One More Year

Chapter 13

"He hung out with Zoey, Vince! Of course, I'm hurt."

I asked Vince to come eat at the diner with me after Cam didn't show up for school all day. It's where I like to vent with Penelope, but seeming as I can actually talk about my real feelings with Vince about Cam seemed logical to me at the moment. After all, he thinks our relationship is real. Penelope will tell me to end it and stop hurting myself while Natalie will tell me to antagonize him by talking to Thomas.

He drops the napkin onto his empty plate and takes a sip of his soda before his brown eyes meet mine, "Okay, so he's an asshole. So why are you still with him?"

I open my mouth and shut it back quickly. Trying to find a way to best tell him how to describe our situation. In reality, I want to tell him that it's because this is all fake and I actually like him so I guess I'm just hoping for his feelings for Zoey to change towards me.

I'm really pathetic.

I opt to shrug and be vague, "I like him... especially when he's nice."

He leans over placing his elbows on the table, "You know, he's only ever had one other girlfriend in our sophomore year."

"He did?" This is news to me. I thought Zoey would be his first real girlfriend.

Vince nods and leans back in the booth, "She couldn't deal with all the girls throwing themselves at him. She liked it better when they were friends, so she broke it off after a month of dating and they remained friends. Then she moved to San Diego our junior year."

Although I like knowing more information on Cam, I have to ask. "What does this have to do with me and Cam?"

He sighs deeply and looks around before meeting my eyes, "I can't believe you have me here talking about feelings and shit, Liv." I smile and shrug as he continues, "All I'm saying is, Cam knows he has girls following him around, but when he's in a relationship... he's loyal and he's a loyal friend. He wouldn't do that to you."

Loyal.

His words hit me in the chest making my heart jump a little. He wouldn't know I'm not his real girlfriend, but I think in the time we've spent together we have sort of became friends. Maybe I need to apologize for me breaking that loyalty with him. I was ready to talk to Thomas even if I was just being friendly.

*

Gripping the sleeves of my sweater as I pull them down, over my hands, I feel my stomach drop down as I catch sight of him at our spot. No one's around so I walk faster to take advantage of alone time with him to talk.

"Hey," I tell him as I get closer.

He only makes eye contact for a second before he pulls out his phone and starts typing something.

"Hey." He mutters.

"Can we talk?" I sit beside him placing my books on the grass.

He turns to me frowning and I can still see a little heat in his blue eyes, "About what?"

He doesn't look any better than I do. His black clothes are rumpled and his hair is a mess, but it doesn't seem like he wants to make things better. 

Sighing, feeling like a fool. I look down at my hands before meeting his eyes again, "Thomas."

I didn't think his frown could deepen, but it did and now his body is fully turned towards me, "Why?"

I open my mouth to apologize and tell him that I understand why he felt disrespected and I'll be a loyal friend, but we got interrupted by his phone ringing. We both look down and see Zoey's name on the screen. He looks up and I quickly look in a different direction. I don't want him to see the hurt in my eyes because I decided to get in this knowing he has feelings for her.