Dear Chaser

Chapter 2: Dropping Out

As Lisa sat across from Hardin at Pollo Tropical, her attention seemed more focused on her phone than on their conversation. Hardin, feeling ignored and irritated, couldn't hold back his frustration.

"Lisa," he said, his voice laced with annoyance. "How long are you planning to stay on that phone?"

Lisa looked up slowly. "Oh, I'm sorry, Hardin. I was just checking something. What's wrong?"

Hardin's gaze hardened. "I don't know. Maybe the fact that it feels like you're more interested in whatever's on your phone than in talking to me?"

Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's nothing, Hardin. Just checking notifications. It's a one-second thing. I don't see why you're so worked up about it."

"It feels like you're not even here," Hardin insisted. "Who are you texting anyway? Some guy from your physics class?"

Lisa's eyes widened with disbelief. "What? That's ridiculous. I don't talk to anyone in that class."

"Yeah, right," Hardin said, raising his voice. "Hand me your phone. Let me see for myself."

Lisa, feeling pressured, handed her phone to Hardin reluctantly. As he took possession of her phone, he began casually scrolling through her notifications and text messages. Lisa, uncomfortable with the invasion of her privacy, watched in silence as Hardin perused her online activity. Hardin's actions were a clear violation of trust and boundaries. Lisa felt a growing sense of frustration and anger as he continued to navigate through her personal messages and notifications. She wanted to speak up, to assert her right to privacy, but she hesitated, not wanting to escalate the situation further.

"Seems like you talk to a lot of people," Hardin said, his tone dripping with suspicion. "And some of them are guys. Why are you chatting with them and not with me?"

"I don't talk to them much," Lisa protested. "I only ask for help with assignments. That's it."

Hardin's frown deepened. "Why are you being so defensive? If you've got nothing to hide, why does it matter?"

"I see you have much to say with this Matthew guy and it's NOT all about studies. No need to lie to me.", Hardin snapped, anger bubbling beneath his surface.

"I'm going to block him!" he declared, his finger hovering over the screen.

Lisa was furious when he did. Hardin's jealousy and lack of trust in Lisa became apparent as he continued to question her interactions with male classmates.

Fury flared within her. "Wtf! Why would you do that?! I told you we weren't talking about anything important."

Hardin's eyes were cold. "I don't want you to be with guys who could lead you astray. I'm doing this for your own good."

"But Matthew isn't a bad guy. He has a girlfriend," Lisa argued.

"How can you be sure?" Hardin said with a dismissive wave. "Men have a way of hiding their true selves. You can't trust anyone easily."

Lisa struggled to keep her composure. "But he's not like that."

Hardin's voice softened but remained firm. "Don't be naive. Now, cheer up and smile. You should be happy spending time with me."

Despite the internal turmoil and discomfort caused by Hardin's behavior, Lisa plastered on a smile during their public outing. She didn't want to make things worse in front of others, but the unease lingered beneath the surface. As Lisa and Hardin engaged in a strained, lovey-dovey conversation, her thoughts occasionally drifted to Jake, who had unexpectedly appeared at the restaurant with a friend. Lisa couldn't help but steal glances in their direction.

"That's him. The guy from my physics class", Lisa thought, glancing in Jake's direction. "What's he doing here with his friend? I swear he's all over the place!"

Despite her best efforts to focus on her relationship with Hardin, she found herself caught between the toxic dynamics with Hardin and the intrigue sparked by the seemingly carefree attitude of Jake. He also noticed Lisa's fleeting glances and couldn't help but stare back. 

"It's her", Jake told himself. "I never see her here during breaks, though."

Peter, catching Jake's distracted stare, teased him. "Ooh, look who's got his eyes on someone. Who's the lucky lady?"

Jake shrugged. "Just someone I see around."

Peter wasn't convinced. "Uh-huh. Can't be someone you just know. Who is she?"

Jake sighed. "I don't know her name. She's in my physics class."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You don't know her name? You're really focused on this 'classmate,' aren't you?"

The waitress arrived to take their orders, pulling Jake back to the present. "Okay, boys. Are you ready to order, or do you need more time?"

Peter responded first. "I think we're good. I'll tell you what I want."

Things only felt more stressful in those next few weeks.

I struggled to manage my time and Hardin continued to make me neglect my responsibilities.

The day came for my first physics exam.

When the paper was in front of me, I couldn't answer a single question correctly.

Nothing was registering in my head and all I could think about was that cute guy...

Eventually I gave up trying to solve the problems by hand and decided to guess all of them in vain...

A few days later, I found out my result. I wasn't surprised to know I failed deep sh*t.

Of course Hardin and I were arguing more and more about me always being busy and never having "enough" time for him.

On the night after Lisa received her physics exam result on which she scored terrible on it, she and Hardin were arguing inside her apartment. He couldn't stop complaining about how "negative" she's behaving and started getting super teary and emotional like a child all because she was struggling in her classes. 

"Why are you treating me like this, babe?" Hardin's voice cracked with emotion. "Do you know how much effort I put into this relationship?"

"You've been so negative," Hardin continued.  "You weren't like this last year! What's going on with you?"

Lisa's eyes filled with tears as she struggled to explain. "I've been really stressed. I haven't been sleeping or eating properly. I failed my physics exam, and I feel awful about it."

Hardin's expression softened but frustration remained. "You don't have to take it out on me! I make time for you, but you never seem to do the same."

Lisa, feeling cornered, looked at him with resignation. "What do you want me to do?"

"Drop the class," Hardin suggested. "Or see a psychologist if you can't handle it. I can't keep dealing with this."

And that's what I did...Even if it meant not seeing that cute guy anymore.

But that was the only choice I had since there was no other way I could keep up with that rigorous class.