WINNING HIS HEART AGAIN

Chapter 15: Jealousy

Avery POV.

The aftermath of that night left my eyes bloodshot from crying. I couldn't bring myself to attend classes, so I wrote an excuse letter, claiming I wasn't feeling well, and had Sofia and Freya deliver it for me.

Standing in the shower, I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my spirit as low as the water temperature. Apathy had settled in, leaving me devoid of any motivation.

"Gosh! Pull yourself together Avery! Don't be a weakling!" I shouted, trying to inject some pep into my own deflated spirit.

I knew I needed to be strong, tough. This was going to be a rough journey, especially if I was going to chase after him. I needed a strong mentality and emotional control.

Ashkent wasn't the same person I knew. He used to make me his top priority. Now, I couldn't even find my name at the bottom of his list. Although he still treated me like his childhood best friend, the strong connection that once bound us was gone. So much has changed, including his feelings for me. He wasn't into me anymore, but it was clear he was still in love with Sandara.

Days passed, and Ashkent was clearly avoiding me. Maybe it was because of our last conversation, or maybe he didn't want to give me false hope. Perhaps he was simply done with me, and even friendship wasn't an option anymore.

I sighed heavily as I sipped some water. We were watching another basketball competition, this time between the Engineering and Medical departments. It wasn't Darren's team or the Finance department anymore.

"Gosh girl!...new suitor mo ba yung si number 06 Panthers t-shirt?..His clearly checking you out since kanina pa."-Sofia suddenly blurted out, and I just rolled my eyes.

Guys were always checking me out, their gazes intense and lingering. I was used to it. But then, I saw the guy wearing the number 6 basketball shirt walking towards me.

"Campus beauty, right?" He asked, clearly trying to flirt.

"Hanz Evans, 20, single. How about you?" he said smoothly, and Freya nudged me subtly, hinting that I should talk to him.

I smirked, trying to suppress my eye roll.

"Avery," I responded nonchalantly.

He smirked back.

"Feisty, I like that," he said, winking as he tried to cover up the embarrassment he felt when I didn't bother to shake his hand when he offered it.

I remained cool and composed. I didn't like talking to strangers.

"Mind if I could ask you for a date, after our game?" he asked. He was a pro playboy, I could tell at a glance.

I rolled my eyes. Was he serious? The nerve of him.

"Sorry bro, but she's taken," a familiar voice said. My mood shifted instantly when I saw who it was: Darren.

"Ohh...I see. I see. Sorry bro, I didn't know," Hanz said in panic, immediately walking away, clearly afraid of Darren. But why?

"Hey...how are you?" Darren asked in his usual tone, sitting beside me.

Wow, he was so good at pretending that I almost believed his lies again. I was starting to see him in a different light. He was a pro player himself. Just a few days ago, I saw him making out with Sandara in the storage room, yet he still had the audacity to act casually with me as if we were still friends? Oh come on!

"Are you still not feeling well?" he asked with a worried tone, but I found it annoying.

Let's be clear, I wasn't jealous of him or Sandara. I was just furious at how thick their skulls and facades were.

"Darren, can you move a little bit. I feel suffocated again," I said nonchalantly, keeping my gaze on the basketball game. I didn't want to look at him, it just made me angry.

"Wait...you seem off. Did I do something wrong again?" he asked worriedly, noticing my attitude towards him.

I shrugged and focused on the game.

The game ended, and everyone started to leave the court. As we were about to leave, the annoying guy from earlier ran towards me, calling my name again.

"Wait, Avery!!" he shouted, running as fast as he could until he reached me. I looked back at him with boredom.

"Can I ask for your time? When will you be free? My treat. Or, if you're free now, we can also leave now and have some date. What do you think?" he asked with a wink. The nerve of him. He was clearly too full of himself.

I saw my friends, Freya and Sofia, grinning from ear to ear, gesturing for me to accept. To my shock, they suddenly pushed me closer to him.

"Just go girl, and have some fun. You can take her, just don't do anything stupid, she's not easy to deal with. Trust me, bud," Sofia exclaimed. I gave them a stern look, but they just chuckled wickedly and ran off, ditching me. Great!

"You have great friends, I like them!" he exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes.

"But seriously, I really wanna know you Avery. No joke," he said, his tone suddenly shifting. I stopped and looked back at him.

"Relationship is not possible for me right now, but I can still hang out. Now if you want more than that, feel free to find another suitable woman for your own taste, good? Good," I said nonchalantly, continuing to walk towards the cafeteria. Gosh, I was starving!

I heard him chuckle as he followed me silently. Weird.

The cafeteria was packed with students who had just come from the gymnasium. There were basketball players, both rival cheerleader squads, and honestly, so many beautiful women. I couldn't believe I won the title of campus beauty when I barely wore makeup or dressed up to impress anyone.

I scanned the cafeteria for an empty table, but then I saw an unpleasant scenario. Ashkent was in the corner, talking casually with someone I didn't recognize. Even from afar, she was pretty. She looked sophisticated, with a good sense of fashion. Despite her light makeup, her beauty stood out. I felt envious for a moment. Even I was captivated by her mere beauty. But then I realized, she was talking with Ash.

Who the hell was she? I'd never seen her before. And her uniform...an engineer student? My brows furrowed.

"Done checking them out?" someone whispered close to my ear, and I jumped in surprise.

"Shit! Ano ba!" I said angrily, looking back at him. I had completely forgotten I was with someone. Whoever he was, I had honestly forgotten his name.

"What did you say? Did you just badmouth me or something?" he asked curiously, walking towards an empty seat. I had no choice but to sit opposite him.

"What kind of language is that? I mean the one you spoke to earlier?" he asked again, but my focus was still behind him.

The woman was casually laughing while talking to Ash. Did Ash have to be so good at cracking jokes?

"If a gaze could kill, that woman is double dead by now," he said, diverting my attention back to him. I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

He chuckled playfully. "Do you know them?" he asked, looking back at them as well.

"Stop it. They might catch us looking at their spot!" I said angrily, and he grinned teasingly, nodding as he continued to eat.

"Do you like him that much?" he asked again, and I was taken aback.

"Excuse me?" I asked, playing innocent.

He smirked. "I mean that guy. I could perfectly guess you have a thing for him. That's why you keep glancing at that woman furiously," he said nonchalantly, and my eyes widened in surprise. How did he know? Was I that obvious?

He chuckled again. "Yes babe, you're too obviously jealous of her," he said, laughing as if it was nothing. And here I thought he liked me?

I snapped out of my stunned phase, looking at him with a stern expression.

"I'm not!" I said, defending myself, even though I knew I was betraying myself.

He chuckled playfully again, sipping some cold water from his glass. "Yeahh...you don't," he teased, clearly not believing me.

"Just shut up will you!" I said angrily.

"That guy is hell lucky, he got the campus beauty's heart. I'm envious," he said, still teasing me.

I gave him a warning glare, but he just laughed again. What the hell was wrong with him?! Did he just invite me to eat so he could tease me like this? Arrggh!

I shifted my gaze back to Ashkent's spot. They were still talking and laughing.

Who was she really? They looked close. I was envious.

No, let me rephrase that...I was jealous.