The Way I Loved You.

The Way I Loved You, C15

Chapter 15

Nick lay under his blankets in the dark, his eyes wide as he stared at the ceiling, thinking about what happened in school today. He couldn’t forget the feeling in his stomach when he saw James holding her hand, gazing at him triumphantly as if he’d won a prize.

Scarlet wasn’t an object, let alone a prize. He couldn’t decide what was bugging him --- the idea of Scarlet being won over as an object, or the fact that he’d lost her to someone else. Maybe a little bit of both.

Perhaps what really hurt him was that deep down inside, he’d thought Scarlet sort of… belonged to him. He’d thought she’ll always be by his side, always standing in the background and always be, well, his. He’d never thought one day he’ll actually lose her to someone else, even though they were never together. She still sort of… belonged to him.

Which was a totally stupid idea, because Scarlet had never agreed to that herself.

And the fact that he had to watch her running off with someone else, and not being able to do anything about it pain him more than he’d ever imagined. He couldn’t stand watching that happened, yet it did. And he had chosen to run away from it --- maybe that was why Scarlet had chosen James over him, he was a coward who wasn’t able to face his true feelings.

His chest tightened when he thought of the day before everything happened. The way she called his name in sleep, the way she held his hand and how she looked so beautiful and vulnerable in his arms. He’d thought, maybe, just maybe, that she liked him.

Perhaps not.

And somehow, that upset him so damn freaking much.

It’s been days, since they talked to each other. Scarlet finally gave up after the third night waiting for Nick to call by tossing her phone into the trash can. Only to find herself going through the garbage to pick it up again so she could continue obsessing on every single possibility that he might call.

But her hopes, however, went out of the window when they ran into each other in the hallway. Scarlet looked away first --- she didn’t know what to say, or how to face him. Nick stared at her for a moment, and just when he was about to say something, James showed up on the other side’s of Scarlet, while Noelle popped out of nowhere and stood right next to Nick with a fake, sunny smile plastered over her Barbie doll face.

James and Noelle started following them everywhere they go. It wasn’t like that they were obsessive or stalker-ish, they were probably worried about Nick and Scarlet getting together to talk or something. It was almost if they wanted to them to keep fighting. Scarlet couldn’t really blame James, though, he was a really sweet guys. He brought her roses, took her out on date and called her every night, just to cheer her up.

But he wasn’t Nick.

Scarlet smiled when they finally reach her house, letting go of James’s hand. She was kind of relieved, to be honest, but she certainly didn’t show it. She held the roses in one arm and kissed James briefly on the lips, their cheeks brushing as she did so. “See ya,” she mumbled, turning around to open the door, but James stopped her.

He grabbed her on the waist and spun her around. Scarlet jumped a little, looking up at him carefully. “Yeah?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

James pulled her closer and started kissing her lips gently. Scarlet closed her eyes and tried to convince herself that this was a good thing. She needed to get over Nick --- she felt bad for using James as, like, the rebound guy, but he didn’t seemed to mind. But all she could think was Nick’s smell, and how his hands felt on her waist.