you—"

"Maybe, but it doesn't mean I want to rub my new relationship in her face," I cut her short, which made Cher's head tilt slightly.

"What happened to the Sloan that practically hated her guts for choosing to dump you instead of doing long distance for a few months?" Cher said, raising a brow.

I still hated her guts, but I also still cared about her, and I hated that it was like that. I hated that I was like that.

I sighed, "You know I'll always care about her."

Cher shrugged, "Well, care about her and move on—you can't fear how she'll react or feel when she sees you with someone new. It's not fair to yourself."

I nodded, unscrewing the top of the small bottle of Fireball, and shooting it back. As the burning liquid rolled down my throat, I grimaced, "Hopefully, that will help get her out of my head."

Cher pursed her lips, "If you're thinking about her like that, then it'll only make it a hundred times worse."

I rolled my eyes, throwing the empty bottle in the nearby trash can.

"If it's in consolation, I think Karter is way better than her," Cher said, patting my back as we continued our walk through the crowd.

It's definitely not, especially since this is all fake.