Byron's Secret (Slenderman Romance)

Chapter 58. A Mistake

Rusty grammar! It's been a while XD

Here I was, standing in front of several people, talking. I put on a smile and kept on 'promoting' Devonshire. I did it because I feel like I have to－and mostly to distract myself.

Nearly half an hour passed by after Droney, Byron and I split. Droney, being the social butterfly he is, was having fun, catching up to the people he met on last year's seminar. Me, I've been moving from one group to another, getting to know people, forcing myself to have fun. Occasionally, I'll find something to laugh about, but then I remember why I'm even doing this in the first place and internally sulk about it.

There he was.

Byron was surrounded with a group a little bigger than mine. I can't help but notice that there were more women than men in that set. I also kept noticing that Byron was talking to them. He wasn't smiling or anything, but it doesn't look like he hates it either.

I saw the girl from before, Zoe, standing right next to Byron, staring at him with love-filled eyes . . . How disgusting. She even have the nerve to scoot closer to him, yet Byron wasn't doing anything. What the fuck, Byron? He could at least move away . . . I don't understand.

Maybe, he's just like other guys when it comes to those kind of things. I can't deny that those girls are attractive.

I'm confused. Why can he talk casually with other girls . . . but when it comes to me, he just always looks irritated? Does he really hate me after all?

Countless thoughts ran through my mind, momentarily forgetting that I'm in the middle of a conversation. I fixed my smile and uninterestedly listened. I kept nodding to show that I acknowledge what the man was saying, but now, I feel like I'm just being rude, using these people to kill some time.

"So, Joy, it's your first year teaching, right?" A guy whose name I forgot asked after a topic just ended.

I nodded, "Yeah, I'm a bit inexperienced."

He gave me a warm smile, "How far is Devonshire from here?"

"Uhh, I think it was a 14-hour drive?" I recalled, "What about you?" I unintentionally asked, being accustomed to returning the question. Ugh, I just want to finish this conversation so I can take a break from these people.

"I－"

Before he could continue, a sudden, loud voice reverberated through the whole room, catching everyone's attention, including mine.

"Enough!"

The voice came from Byron.

The idle chatting died down. I looked towards his direction with wide eyes, puzzled and growing nervous at what it could possibly be. I saw Byron roughly pulling his arm away from Zoe and glaring at each and everyone near him. The girl－Zoe－looked taken aback like she had never expected to see Byron acting this way. He "kindly" excused himself, though his actions contradicted his words when he pushed through the crowd and marched away from them.

All eyes were on him. It seems that he was heading to the doors on the east side of the building. As he passed by, my gaze met his glare for a second before he turned away. Once he disappeared through the doors, whispers and mumbles surfaced, filling the silence.

With my field of vision, I saw another person walking close by and it was Droney, "What happened?" He asked, getting closer.

"I don't know . . ." I shrugged, shaking my head, "I'll . . . I'll go talk to him."

"Fine." Droney nodded, "I'll apologize on his behalf."

Even though it was unimportant, I felt the need to ask, "Why do you have to?"