Lovesick.

XXVII. All By Myself

ARIANA'S POV

I sit here, tracing little shapes on the tabletop in the small cafe that I came to find solace in. I don't want to be bothered, and anybody who takes one look at me can tell that.

"Hey." Someone says, and I look up to see a blonde girl that I've never met before. I give her a confused look.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I ask her.

"No. I just had a really bad day, so I'm gonna vent to a stranger so you can't judge me." She tells me, and it strikes me as odd how open she is about her life if she's willing to explain her problems to someone she just met. "So, I was dating this guy for like three years, then he comes one day, and just decides he's gay. Like what the fuck? I have no problems with homosexuals, but y'know, it's like, I wish he would've figured that out before he took my virginity. And then I got to thinking that maybe he was just using me as his beard. Y'know, his alibi for non-gayness. So I beat him with a sock full of butter, and he filed for a restraining order against me! I mean, can you believe that? Ugh, so here I am, telling a random dyed-blonde chick--in clothes that don't leave much to the imagination, honestly-- sitting alone in a cafe about how I can't be within a 5-mile radius of my gay ex-boyfriend or I'll get arrested. No offense."

"None taken." I reply shortly.

"Yeah, so that's me. What about you?"

"What?"

"Oh, come on. You can't just be sitting all alone in this cafe because you like the coffee smell." She chuckles. "Tell Mama what's wrong."

Not even bothering to question why she refers to herself as 'Mama,' I decide it can't hurt to tell her a little bit. "Well, this guy that I've had feelings for since last year bullies me. For some twisted reason I'm in love with him, and he hates my guts. We dated for, like, a week because he needed someone to repel this girl who's lusting after him, then he found someone better and I found out from my friend that he dumped me. Then his dumbass replacement girl said some stupid shit to me about how I'm too popular to get bullied, so I snapped off on her 'cause she obviously doesn't know shit. Then she broke up with him, and he got all mad at me, and said it was my fault. Then he used me--cut himself a slice of the cake, if you know what I mean-- then cast me aside again. He makes it his goal to make my life a living hell, and he's always claiming I'm a slut. So, I decided to show him what a slutty me would look like, hence the blonde hair and exposing clothing, and now he just plays around like it's all a game to him. Then today, he actually does something nice for me, only for that girl he was trying to get rid of to come and ruin everything. She told him that I was fooling around with him, his two friends, and these two other guys all at once. He got mad, and I told him it wasn't true but he didn't believe me. Then the girl dumped her coffee on my head, and he looked at me like I had it coming to me. I ran out of there, and stumbled upon this place. I figured it would mask the scent of coffee in my hair."

"Damn. Your life has more drama than my mom's soap operas." She shakes her head. "Are you okay?"

I hate that question. I want to scream 'what do you think?' at her, but she doesn't know me. She doesn't know my tolerance levels for this kind of drama. She's just asking the one question that sets me off.

I open my mouth to say I'm fine, only to feel the hot tears welling up in my eyes again, about to overflow. "No." I choke out, and my sobs rush out directly after. I lay my head down on the table, and feel my whole body quiver as I let out all of my emotions that I've been holding in.

I feel the girl's arms come around my shoulders comfortingly as I cry. I can sense people's uncomfortable and pitiful glances toward my breakdown, but I can't find it within myself to give a fuck right now.