Path to Deciduous (Sequel to Road to Evergreen) | #Wattys2018

s i x

Song for this chapter:

Broken- Bobbi Androv

***
Lesley's P.O.V

"Morning, sunshine." Spencer props his head out with a smile flashing across his face. I groan and turn my head away.

"You have to eat. So come on. Stop being a baby." He continues. I open my eyes to find him nearing the tray on the food counter. I stare at the peas and mashed potatoes with disgust, my appetite disappearing. "I'm not hungry." I push it aside. My eyes wander to the chair beside me. I frown when I realize it's empty. Where did he go?

"How about some pancakes?" he winks. I laugh. "Oh, that sounds so good right now."

"Too bad you can't eat that," he remarks. I pout.

"Oh, what do we have here." I look at his hand where he's holding a paper he grabbed from the counter. He gasps. "A love letter from Mr. Reindl," he mimics. I reach out for it but he pulls it back.

"Give me," I order. He doesn't. I wince from the pain and lie back.

"Here." Spencer gives me the paper and flashes an apologetic smile. I smile back.

"You're a pain in the ass." I say and he rolls his eyes.

"Better in the ass than in the-" A nurse interrupts him as she enters the room. She then measures my blood pressure, replaces the serum and leaves. I look down on the paper and suck a breath in.

To my one and only, Lis

"I'll leave you to it." Spencer says and heads out. I clench the paper to my chest and even out my breaths. Why would he write me? Couldn't he tell me in person? I hold the paper to my eye sight and read.

I got my heart broken three times in my life. Once, when my mother took her own life. Twice, when I found out about my brother's betrayal.

And third, when you left me.

This might not be the right time to say any of this but I have to get it out of my chest. When I first met you at Jackie's, you stroked my curiosity. I've never seen someone as beautiful as you and from the way you're golden eyes stared at me with confusion, I wanted to know more. Afterwards, my brother brought the idea of the bet and showed me your picture. And I knew from that moment, I found an excuse to go after you. I expected you to be like any other girl that laughs at some guys stupid jokes or can be fooled by words. But no. You were nothing like I expected. You were so stubborn and strong-headed. You literally drove me mad. And the times I wasn't with you, I wanted to be. I signed up for creative class, got your schedule and tried showing up as much as I can. I don't know I just had the instinct of protecting you from others. But I should've protected you from myself.

Every time you rejected me, I tried replacing you. Because I thought that if I can convince myself that you were like any other girl, I wouldn't feel as low as you made me feel. Someone should've told me from the start that what I was doing was wrong because no girl can be compared to you. Even though we used to fight more than talk, I preferred it more than the silence you gave me.

I promised that I would quote for you and I have the perfect saying from Tolstoy. "He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking."