A Love Like War

t h i r t e e n

SONG OF THE CHAPTER:
Memories by Panic! At the Disco
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I hadn't talked to Nano in forever, that's probably why it was six o'clock by the time I got home. I'd desperately tried to contact Maria since the photo incident last night, but she hadn't responded to a single text. This had made me quite upset.

I collapsed on my bunk just as the door opens. So much for getting some rest.

"Jacky!" Alex calls enthusiatically with a grin on his face. I groan and turn my head to face the wall and away from him. I hear his footsteps move closer until his long fingers tap my shoulder. "Hey, Jack. C'mon. Get up!" He whines in my ear. I groan again and shove him away from me.

He sighs dramatically from behind me, and I can picture the scowl on his face. "Are you okay?" He asks quickly.

"Fine." I mumble back with a sigh.

"Can we talk?" He asks quietly.

"No." I snap. I'm done with his bullshit, I hate hearing about him and Lisa and their stupid relationship. I hate looking at his stupid smile every time he mentions her. I hate everything that worked out in their life that didn't in mine. I hate that Stella and I are over.

"C'mon. You need to get this out. Nano texted me and said we should sit down and talk about Stella." His tone leaves no room for argument.

"Why the fuck would Nano text you?" I growl out quickly. Traitor, I think.

"Because he's concerned. We all are. You haven't been the same since you broke up, and we miss the old Jack."

"What's wrong with the new me?" I ask, dismissing their concern.

"You're tired, and quiet. You'd rather sleep than play guitar, and some random girl on the street knows more about you than we do."

I sigh. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

"And above all, Zach and Rian suck at beer pong." He adds quickly. Selfish bastard.

"Well, I don't know what to say. We broke up and that was the end of it."

He laughs from behind me. "If that was it, you'd have moved on by now. We both know that."

Fucking best friends.

"Okay. Ask your questions." I slide out of my bunk and move to sit on the couch, keeping an eye on Alex.

"What happened?"

"We broke up."

He snorts. Why does Lisa find that attractive? "No shit, Sherlock. Why?"

I swallow and feel tears cloud the corners of my eyes. "She- she wasn't into me. Didn't love me anymore, and-" I pause. This was hard.

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Four and a half fucking years. That's how long we'd been dating. She was over it in no time, but then again I guess she'd been over it for a while before we broke up. It wasn't really a big deal to her anymore.

"Hey, can we talk?" Stella asks from behind me.

I nod distractedly as my fingers fly furiously over the buttons on my Xbox controller. "Yeah, one sec. I just gotta beat this boss." I mumble quietly as I hit another button combo.

My health bar on the screen filters dangerously low as the large creature explodes into a ball of light. That was cool.