Weathered Love

ALONE

It was so hard to go back to school that Monday. I had always been single before Derek, but I had never been so alone. I liked it better when I didn't know what I was missing. At least then, I didn't have to go through the emptiness of a break-up.

I went to my locker extra early. Even though I could finally admit I still liked Caleb, I was angry, and I didn't want to see him. I also didn't want to face anyone, since I didn't want to tell anyone what happened over break. I was still raw.

I got to my locker and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that Caleb wasn't there. I quickly put my books away and ran to Physics. I sat down and opened my textbook, looking over my answers from our Spring Break homework. Oh yes, we got homework over Spring Break. At least, we did for this class. Our teacher apparently didn't believe in vacations.

A few minutes later, Ivan came in and sat next to me.

"How was break?" he asked before actually turning to look at me. "What happened?" he asked, his voice now laced with concern. I knew I looked like more of a mess than I normally did, but I was hoping no one would notice.

I felt my lip quiver, and I squeezed my eyes shut, ordering my tears to obey me for once. I took in a deep breath through my nose, and while letting it out, I opened my eyes and turned to face Ivan. "Derek and I broke up," I quickly let out, instantly biting on my lip after I let out the sentence so that I could contain my crying.

"Oh no," Ivan softly said in an understanding tone. "I'm so sorry," he said, getting up and coming to my seat to give me a hug from behind.

"I guess you were right," I nearly laughed to myself in disappointment. "He was a means to an end, and even he figured it out before I did. I'm so stupid," I concluded.

"You're not stupid," Ivan insisted. "You liked him, and he made you feel special. There's nothing wrong with wanting to feel loved, and it's not stupid. Your crush on Caleb, however, is stupid," he teased, no doubt wanting to make me laugh.

"Yeah," I whispered in defeat.

"Alright, after school, I'm getting you a giant double fudge brownie shake. And you're not allowed to say no," Ivan said.

I gave him a weak smile and nodded. "Make it two," I joked.

"I'll make it a thousand if it'll make you feel better," he replied.

"Until the stomach ache and the scale make me feel even worse afterwards," I replied, taking a stab at myself. Oh, how quickly old habits return when the person who stopped them is suddenly no longer in your life.

"Nope, none of that, you're not going to that place again," Ivan ordered. "You're going to have the shake, you're going to enjoy it, you're going to let it make you feel better, and you're not going to step on a scale and completely ruin my gift to you," he ordered.

I smirked and shook my head at him. It was enough for him to feel accomplished in his mission. Of course he knew that it was only a temporary solution, but I needed to feel appreciated by someone. It wasn't about the shake. It was about feeling like I still had someone in my corner. And Ivan always knew how to be that person.

After school I met Ivan at our favorite dessert spot. Since we both had driven to school, and neither of us wanted to leave our cars behind, we decided to meet at the place. I managed to be excused from track practice, telling Coach I wasn't feeling well, which wasn't a complete lie, but misleading nonetheless. Mackenzie helped keep up the half truth. She knew what happened between Derek and I.

Ivan and I sat at a table and, as promised, he ordered a giant, double fudge brownie shake for me, and a giant strawberry-banana shake for himself. I quickly downed half of the shake and got a brain freeze, which elicited a laugh from Ivan. I took it slow after that.