Fall

Chapter 9: "Handle rejection"

“I can’t. I can’t do this.” He let out running back to the restaurant disappearing with the rest of the hope and love she built inside her wrecked heart.

She watched him moving away disappearing behind the door of the restaurant his hands tied behind the back of his neck. Elena stood there dumbfounded.

What the hell just happened?

She just shared a kiss with Justin, the one she struggled to keep her feelings away from, and confessed that she loved him. He didn’t even say it back, but he kissed her. And that meant something at the moment until he pulled away claiming it was too much for him to handle.

I shouldn’t have done that. How stupid was I to cheat on Ryan by kissing that douche bag?

She was hurt. Her heart was pounding in ways it shouldn’t. Even her palms were sweaty, she felt a panic attack was starting to appear when she stood in place and took a deep breath. This night wasn’t going to be ruined by one stupid mistake, by a mistake she would never do again.

As much as she tried to keep the tears inside, they slithered down her red cheeks uncontrollably. He was the only person she admitted to make her cry like that. She felt humiliated most importantly because the rejection didn’t come from someone she didn’t care about. And it wasn’t an immediate one either.

“El?” She heard a soft voice calling her from behind as a hand touched her arm gently pulling her back.

Ryan stood there eyes wide just staring at her wrecked figure. On impulse, Elena jerked her hand away unable to touch anyone. When she met his eyes again and he was looking at her as if it was another girl he was seeing, she realized what she’s done and buried her face in her hands sniffing.

“What happened? Why are you crying? Did Justin say something?” He says his voice getting a bit protective. He soothingly took her head pressing it against his chest and caressed the back of it.

“I… I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure to which question this answer belonged but all she wanted was Ryan being there for her, as selfish as it sounded.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” He hugged tightly patting the back of her head.

Once she was able to walk back inside, Britney gestured for them to come faster. She looked content at their side as if willing to share important news. Justin was sitting there, one hand around her shoulder and didn’t lift his eyes up when they arrived. Elena pressed her lips together holding tight to Ryan’s hand.

“Elena! I wanted to tell you the major news!” She squealed and waited for the couple to sit down.

Justin kept his eyes focused on their hands tangled.

“Remember that you ended up alone in your dorm?” She asked her clapping her hands.

Oh no… no, no, no, no, no…

“Well! I’m your new roommate!”

“You’re what?” Elena repeated as if she wanted to believe she heard wrong. This night couldn’t get any worse.

“Isn’t it exciting?! That way we can all hang out!” She squealed again looking at Justin who settled for returning her excitement with a fake smile.

“Great.” Elena cleared her throat.

“It won’t be that bad.” She heard Ryan’s voice whisper in her ear as he gently touched her thigh. Even though his touch was soothing, Elena clenched her fists and drew on one of her fakest smiles. “Hey, how about we continue to your dorm?” He murmured against her ear.