[TAC] THREE'S A CROWD

Chapter 15

{New}

New, being a person who has only ever had one boyfriend in his entire life, has come to a simple conclusion over the last few weeks. Having an ex is weird.

He'd never even thought he'd get to experience what having an ex was like, because he was sure he and Tay were going to be a forever thing, but now that he's experiencing it, he hates it. Not only because he doesn't get to be with his favorite person in the world every single day, and he misses kissing his lips and feeling that spark just like the first time, and he yearns for those dark eyes focused on him and nothing else, even as he gets approached daily by dozens of people eager to court him---exes don't suck solely because of these reasons. It's also the fact that everyone surrounding him has to become aware about it, and then he has to bring it up again and act like he's not absolutely on the verge of shattering.

Three words he could use to describe this whole ordeal, is that it's painful, awkward, and stupid. It's painful, because as before mentioned, he no longer has the one person he wants in the entire universe. It's even worse because this person probably doesn't even want him anymore, seeing as he hasn't even spared a glance in this boy's direction ever since that day on the school parking lot. It's awkward, because he and Tay have an entire class together, one where they sit right next to each other, and now they have to act like they don't even see each other. He, himself, has to look away when he sees Tay within a fifty mile radius, because he'd rather not have all the emotions hit him like a bowling ball five times a day. Tay's mom calling him, and then ending up having a conversation with him about he and Tay's uni plans has also been the icing on top of the awkward cake. Having an ex is also stupid, because it just is. The way they broke up was stupid, the reasons they broke up were stupid, New is stupid, and Tay is as well. If they really wanted it, they both would've fought for it equally as hard, but that clearly wasn't the case. Sure, New walked away, but Tay told him to. They both gave up, and New's not quite sure who to be mad at.

He always tries not to let it show on his face every time someone asks him if he's okay, which has been about ten times a day on average. New can't act like he doesn't know Tay is one of the most talked about guys in school, so it's not a surprise that the news has left everyone in shock, and also with an intense sympathy for little, pathetic New. He doesn't see how it even makes sense for someone to ask him if he's okay after a breakup; it's not like he's grown ill and is five seconds away from being put in a hospital bed. It's just a boy. That's all it is. He's broken up with a boy and now he's broken inside and he'd love for everyone to just leave him alone about it and stop looking at him like he's a wounded puppy.

Now he's back to square one, he guesses. He's once again the boy who no one ever looked for as he sat in the hidden corner of the gym, watching the boys play basketball and being perfectly content with remaining by himself. At least he's not the core of all things social and annoying anymore, so that's good. He doesn't actually have to worry about conversing with people he doesn't want to, and trying to charm Tay's teammates so they wouldn't think Tay was dating a loser. All of those things are stuff he doesn't have to worry about anymore, so he should be relieved.

A downside of everything is that he'd woken up late this morning; not just a little late, but a full hour and fifteen minutes. Usually, Tay would've sent him a good morning text, and if New didn't reply within thirty minutes, he would proceed to call him and wake him up, because he'd know he'd overslept. Now, it was different however, because there were no good morning texts, and New had forgotten about the entire concept until he was nearly falling down the stairs and shoving a cold piece of toast into his mouth.

This is the life.

He'd taken time off from school for about a week after the breakup, because he just didn't know what he was supposed to do with himself. So much of himself had been part of Tay; as much as he hated it, the breakup brought him to realize his life was mostly centered around Tay. He was completely clueless about how he would even begin to take footsteps in the same building as Tay, so he stayed home, mostly crying. His mom understood and tried to help in any way she could, and Alice provided her assistance by giving New slightly less snarky remarks and actually making him breakfast.