𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 | 𝚓𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚕𝚎

sixteen: confessions

(Author's Note: Aye, I'm finna make a banger with this one! )

☆☆☆

THIRD PERSON POV

One Month, 2 weeks, and 3 days later

"I'm glad you called. I was starting to think you weren't interested or something."

Arielle couldn't believe where she found herself after splitting from Jordan. When she ended things, she half-expected to change her mind—or at least for Jordan to make an effort to change it. But she had to remind herself that life wasn't like her rom-com movies; boys didn't chase women down anymore. They let them walk away, and she had learned her lesson the last time she hoped Jordan would run after her.

Now, she was walking down the street side by side with Shai, each of them carrying a &Pizza box.

Ever since her breakup with Jordan became public, Shai had been texting her non-stop, hoping for a chance to hang out. Eventually, she gave in. She'd also received multiple texts from Corey, Deni, and Kyle checking if she was okay, and messages from her cousin Ayzia and her fiancé, Juan, who was also friends with Jordan. Even Ralen and J2 had reached out.

But Arielle couldn't help but wonder... Who was checking on Jordan? Who was making sure he was okay? This breakup affected him too, not just her.

"Honestly," Shai said, breaking her reverie, "I didn't think you'd move on as fast as you did...as you are."

Arielle frowned. "What do you mean?"

Shai shrugged. "I mean, I didn't think you'd want to be seen out with a guy right after your breakup with Jordan."

"Oh," was all she could say.

Mentally, she wasn't even present with Shai. It was as if she were on autopilot, her mind fixated on Jordan. There were so many times she wanted to reach out to him to make sure he was okay, but she was the one who ended it, and she didn't want to hurt him more than she already had.

"So, what happened between you and Jordan, if you don't mind me asking?" Shai inquired.

Arielle froze. "Oh... I... uh... things just didn't work out."

Shai nodded. "Figured."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her curiosity piqued.

He shrugged again. "I mean, you two seemed off when I was at the practice center. So, I guess I figured it wasn't gonna last that long."

Arielle scoffed, "Bold of you to assume that after just one day."

Her tone was harsher than she intended, but she didn't care. It stung that people could see through even their fake relationship and predict its failure. It was something she knew deep down but never wanted to truly accept. Now, she had no choice.

Shai grinned. "Well, I guess when you lose one guy, you gain another. Maybe even a better one."

Arielle shrugged. "I don't know... it takes time to get over someone."

"I can help you with that," Shai said with a smile.

An unsure smile crossed Arielle's face as she opened her pizza box. "I guess..."

Shai had said something to Arielle—she knew he had. In fact, she knew he was still speaking because she could see his mouth moving, but she had to deal with something much bigger in this moment.

It was one of the worst things that could have happened to her. Her heart was pounding rapidly, and just when she thought she could conceal herself, she had already been spotted. As much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't.