To Break Her Heart

Chapter 38 ~ "That is the shittiest apology."

a/n: idk how many chapters left. perhaps two? yeah, i think two or three. i'm not sure if i'm doing an epilogue, but most likely will.

Chapter 38: "That is the shittiest apology."

I succeeded in avoiding Jayden the entire day, until I realised we both had detention after school.

The other three were obviously on Jayden's side, since they all had been friends since God only knew when. So I sat by myself by my locker to eat lunch, and I kept my head down during the classes I had with them. Thankfully, Jayden didn't show up to class, so I prayed he'd skip detention as well.

I didn't particularly care that I was alone - that wasn't the problem. Okay, maybe I cared a little bit. I spent three months with those four, I was allowed to be a little pissed off.

But no, the problem was that just because Jayden had done this shitty thing, everything I tried to keep together just fell apart. I was only meant to be here temporarily, I wasn't meant to make friends that would want me to stay. I was just supposed to ride this wave until it could bring me back to California and back to Luke.

Maybe it was good, though, because having pissed them off, regardless whose fault it was, it would make it much easier for me to leave.

I crumpled my lunchbag in my hands and threw it in the rubbish bin from my position on the floor in the hallway. I was leaving on Saturday, and today was Friday. Jayden just had perfect timing, I supposed. I looked up, and my nose wrinkled when I realised Daniel was leaning against the row of lockers across from me, his eyes on me.

I pulled out my earbuds, cutting off the sound of Fetty Wap. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, you finally noticed me?" he drawled. "Thought I was going to have to scream or something."

Thinking about calm, lazy Daniel screaming was enough to make my lips twitch up, but I quickly wiped my face of any expression. "How's it going?" I asked offhandedly.

"Come on, Jordan," he said, pushing himself off the lockers so he could take a seat next to me. "You're leaving tomorrow."

His voice was emotionless, not hinting to me what he might be thinking, so I just stared impassively at him. "Right," I answered. "Indeed, I am."

He blew out air and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his head on his knees. "Why do you always have to bullshit us, man?" His voice was quiet and muffled from his knees, but I still heard him.

I frowned, hiding my hands under my butt so I wouldn't swing at him. I'm bullshitting? What about his good old pal, Jayden? "Who am I bullshitting?"

Daniel straightened up and graced me with an incredulous look of his own. "You can't treat people the way you treated us. We're not bad people, why are you pretending like we don't matter?"

It was the most I'd ever heard him say; the most serious thing I'd ever heard him say. I didn't know how to respond, I just gaped at him. "I...I..." I paused to breathe deeply and get a hold of my thoughts. "I'm sorry," I said, because I knew he was right.

He shook his head. "You're not sorry," he said, causing my frown to grow. "You wanted in and out of here, and now that we're leaving you alone like you wanted and you want back in."

"That's n-that's not what..." I twitched, unable to get the words out. "I didn't mean it like that," I said in frustration. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

"I know," he told me.

I leant my back against the lockers and closed my eyes, feeling a headache coming in. "You don't understand," I snapped. "Jayden, he-"