𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 4

𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎

I'm sitting in the corner of the Cafe Book Shop in front of my new notebook, writing down the characters and thinking about what should happen to them, what their past was like.
I cross out the words, then I write new ones, and the process continues until I close the notebook in frustration.
"Not going well?"
The heat rises to my cheeks as I look up. Hayden is standing in front of the table and is wearing that cap again that suits him so well.
,,No." I say. "It's just that you imagine something in your head that is so good and as soon as you write it down on paper and read it, you realize that it wasn't a good idea after all."
He is smiling and nodding with his head in his hand, he is holding a book. "Can I sit with you?"
"Oh...Uh yeah." I tugged nervously at my dress.
He pulls the chair forward a little so he can sit down, he puts the book on the table and silently thanks God that it isn't mine. I had no idea what else I would have said or done.
He scratches the back of his neck. As I put my notebook in my purse, Hayden says, "Please don't leave." He smiles.
I look at him with red cheeks.
"I would like to invite you to dinner," he says.
I have an internal battle within me. My chest tightens.
Should I say yes? Should I say no? Should I just leave without saying a word?
But that would be rude.
Maybe a meal with him wouldn't be so bad, it's not like I have to get together with him after a meal.
So I nod and say I'd like to go out to dinner with him.
He slides his phone across the table to me and I save my number.
There are so many questions swirling in my head. Was that a mistake? What if one date turns into another? Or do I fall in love with him? And he realizes that I'm young for him then?

                              ★★★

I throw myself on the couch and take my phone out of the pocket of my dress and open the Instagram app. I click on Chris' name and look at his pictures. A picture catches my attention, I zoom over and see that there is a woman standing next to Chris who appears to only look two years older than me. I sit up and open Google, I type his name, click on messages and what I read makes my chest tighten.
That miserable pig.
Chris is really an asshole, breaks up with me but is dating someone who is only two years older than me.
It makes me so angry and so sad that I block Chris on Instagram and go to deleted photos in my gallery and delete them permanently.
Chris doesn't deserve to make me feel the way I feel right now, sad, hurt and messed up. Above all, I feel ripped off.
Why does he break up with me and then end up with someone who is also years younger than him? So it wasn't about our age difference, it was definitely about her, his new one.

10