I often said that the only way that you'd ever find me hanging around Luca Donahue, was if there was a loaded gun pointed at my head. For three years I actually meant it. I meant it right up until my best friend started ditching me and forcing Luca...
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I fiddle with the sea turtle pendant on my necklace as I halfheartedly listen to my best friend gush about her nauseatingly perfect boyfriend. It's not that I don't care about what she's saying. I totally care. I'm just over the entire day, and her incessant rambling doesn't ease the headache that I can feel lurking just behind my eyelids.
Rainn smiles at me and then her eyes narrow. I raise my brow at her sudden shift. "What?"
"You're not even paying attention," she rightfully accuses me. "I've been going on and on like a fool, while you've been staring into space."
"I'm sorry." I touch her arm as a familiar red Camaro stops alongside us in the student parking lot. "I've had a shitty day. Call me tonight and I promise that you'll have my undivided attention." She doesn't ask what made my day shitty, she never does anymore. She does, however, give me a hug before looking towards the Camaro, a smile already in place. "Go on," I say. "I'll call you later."
With one last glance at me, she practically skips towards the passenger side of the car. "Love you," she calls out before getting in.
Her boyfriend, Jace, nods in my direction as Rainn gets into his car and I force myself to offer him a smile. "Later, B," he says with a smile of his own.
I nod and step back as he peels out of the lot. I hate him for reasons that would make me seem jealous. Probably because I am.
He wasn't a bad guy. As a matter of fact, it begrudges me to say that he was probably made specifically for Rainn. A reasonable friend would've been happy for her. I used to be a reasonable friend, but I traded that in for being miserable instead.
I was over the moon with joy and only had a smidgen of doubt when they'd started dating, but that was before things had changed and not for the better. Our weekends were no longer filled with marathons of our favorite TV shows or spontaneous trips to partake in whatever event was going on in our small town. Now it was a never-ending rerun of the saga that was Jace and Rainn, one that I couldn't unsubscribe from.
I kick dirt as I trudge along the road, deciding to walk home once again instead of calling my older brother for a ride. Rainn used to be my ride to and from school, but ever since the first episode of her love life aired, she'd been ditching her car in favor of riding shotgun in Jace's Camaro. She's never even asked me how I get around without her.
I know that I sound like a sulky kindergartener who'd been forced to give up her favorite blankie, but I can't help feeling like I'm slowly losing my best friend and it's as gradual as it is painful.
A midnight blue Jeep pulls up beside me and I can't decide whether to walk faster or just stop altogether. After a second of being in limbo, I decide to walk faster, and I begin taking longer strides which is unsurprisingly hard to do, as I'm stupidly unfit and can already feel a cramp coming on.
"Blaise," a familiar voice calls out. I speed up, not wanting to face the owner of the voice. "Blaise, stop!"
I comply and scowl when I turn towards the jeep. "What do you want, Luca?"
