One By One

One By One Chapter 2

One by One

Chapter 2

Anna’s POV

 On Monday, I picked up Austin like I usually do. Austin hadn't heard from his ex all weekend.

By the time we got to school, everyone was talking about the latest gossip: yes, you’ve guessed it, if Austin and Brooke’s breakup was real.

Not much too my surprise, most of the girls raped Austin with their eyes, as we walked past them. Not that they didn’t do that while he was going out with Brooke. It was enough to make me throw up my breakfast.

And of course, leave it to Austin to be completely oblivious to the way that half the female student population was throwing themselves at him. If he noticed, he was good at hiding it. It seemed that Austin was getting over the breakup quickly.

We were walking to homeroom, when suddely I felt his hand intertwine with mine. My heart raced at first and I got all giddy inside. But it felt comfortable there so i just enjoyed it. It seems like we were getting much closer lately! We'd NEVER held hands before; that's such a relationship thing.

We were nearing our lockers, still hand in hand, when I suddenly felt a tug. I turned around to see Brooke, looking, frankly, terrible (I’m sorry, there was no other way to put it).

She had huge bags under her eyes, they were puffy from crying, and her nose was red from crying as well. Not to count the fact that her mascara streaked face and smudges under her eyes made her look like a... raccoon? Who would think that the most popular girl in school would look so… bad?

Before I could finish judging her, out of nowhere, she broke into sobs.

“Please, Austin, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, I need you in my life! PLEASE!! TAKE ME BACK!!!!!” she wailed, sobbing, and of course, ignoring my presence. She was extra loud, as if she was asking the whole world instead of just Austin.

Omg, she was trying to make a scene!! She wanted to make herself look so desperate and helpless and heartbroken, so that unless Austin wanted to look like a jerk, he’d have to take her back! My blood boiled at the thought of her doing something so evil, after cheating on him. Wow, I overestimated this girl.

But surprisingly, Austin didn’t not look sympathetic towards her, or anything near wanting to take her back. No, Austin looked mad. Really mad. Either he was thinking what I thought she was doing, or he was really hurt. His face was really red with anger, his eyes burning a hole in her head, and his jaw clenched. He looked like he was gonna explode “Shhh, it’s okay Austin”, I mumbled in his ear and squeezed his hand. “Don’t do something out of anger, you’ll only regret it later on” I reminded him in a hushed voice.

Even more shockingly, I don’t know if I was imagining this, but his face seemed to visibly relax a little. There was a long, awkward silence, as he looked like she was trying to calm down, and Brooke’s eyes filled with pleadingness. He squeezed my hand back in what felt like forever later, and my stomach did somersaults. Then he spoke.

“Brooke, I forgive you. But I’ve moved on. I like someone else, and I may have even liked them when I was going out with you” he answered, calmly and sounding sincere. He squeezed my hand harder, which I unsuccessfully try to ignore.

We both gasped. I stared at him mouth hanging slightly open, but his eyes didn’t meet mine. A NEW CRUSH?? Who could he have liked- even when he was going out with Brooke?!! Why did he not tell me?

A small part of me wished so badly that the girl he liked was me. But I was almost positive that that wasn’t even possible. Oh, well. If he didn’t tell me yet, I guess he’s too shy to tell me about it, so I won’t pressure him.

With that, we walked off, leaving her totally shocked, her mouth gaped open and glaring at me. Gosh, if looks could kill, I’d be dead in an instant. I shook my head and mentally sighed. That jealous idiot, did she honestly think I was competition? I was his best friend, and that was all he saw me as.