Three is better than one.

Chapter16

*Priya’s POV*

Gladly, Jeremy took away the awkward atmosphere by cracking a joke about the extra-large man across from us, who farted rather loudly. We were laughing at his joke, until something caught my eye across from me. Somebody that looked familiar, it was my one and only heartbreaker, Jack. As soon as I saw his face, my giggling stopped and the same emotions from last night flooded back to me. I showed no expression other than the sadness in my eyes that I tried to mask. Jeremy noticed my sudden change of expression. My vision was glued to Jack, I wanted to look away to avoid even more heartbreak but I simply couldn’t help it. As much I wanted to cry, I resisted; I could sense Jeremy looking at me, I didn’t want him to worry about me anymore than he already has. I held back the tears that began to burn my eyes and ignored the sharp pain that occurred in my chest. The tears threatened to fall when finally I noticed that he was with another girl…that wasn’t me. She was stunning, everything that any girl would want to be; a nice figure, a pretty face.

I could see Jack finally turn his attention to me through my blurred vision. He smirked. He grabbed the girl by her waist and pulled her close. I couldn’t take it anymore; I let the hot tears run down my face. I sat still, watery eyes, just like last night.

*Jeremy’s POV*

I clenched my fists, seeing Jack made my blood boil at the moment. I bit my lip in frustration, Priya was crying right in front of me, and I just couldn’t do anything about it. I could tell she was trying to conceal her sadness as her lips quivered. It was clear that it took all the strength she had to hold back from balling in tears. I looked at Jack who was still holding the girl close, nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck. I could hear Priya beside me, being tortured by the scene. I was afraid that the slightest word or action towards her would cause her to release all of the misery she was trying to restrain.

Jack suddenly let go of the girl and fiercely looked her in the eyes. He began to slowly lean closer. Don’t do it Jack, don’t do it. In my mind, I begged and pleaded to take Priya away from here; I didn’t want to see her get her heart broken any more than it already has been. But my mental appeals failed to please me. He squashed his lips onto hers, cupping her face in his hands. I could hear a muffled sob coming from Priya as he did so, I couldn’t bear to look. After a several seconds that felt more like minutes, Jack finally parted from his repulsive kiss with the girl and turned his attention to me with sly eyes. I seized myself from dashing up to him and bashing him straight in the face. I still couldn’t understand why he was doing this to her. Seeing her hurt made me feel the pain as well, I don’t know why…but I the urge to always protect her. We’re friends after all…

*Jack’s POV*

I, once again, felt revolting. I felt disgusting; breaking a billion hearts that you don’t really care about is nothing. But when you break the heart of the person you love…it’s a whole other level of filth. I hadn’t even gotten a good look at Priya yet, but I knew that she was crying. However through all these guilty emotions, I had to remind myself that there are no happy endings, at least through what I had experienced. I didn’t want to let myself fall for someone, I always had faith that it would finish badly in the end, somehow.

When I unlocked my lips from Emma’s, I saw the stunned expression that she had upon her face. Cheeks red, eyes wide open. Just the way Priya had reacted the time I had kissed her before…but she could never compare to her. I backed away and looked at Jeremy, who seemed agitated in every way possible. I knew it was because I broke Priya’s heart again, right after he, being the perfect guy he is, mended it for her. I fought the urge to look over to Priya who was sitting right beside him. I didn’t want to see what mess she had become because of me. Doing so would make me want to take back my actions even more than I already wanted to.

*Author’s POV*

To all of them, it felt as though time was passing by in slow motion. All the busy bodies bustling around them had become completely irrelevant. Priya felt like this moment of torture would be never-ending and Jack felt similar, taunting her like this, it couldn’t have been any worse; He loved her, but to protect his pride and feelings… he chose the cowardly way and broke her heart. Jeremy could hardly take another moment of restraint from jabbing him straight in the face. Neither he nor Priya knew why he was doing this; which made him even more aggravated and her even more grieved.

Jack continued to glare at him fiercely in the eyes. With each second of the stare-down, Jeremy’s urge to punch him grew. As they scowled at one another, something caught their eyes. It was Priya; she stopped her painfully quiet sobbing and stood up, gathering her strength. Both of them looked at her, puzzled, while Emma was still entirely disoriented by the whole situation. Priya, still looking down at the floor, wiped her tears and collected herself. She inhaled deeply, and exhaled. Abruptly she looked up, with a red nose and puffy eyes. However, her expression was strong, she looked at Jack with hurtful passion. Taking another deep breath, she began to walk with grace to him and Emma. She stopped when she was only an arm length away from the couple.

“What?” Jack questioned, trying to hide his pain when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

Instead of saying anything, she put one foot back and clenched her hands into a strong fist. Tightening her jaw, she delivered a swift and strong punch to his cheekbone, throwing him back a few steps. All were shocked by her action, Jeremy was in awe by her independence. She did exactly what he had been wishing to do the whole time. Bystanders were shocked by the scene while Emma was stunned by what had just happened right in front of her.

*Jack’s POV*

I felt a blunt pain on my cheekbone. I was shocked by what Priya had just done, I never expected it but figured that I deserved it anyway. After being sent back a few steps by her sock to my face, I placed my hand over my cheek in shock and looked at her. I could feel it begin to sting painfully, but that couldn’t compare to the pain I felt in my heart when I saw a single tear escape from her eyes. She stood there, with a hurt look on her face. It made me want to beg on my knees for her forgiveness and love even more.

“Bitch.” I said cruelly, attempting to put up a strong front, avoiding the feelings that I truly had for her. The moment I carelessly threw the insult at her, I immediately felt like dying. My head began to burn with regret…the way she looked at me made my heart break. She stepped away and bit her lip, trying to hold back the rain of tears attempting to fall.