Take Out Chef

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter's song: Treat you better by Shawn Mendes

Friday didn't get fast enough.

I was tired of having to put up with Nadia and her stupid glares or the way she was making me go fetch her lunch ─because even in a culinary school, she couldn't have anything prepared from the hands of former delinquents.

I swear my eyes had developed new muscle strength from all the eye-rolling I'd been doing lately. The worst part was that Bryan was still a no-show.

I didn't know anything about him. I didn't know where he was, or what had happened...nothing, nada.

I called him, several times actually, to no avail. He either had his phone off or the earth had swallowed him. I was rooting for the latter, because the other choice felt devastating.

Here I was, a naïve, stupid student, that had played a dangerous game with her teacher, who was also her boss, only to find out that it was just a game.

I was angry at myself for letting him use me, for wanting him to use me like that. For falling in love with him without any restraints.

I loved him so much that sometimes, I thought that it didn't matter if he just liked me a tiny bit, my love was enough. I know, pathetic. I felt like I had no dignity left, that it disappeared with him too.

Exhaustion consumed me as I dragged my feet through the streets to get home. All this guilt, loath and desperation were getting the best of me. I couldn't stop thinking about him, couldn't stop wanting to have gone further along with him, knowing full-well that there was the possibility that I meant nothing to him, and each that, that possibility seemed to increase its size.

Then again, did I really know him? I knew little snippets of him, only half-truths that he'd chosen to reveal. I didn't know him completely, fully, like he knew me. That thought angered me, but it also made me feel pathetic.

Unrequited love sucks.

Unlocking the door to my house, I left my backpack on the little foyer table before making my way to the kitchen. It felt cold and empty, meaning Juno wasn't home. What a shocker. She'd been going out for the last week to who knows where with Mr. Gomez. They usually returned really late if they did. Talk about reverse rolls.

"Seth, are you home?" I slumped on one of the kitchen chairs, crossing my arms on the table and laying my head over them. The thick silence was disturbing.

It was Friday night, probably both Seth and Juno had dates.

Freaking awesome.

Why don't you rub salt on my wounds while you're at it?

I scrunched up my nose. Boy, did I sound sour. Sighing, I got up and peeked inside the fridge. There was some sort Chinese leftover. I wasn't really hungry, but I didn't feel like cooking. I reheated it and vegged in front of the TV watching reruns of Supernatural until my eyes closed on its own.

***

The scent of coffee woke me up. After the week I'd had, this was the best way to flutter your eyes open. Coffee and cinnamon rolls?

Yawning, I pushed myself off the couch and slumped my way into the kitchen. Rightly so, I saw my grandmother taking out a tray of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. It smelled so good that I could eat half of the tray in one go.

So what If I'm eating my emotions away? At least they're tasty.

Her lips tugged up on a warm smile as her eyes laid on me. "How are you feeling sweetie?"