I see nothing but fury in her eyes as she breathes in and out heavily. Stepping towards me, she raises a finger as if to scold me. “I told you, you’d do this. Iknewyou’d hurt him.”
My brows pinch together. “No, you’ve got it all wrong.”
She lets out a short, sharp laugh. “You’ve got to be joking. You think I’d fall for that again?” She shakes her head. “You did the same thing with me, remember? And now you’re doing it with Tobias. I honestly think you’ve got a problem.”
“A problem?”
Her eyes widen, looking at me from head to toe. “Asexproblem. You just can’t help yourself and now you’re hurting someone else who genuinely gives a shit about you.”
I can’t help but blurt a laugh. “I’ve got a lot of problems but sex isn’t one of them, I assure you.”
“Jokes again. Figures when it’s the only language you speak.” She rolls her eyes before turning to walk away again. “Well, let’s see how funny it is when I tell the Dean about Professor Flux. I bet he’ll think it’s just a royal hoot.”
My heart drops as I fast walk my way in front of her, cutting her off. “Woah, Katelyn. What the hell is your problem? I told you that it was a misunderstanding.”
“Oh? Did she trip and fall into kissing you?”
“Uh, it was my cheek. And no, she was comforting me…which is what…” realization dawns on me as I explain myself. “It’s what friends do forfriends.”
Did I misunderstand Gabe being a friend to Tobias?
Fuck!
Katelyn shakes her head, looking over my shoulder. “I…I don’t know what to believe.”
I take in a deep breath. “Katelyn, you go to the Dean with this, you’re not just hurting me. You’d be hurting Professor Flux fornoreason.”
“She shouldn’t have kissed you. She’s a teacher.”
“No, you’re right. But, when I needed a friend, she was there. And that’s just how it is.”
A frown creases her lips. “I’myour friend.”
“Are you?Are you really? Because since we started being friends, you’ve donenothingbut remind me of how shitty I am.”
Her tongue pokes at the inside of her cheek as she looks away from me. Clearly, I’ve struck a nerve from that one. But, it’s true. I can’t shake the feeling she doesn’t like me as much as she says she does.
“You dropped me. Like I was nothing. Completely forgot about me and expected me to be fine.” She mutters. “I took you toEuropewith me. You met myfamily. Played games with my little sister.” Her voice stutters. “And you just acted like…it was something to push aside.” She looks down at her shoes, kicking at the floor. “I didn’t even get a text back when your dad died. That shit hurt, Elijah.” Her voice shakes as I watch the tears flood down her cheeks.
Holy shit. My mind spirals back to our break up, and I feel a wave of guilt. She’s right. I completely shut her out and focused all of my attention on Tobias without another thought about us.
I run my hand through my hair as I think this over. I swear, my teeth may grind down to dust by the end of this year from how hard I’ve been clenching my jaw.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were back for less than a week last year, and then you were gone again. What was I supposed to do when I heard you returned to school? …I just got you back.”
Ohno.Maybe I really am blind. How could I not have seen this?
“Katelyn…Katie…” I sigh, putting my hands on her shoulders. Her chest rises and falls as she wipes the tears that have fallen with the back of her hand. “Pleasebelieve me when I say that I did…docare about you.” I take a deep breath in. “It came to my attention last summer that I have a tendency to be a little selfish…I’m trying to work on that.” I confess honestly. This makes her laugh softly which gives me some relief. “And there’s nothing I can do about how I handled our breakup then, but there is something I can do about how I handle our friendshipnow.”
She bites her lip and looks at the floor.
“Tell me the truth. Is our friendship hurting you? ” I look at her sincerely.
She looks up at me, with sadness in her eyes. “I guess…getting over you is a little harder than I thought.”
“Katie….” I breathe out heavily, feeling the weight of what’s to come hang heavy on my shoulders. “I’ve been talking and talking to you about Tobias. Dammit, I’m so fucking sorry. I hate that I did that.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, praying for the pressure to calm down. “I’ve been such a shitty friend to you.”
