A Twist of Fate (Complete)

Ch. 28 - Major misunderstanding

"What the fuck was that?" Keaton asked, looking dismayed. "So you're the woman by Brad's side supporting him through it all? That's funny, because last I checked I thought you were MY girlfriend."

"I AM your girlfriend Keaton. Brad and I are just friends," she said feeling scared and desperate for him to believe her. She laid a hand on his arm but he pulled it back and stood up off the chair, pacing the floor with his hands gripping his hair. 

She got up and walked over to him. "Keaton, they cut out the part of the interview where Brad said I was his best friend and they asked if we would date again and I said I was seeing someone else. They edited it to make it look like something it wasn't," she told him in frustration.

He dropped his arms with a deep exhale and he looked tortured by all of this. She searched his eyes. 

"You believe me. Don't you?" she asked, feeling her eyes starting to burn with tears. 

Keaton stood there with his jaw locked, looking down and shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "All I know is, I'm heading upstairs and going to bed. It's been a really long fucking day." 

He turned and started heading towards the elevator with her following behind him.

He noticed and turned around asking, "Where are you going?"

That question took her by surprise and she looked around to see if he was talking to someone else, but no one was there.

"I'm going upstairs with you," she said, as if it was obvious. "I'll just go back to my dorm room early in the morning to get ready for class like I usually do."

He took a deep breath in and let it out as he looked down at the ground and ran a hand up through his hair.

He shoved his hands back in his pocket and said, "I don't think I want company tonight." He hesitated before adding, "I just need some space for a bit."

She felt like she had just been slapped in the face by those words. "Space for a bit?" she repeated. It was suddenly harder to breathe and the room felt like it was spinning.

"Are you saying you want to break up?" she asked, swallowing hard and scrunching her eyebrows at him. She could feel her heart breaking just thinking about the possibility of them breaking up.

He lifted his arms, clasping his hands behind his head and pacing the floor. Then he rubbed both his hands over his face and let out a sigh and looked at her.

"I don't know Everly," he said, shaking his head. He looked into her eyes and said, "I just need some time to clear my head and think about everything."

She felt her eyes burning as they filled up with tears and her bottom lip started to quiver. She quietly choked out the word, "Ok," as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She could feel Keaton slipping away and she couldn't even bear to think about losing him.

The elevator doors opened and Keaton turned around and stepped inside, looking at her with pain in his blue eyes as the doors slowly closed and then he was gone. 

She stood there stunned for a minute, her heart pounding and her breath shallow. She felt dizzy, like the room was spinning. She slowly turned and started walking, in denial about what just happened and feeling like it couldn't be real. She shook her head in disbelief. She looked over at the group of people Keaton had been hanging out with and they were all watching her, whispering. They probably thought she was a cheater. 

She hung her head and kept walking toward the exit, making her way back across campus like a zombie in a daze, trying to hold herself together but failing miserably. Tears streamed down her cheeks along with mascara, making her get strange looks and whispers from the people that walked past. She felt her heart aching and she buried her face in her hands and started to sob, struggling to catch her breath.