Epilogue

flashback 1. the break up

Y E A R - 2010

L O C A T I O N - White Rose Academy

Breakups were supposed to be hard.

They were supposed to rip your heart out, glossed with blood and painted with the color of sorrow, leaving behind a hole where you could feel the empty breeze blow past in an attempt to soothe the stabbing pain.

They were supposed to make your tear ducts cry a necklace of Swarovski crystals, one opulent enough to hide the gaping wound of your missing heart and draw attention away from your misery laced eyes.

They were supposed to turn your limbs to stone and your mind to a train station for overthunk thoughts and your motivation for life to absolute shit— especially the unofficial breakups where you accidentally walk into your boyfriend making out with the head cheerleader.

So why the hell did Zalia feel nothing?

"Are you alright?" Yolanda asked gently, sitting down on the courtyard bench next to her.

Zalia shrugged. Although she would very much rather have one of her best friends by her side, she figured the overgenerous class president would suffice since she didn't really need any sort of cheering up or crappy pep talk that sounded straight from a talk show for middle-aged women. "Yeah. I don't really feel anything, you know? Probably relieved, but that's it."

Yolanda smiled warmly, placing a hand on Zalia's arm. "It's okay to feel heartbroken or betrayed, you know."

"The thing is, I don't really feel anything. Is that normal?" Zalia laughed bitterly, shaking her head. "I think it's because I never actually felt anything for him. I dated him because everyone said so. I mean, he's a football player. Those people are supposed to be cool, right?"

Yolanda simply chuckled. "Liam doesn't seem very cool right now. He's a jerk."

"Yeah," Zalia nodded. "I agree."

As the two sat together, quietly chattering about life and its unfairness, Natalie scurried up to them and squeezed next to Zalia on the two-person bench. "Yeah, Liam's totally a jerk but... what exactly happened?"

Zalia was wondering when the news of their breakup would start to spread. But of course, the queen of White Rose Academy's gossip had to hear it first before that could happen. It wasn't that Natalie was particularly popular, but she really had nothing better to do with her life besides working on the yearbook, sucking up to the activities coordinator, and butting into everything that happened around the school.

"Natalie, now's not the time," Yolanda scolded gently.

"It's fine," Zalia reassured. The breakup was bound to spread anyways, so she figured it might as well be the right version. Zalia didn't want Liam getting to the gossip first and accusing her of any malicious intentions. "I was helping out Yolanda, and we walked into the classroom where my lovely boyfriend and head cheerleader Courtney were basically having sex on the teacher's desk."

Natalie gasped. "Liam? Your boyfriend of two years?"

Zalia pursed her lips in annoyance. "Yes, that Liam. My boyfriend of two years."

Natalie sprung up from the bench, thankfully allowing Zalia to have some space. "That's terrible! I'll make sure to tell the whole school that it was all Liam's fault!"

As she dashed back towards the school, almost as fast as rumors spread in this school, Yolanda turned to Zalia. "Do you want me to call Candace and Rielle? They're probably going to be worried."