Magnetic

Chapter 5

Danielle was mad at me. She said I have been neglecting her. I didn't deny it and that just made it worse. I have been neglecting all my friends. Nothing felt the same anymore ever since the last year. The friend group wasn't the same anymore. For me anyway. Everyone still seemed to be getting along just fine. I saw it on social media. They hung out with each other quite often. I was the only one. I declined invites and muted the group chat. I don't even remember the last time I looked at it. I only responded to direct messages from Danielle because she was my closest friend out of all of them. Sometimes Jessi would text me. Sometimes Jongin would too. The only problem with my sweet Nini was that he was best friends with Sehun. I had a feeling he knew what was going on – what happened between Sehun and I. It kind of sucked that distancing myself from Sehun also meant distancing myself from Jongin. I mean, it shouldn't but fuck if I was going to put myself in the situation of possibly having Sehun pop up when I was trying to rid him from my system.

I just didn't feel like being around them anymore. The situation with my ex was just the icing on the cake. He really fucked me up and I was just getting over that. Maybe that was the reason why I was so numb and irritated all the time. He sent me spiraling all the way back to Sehun who showed he clearly still didn't give a shit about me. Chanyeol should have been a bad idea also, but with my ex and Sehun, they had the power. Now I was the one deciding. I didn't know him from anywhere. We weren't friends. He wasn't trying to court me. He made his intentions clear that he just wanted to have sex, and honestly, me too. There was nothing deeper than that and that's where we were leaving it.

"Chem is kicking my ass." Danielle whined as we sat at an outdoor table. Lunchtime rush meant that most eating areas were packed to capacity. The commons in particular because it was the main lounge area and the place with the most food options. Unfortunately, this was where Danielle decided to drag me. Luckily, it was only early October which meant that it wasn't so cold that sitting outside was a terrible idea. It was just brisk enough. "And my professor isn't doing anything to help. Like I swear half of the class is already failing."
"You really think you're failing?" Danielle had always gotten the highest grade in every class she had. She would be my competition if we shared the same major.
"I said the class. It's kicking my ass but I didn't say I was doing bad." She scoffed.
"What do you think "kicking my ass" means?" I rolled my eyes, setting my sandwich down without taking a bite. I wasn't even hungry. Danielle was watching me a little too closely.
"That's not my point." She said. "Anyway, you coming out with us this weekend?"
"Who is "us" and where are y'all going?" I asked. I already knew my answer but I would at least act like I cared.
"The group. To the movies. We all need to de-stress before midterms."
"Shouldn't you want to de-stress after midterms?"
"There's going to be a shit ton of parties to go to after." She had a point. The end of midterms usually meant a series of parties. "So, you coming?" She sounded hopeful but at the same time looked as if she knew what I was going to say.
"I'll think about it." I took a sip of my drink and tapped my phone to check the time. I was done with classes for the rest of the day, but I was about ready to leave.
"What's up with you?" Danielle set her half-eaten wrap down.
"What do you mean?" I asked back. Before she had a chance to say what was on her mind, Jessi dropped down into the empty seat beside me.
"Where the hell have y'all been? I feel like I haven't seen either of you all week." She then turned to face me. "And don't get me started on you bitch."
"Oops." I said. She rolled her eyes at me.
"Anyway, I have a problem." She continued. Danielle and I looked at her expectantly. "I'm in love with Jackson."
"Girl bye." Danielle said.
"I need him in my life." She whined, splaying herself out on the table dramatically.
"Then get him. You flirt with him all the time. The angst is killing me." Danielle said. I stopped listening. My focus was on the tall man with big ears that was about to walk by us. He didn't have a hat today. Comma hair style making him look dangerously suave. He was wearing a black jean jacket with a gray hood overtop a black graphic tee. Again, black ripped jeans. I wondered how many pairs of them he had. It was the first time I'm seeing him on campus and it's weird. Or maybe I have but never noticed. He was pretty hard to miss though.