on the REBOUND (On Hold)

Chapter 8

One moment my heart's all aflutter, I'm pressed against Tyler's soft lips, experiencing Heaven itself.

The next thing I know, I'm falling.

My rump hits the floor with a deafening thump, but it's my heart that cracks open.

I thought this was gonna be the part where he'd say he's loved me for all this time too. And we'd start a strong and enduring relationship amidst the well-wishes of everyone.

At least that's how it played out in my imagination.

Shit, how could I have gotten it so wrong?

It takes all my courage to look up at Tyler who's gone completely white. From this angle, he seems really far away. Somewhere I can't quite reach. For once his eyes aren't inviting as he looks down with furrowed brows, an unfamiliar frown etched upon his face. He looks deeply troubled. And a moment before he opens his mouth, I know what he's about to say.

"I... I'm sorry." He musters.

Somehow it hurts so much more when he says it. Wow. A few years of unrequited love in exchange for two slaps to the face. Haywood, you awake now? You sober now?

"I don't like you that way." He crouches down beside me and whispers.

He might as well have pushed my heart through a paper shredder.

"ARE YOU OK? What's your name?" One of the Mars councillors screeches and makes her way to my side. "Tyler? You dropped her? Where's Tasha? Why isn't she dancing with you? Are you hurt..." She fires a slew of questions anxiously. The ruckus she makes draws a small crowd.

Tyler doesn't like me. Not in that way.

My worst fears are confirmed.

I feel tugging on my arm and obediently stumble to my feet. Someone hooks my arm and carefully leads me down many flights of stairs and through numerous hallways. It's a miracle I haven't tripped and broken my neck yet - though I can't say the same for my heart. I'm in shambles. I'm not sure where we're going. I can't see - courtesy of all the tears that have welled up in my eyes but stubbornly refuse to fall. Patches of light flicker in and out. Even my hearing has glitched. My ears detect voices but they're lost in translation. My tear ducts are so clogged I can't inhale through my nose anymore. Open my mouth to breathe but my throat is all parched. What's happening? Where am I headed? I could be sold to some sinister human trafficking syndicate now and I'd never know who did it.

Bloody hell, why am I even thinking of human trafficking now. Must be my right brain trying to distract me from this paralysing pain.

Someone makes me sit. My head is heavy with the weight of unshed tears. I simply slump over my knees, and stew in the painful throbbing of my head and heart. The tears slowly gather into a sizeable droplet, which clings to my eyelashes for dear life, before free falling and smashing into smithereens on the wooden floor. I can finally see.

"Haywood, did you bump your head?"

It's Jae Hee.

I shake my head mechanically.

"Do you want to go home?"

"No." The strangled voice that comes out from my mouth hardly sounds like mine.

"Ok. We'll just chill here for a while then." Jae Hee plonks herself into a comfortable-looking chair shaped like half a Cadbury Egg and hands me a huge wad of tissues. "You want to... Talk about it?"

I blow my nose forcefully for a couple of times.

"What did you see?" To my relief, I sound much more like my usual self.

"Everything. I think."

"Ah, Christ. There isn't much to talk about then. Anyway, where are we?" I change the topic, noticing for the first time I'm sitting on a bed with a white Hershey cookies and cream bed cover. The lilac walls are painted with jolly-looking MnMs either having fun or studying hard.

"This is the Choc Lodge. Principal Lindt ordered it to be built 2 years back and filled it with board games so students could come in to destress." Jae Hee explains. "It's awesome. Also, there's a never ending supply of chocolate and ice cream. Best place to heal a broken heart. "

She throws me a Milky Way which bounces off my head.

"Maybe you don't believe me now. But everything is gonna be ok. Someday. In the mean time, let chocolate be the glue that mends your heart."

***

Sad chapter. What do you guys think about Tyler's rejection?

This is the beginning of Haywood's transformation into a bad girl. 

Do vote and/or comment if you've enjoyed the chapter :)