Sorry, I Love You.

2.17

I usually quote the song right here if the lyrics match the chapter but... that whole song is this chapter. Literally. Not even being dramatic. Every single word. It's too perfect.

Zoe had to wake up very early before school so she had enough time to get ready. Curling the ends of her hair, doing her make up, and putting together a cute outfit took her a whole hour in the morning. She didn't ever mind it though. It didn't hurt to look pretty and she really liked the compliments. It boosted her confidence when people thought she looked pretty and made her feel like this messed up life of hers was almost worth it. So, she took her time getting ready in the morning.

Teddy, on the other hand, woke up twenty minutes before he had to be at school. On some mornings, after a restless night, Teddy woke up early and got to school early just to loiter around the building. That was when he was always home alone and sulking over his broken family and lack of a bright future. Nowadays, Teddy was so busy studying, taking care of the kids, and working that he was exhausted by nightfall, which meant he slept hard and got as much sleep as possible.

Those two schedules combined meant that Teddy and Zoe both opened their bedroom doors at the same time. The hallway was still dark and neither Teddy nor Zoe expected to run into each other so, they both flinched and jumped back in surprise. Zoe giggled at the sight of Teddy jumping at her presence while he hissed a tired curse and shut his bedroom door behind him. Even in the dark, she could tell he was exhausted.

"Good morn-" Zoe whispered but interrupted herself as she remembered what she had told him last night.

Zoe was so mad at Teddy that she swore she was going to shun him and, when Kim and Jennie and Teddy's horrible lies popped into her head again, she definitely still wanted to shun him. She just wasn't used to waking up in the same house as Teddy and seeing him first thing in the morning and she got excited. She didn't mean to say anything. If it were any other day, Zoe would've been obnoxiously excited and hopping around the house. However, she couldn't look up at Teddy as she pictured him trying to canoodle with Kim.

So, instead of greeting Teddy verbally, Zoe placed her hands, which were holding her phone and her heels, on her stomach and politely bowed to him in a formal greeting. Teddy watched her do so and frowned as he realized she wouldn't even look up at him. Seemed she hadn't forgiven him yet. Once Zoe strutted passed Teddy, his frown deepened. She was wearing some kind of suit style outfit, just like her mother. This was probably part of Zoe's rebranding. He hated that.

Reluctantly, Teddy followed Zoe through the house and down the wide staircase that led to the foyer. Once at the bottom, Zoe put her heels down and slipped her feet into them as Teddy walked to the front door and peaked through the window of it. Unfortunately, he could see two of his classmates trudging down the hill in front of Zoe's gate as they made their way to school in the dark. If he could see them, that meant more were more coming from farther up the hill.

Teddy huffed in annoyance and started towards the dark kitchen. Zoe couldn't ask Teddy why he hadn't turned any lights on yet since she already declared she wasn't going to talk to him. That was the hardest part of shunning Teddy. She wanted to talk to him all day long and she really loved having him with her and this close but, she didn't like the things he did. He deserved to be punished and shunning him was the least she could do and the most she wanted to do. If only he wasn't such a big idiot..

Without consulting Teddy, Zoe reached for the switches by the front door and flicked on the lights in the foyer and the kitchen.

"No, no, no! Wait!" Teddy panicked as he instantly stumbled back on his feet and raced towards the light switches.