The New Separation (Book 2)

Chapter 14

Elliot

The rest of the weekend went by really quick. I wasn't sure if I was glad to be back at school on Monday or not, but at least I hadn't had too much time thinking about what happened on Thursday. Frankly, I had sort of forgotten about it, at least, until it was brought up at lunch.

It started off as a harmless 'how was your Thanksgiving?' question from Emily, but I couldn't help the tears in the corners of my eyes when I thought about the answer. Because I didn't know how it was, besides extremely awkward and rather upsetting, but that was only the Colton bit of the night. The rest of the meal was actually pretty nice, getting to see all my family that I don't normally see.

"Sorry," Emily said. "I didn't realize you'd get upset. You don't have to talk about it, but I'm here if you want to."

I nodded my head, silently thanking her. But I didn't have a chance to say anything when Jared sat down on my other side. I quickly wiped my face, hoping he didn't notice anything.

He didn't seem to, immediately launching into telling something that happened in his last class. I wasn't really paying attention, just picking at my food and lost in my own thoughts.

At least, until I felt my arm being smacked. "Dude!" Jared shouted at me, making me jump.

"What?" I rubbed my arm. "Jeez, what was that for? And did you have to hit me so hard?"

"You weren't paying attention to me."

I sighed. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

He shook his head. "I'm not telling you now. You were ignoring me."

"Jared," I sighed. "Come on. I'm sorry. I'm listening now."

"He said you need to find a new boyfriend to get over Colton," Emily answered.

I scoffed. "Yeah, like that'll happen. How many gay guys do you know of in this school?" I also really didn't want another boyfriend right now. Maybe it'll help get my mind off Colton, but that wouldn't change the fact that, for some reason, I still loved him too much. The thought of being with someone else, even though he currently was, hurt too much to think about.

"Well, there's Drew," Jared suggested. "I think he's single."

"He's an asshole, though," Emily added.

"But he's gay."

"Do you really want to have him sitting with us at lunch?"

"Who said he has to?"

"If he's dating Elliot, he'll probably be sitting with us."

"Guys," I said, stopping their bantering. "I don't want a boyfriend right now, okay?"

I was glad when they dropped the subject. I didn't want to have to explain myself right now. I just wanted to move on with my life in my own way. And that wasn't by getting into a new relationship that's just going to end up with me being heartbroken again. 

Colton

Being back at school was miserable. It was the last month of the semester, which meant all my classes had tests and projects and papers, and all I really wanted to do was either lay in bed wasting my life away or drowning my problems with alcohol. Unfortunately for me, neither of those options could happen. I needed to go to class and do my work because if I didn't get my grades up, I couldn't keep my scholarship. If I lost that, I couldn't keep playing soccer. If there was one thing I couldn't give up, it was soccer.

I felt like that was the only thing I had left in my life, if I were to be honest. I basically lost the friends I've made here. Danny and I barely have anything in common anymore, so conversations go nowhere, which was probably because I chose to go to parties rather than do schoolwork, completely unlike him. And then there was Aleena. We haven't spoken since Elliot and I broke up. I would have liked to still have her for a study partner, especially with finals coming up, but I pushed her away because I was mad at her for ruining my relationship and I had barely even gone to class in the first place. Both of which were totally my fault.

I really screwed up, didn't I?

How could I have been so stupid?

"Colton?"

My head snapped up to my professor. She was standing in the front of the classroom, staring at me expectantly.

"What?"

"We're going over your homework. What did you get for number three?"

I sighed, looking down at my notebook. At least I had it out and open to the homework. "Uh..." I stared at my paper a little too long, trying to focus back on the class instead of my own problems. "X-squared."

"This is American History class, Colton, not your math class."

Everyone around me burst out laughing and I couldn't have been more embarrassed. "I knew that," I said, quickly pulling out my other notebook. But before I could flip open to the correct homework page, someone else had given the answer and my professor moved on, leaving me alone for the rest of the class time.

As soon as class let out, I hurried from the room as quickly as I could. Hopefully everyone will forget what happened by the next class.

I barely made it to the door when Aleena called my name from behind me. I hesitated, not looking back. We haven't said anything to each other in months, which was kinda hard to do sitting next to each other in the class all the time, but somehow we managed. I wasn't sure I really wanted to talk to her now, after so long.

Turns out, I hesitated just long enough for her to catch up to me. "Hey," she said with a smile. "You doing okay? I haven't talked to you in a while."

I shook my head and kept walking. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

She kept up. "I'm sorry, Colton. I am. I've been talking to Danny recently. He said you weren't doing too well. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

I stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced Aleena, not caring if other people were trying to get around us. "Since when do you care about me, Aleena?" I demanded. "All you ever wanted was to sleep with me. Just be happy you got that, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, I turned and kept walking down the hallway, ignoring her saying my name. It was true - all she ever wanted was sex, and she got it. I'm not happy about it, not by a long shot. I lost the only person that ever meant something to me because I let her get into my head. Who knows what she could get me to do if we continued our friendship?