The Million Mile Hallway

Chapter 19 - Louise

I'd been thinking about soul mates a lot that week. I know, I know the cliché-hater shouldn't be doing that but hear me out. I was thinking about how stupid the whole concept was. Like, are we really supposed to believe that there's only one person in the universe for us? How tragic is that? Let's forget Jason Harley for a minute. Does that mean that if my soul mate was a ninety-six year old man, that I didn't belong with anyone else but him? So that when he died, the universe would want me to live the rest of my days alone? Idiots.

But I couldn't help thinking that Jason was my soul mate and it seemed pretty evident that I couldn't have him. Fate was dangling a carrot for me and I couldn't reach it.

The most ironic part of it was that everyone was treating me like I was some sort of victim. My mom and Anna kept talking to me as if I had been violated or something but that wasn't the case at all. Why couldn't they see that it was exactly what I wanted to happen? Dad and Brandon both changed all of a sudden too. Dad kept saying how angry he was with Jason and I actually had to stop him from going over there to punch him. Brandon said something very similar but I was quite sure that he was just saying it to sound tough.

They were all back to driving me to and from work again too and I didn't see Jason in the store at all anymore. Either my parents told him to shop somewhere else or he decided that by himself. They even seemed to have totally abandoned their plans to fit new lights in the bathroom as well. With everyone trying their best to act like nothing had happened, in our house it was as if Jason had never existed.

He still existed in my head though, and on social media. I was still watching his page daily, seeing him post things about work or whatever sports game was going on at the time. I certainly wasn't expecting him to post anything about me, but it still hurt that he seemed to be moving on with his life.

Lily came over to try and cheer me up, and even though it wasn't working, I was glad to finally have someone to vent to.

"I just don't understand why he suddenly decided to break it off like that" I complained as we sat on my bed. We were supposed to be watching Lily's New Girl  box set but it was really just background noise at this point.

"Didn't you say he freaked when the old lady came over?" She asked.

"Yeah and for a start I thought that maybe had something to do with it but now I'm not so sure. Maybe Mason was right all along and he was just a creepy jerk who wanted to get into my pants" I sighed.

"Mason is an idiot ok" She said flatly. "Trust me, that boy doesn't know anything about girls and their crushes. He wouldn't know true love if it literally slapped him in the face"

"But he knows about guys"

"Jason is different, I know it. But do you really think it's done forever?" She asked.

"For sure. Now that my parents hate his guts, they'll be watching him like a hawk. I'm actually surprised we haven't put cameras up outside the apartment yet to spy on him in the hall" I shivered at the creepiness of that thought. "God, it's just so frustrating that he's right across the damn hall and we're here talking about him like he's a ghost!"

"So what are you going to do?"

"I guess I just have to get over him" I shrugged. "What else can I do?"

"You could fight for him? I mean this is just like Romeo and Juliet! I said it all along!"

"And I'm pretty sure I told you that they both died at the end" I reminded her.

"Spoiler alert!" She giggled, making me laugh for the first time that day.

"I don't know what to do!" I cried in frustration. "I really like him Lil, but there's no point pining over someone that I can't have. I hate people that do that"