worst years of my life ➡️ td highschool ✔️

the l word

zoey .

a con of dating duncan nelson ? i couldn't think of one. the only thing i could think of was how we'd been dating for seven months, and neither of us had said "i love you" yet! i loved duncan .. i'm pretty sure i did.

i don't see why i wouldn't. our relationship had been going great. we'd shared vinyl records, gone to concerts, i'd even gotten him to watch love, simon with me - and he said he didn't hate it!

maybe i was just being paranoid and everything was fine, or maybe i was rushing it if i said anything, so i guess i wouldn't.

or .. maybe i should.

it was hard to even think about anything since i was making out with him.

a pro of dating duncan nelson ? he's an amazing kisser.

he had me positioned on his lap, kissing me roughly while his hands were on my waist. as much as i enjoyed the moment, i needed to tell him what was going on. i pull away from him.

"what's wrong, dollface?" he mumbles, looking up at me.

i sigh. this was the right thing to do, zoey.

"duncan ... why haven't we said "i love you" to each other yet?"

the punk sighs. "i'm not sure how to explain this to you without hurting your feelings."

automatically, i think he's gonna tell me he doesn't love me. and that hurt. bad.

he takes me off of his lap. "zo .. i think i do ... you know. but i don't like the word. my parents never said it to me, so i never adapted to it. think about it, when have you ever heard me say it?"

never.

"okay .." i begin, "but could you at least try and say it for your girlfriend of seven months?"

duncan chuckles softly, "i'd have to get used to actually saying the word. and besides, i don't wanna go off saying it to just anybody."

just anybody ?

"i'm not just anybody, duncan!"

"zo, you know that's not what i meant-"

"then what exactly did you mean?"

suddenly, my phone starts ringing. i look over at it and see that it's mike. and it definitely wasn't the first time he called. i don't make it long enough to answer the call, but i read the texts he sent me.

i'd seen something about his personality disorder .. he said he think it might be coming back.

i definitely needed to go see him. duncan should understand. he knew how i felt about putting my friends first.

"i've gotta go see mike. we can talk about this tomorrow after school."

i grab my phone and rush out of mike's room, not hearing something that duncan said. i'm sure he was just saying bye or something like that.

i head over to mike's house, and as soon as his foster mom sees me outside of the window, she lets me in. i walk straight up the stairs into mike's room and see him pacing back and forth. i also see a small black child with glasses.

i have to call mike's name to get his attention before he quickly snaps his head in my direction.

the tan boy runs up to me and hugs me.

"who's that?" i ask, pointing to the boy in the glasses.

he clears his throat. "allow me to introduce myself. i'm cameron, mike's friend from the academy. i'm guessing you're zoey."