The Heartbreaker [DISCONTINUED] || S.M.

Chapter 5 || "Can We Talk?"

"Should we exchange numbers now before we go?" Marley asks, her question filling the air. The silence only lasted a matter of mere seconds in reality, nothing monumental, but for me, it felt like it went on forever.

"Yeah, that's a probably good idea." Brandon pipes in.

"Let's head out into the hallway." Marley says, glancing over at Professor Dahmon before looking around the group. Her and I make eye contact, so I nod. I know that if I try and speak, nothing will come out.

The four of us exit the room and step out into the hallway, hovering by the door. Marley looks at all of us before sighing and taking out her phone, beginning to tap away at it. i can already tell she's going to be the one to take charge for this assignment.

"Here, I'll create a Google Doc and share it with all of you so that we can work on it together even if we can't all meet up. It'll be more time efficient and we could use Skype or FaceTime or whatever form of video chat you want to save time from having to meet up. Put your number in my contacts and I'll make a group chat for us, too."

Marley hands Brandon her phone, who types in his phone number before handing the phone over to me. I type in my phone number before saving myself as Helaina. I hand Shawn Marley's phone, not bothering to look at him. As it passes between us, our fingertips touch and I feel a surge of electricity pulse through them. I pull away like he just shocked me, crossing my arms and tucking my hands away so no one can see them. Brandon doesn't seem to notice, but Marley studies me with an unreadable look on her face.

"Okay, great!" Marley exclaims once she gets her phone back from Shawn. "I'll create the group chat before my next class starts and I'll share the Google Doc before midnight tonight, so be sure to check your inboxes."

The four of us stand there looking at one another, unsure of what to do, before Brandon clears his throat and walks away with a head nod. I notice Marley is still staring me, so I look back at her. She opens her mouth and sighs, taking a step closer to me.

"Helaina, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asks, side-eyeing Shawn. He lingers for another second before finally walking away.

"Oh yeah, uh, sure." I say, already having a feeling that I know where this is going.

"You and Shawn aren't going to have a problem working together, right? I know you used to date and everything, so if that's going to be a problem, I need to know now so that you two can avoid each other as much as possible during this assignment." Marley says.

"No it's fine; we're fine." I sigh. "Don't worry Marley, I want a good grade on this presentation just as much as you do, and I'm sure Shawn's the same way. If you want, I can even talk to him about it." I offer.

"Yeah, that'd be great actually. Thanks Helaina." she beams, walking away. Even though she's not there anymore to see it, I nod. I watch her walk away before pulling out my phone and pulling up my messages. I open up a text thread I haven't opened in a while- in a month, to be exact- and begin to type.

H: can we talk?

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"You should come with me tonight." Julia says as she brushes through her hair. I'm sitting on her bed, as I have been for the last forty-five minutes while she gets ready to go to yet another frat party tonight.

"I already told you I'm good." I say, adjusting myself so that I'm laying on my stomach. I prop my head up on my hands and watch her.

"Helainaaaaa." she whines, putting the hairbrush down and picking up her eyeliner. "Please! You haven't been to one in over a month."