⠀⠀⠀"I thought you were leaving tomorrow," Hayden says when she finds Brandon packing his bags Friday afternoon.
⠀⠀⠀He sighs. "Not anymore."
⠀⠀⠀"Babe, what's going on?" she asks.
⠀⠀⠀"I just can't stay anymore," he says. "I can't watch you love someone else."
⠀⠀⠀She sits down on the edge of her bed. "What are you talking about?"
⠀⠀⠀He takes a seat next to her. "I know you love Wyatt. It's obvious. I don't know if you know you do, but I can tell."
⠀⠀⠀Hayden shakes her head. "That's not true." She places a hand on his cheek, but he brushes it away. "I love you."
⠀⠀⠀Brandon looks down at his hands and wrings them. "I see the way you look at him and how he looks back at you. You look at people you love in a certain way, and I know your look because it's the way you used to look at me. You don't anymore, and that's okay. Long distance is hard, and Wyatt is a great guy. I'd probably love him if I was into dudes."
⠀⠀⠀She rests her head on his arm and says, "I'm sorry. I didn't... I didn't mean to. I'd never hurt you intentionally. It just happened."
⠀⠀⠀Brandon wraps his arms around her. "It's okay, babe. I just... I can't watch it anymore, so I'm going home."
⠀⠀⠀She nods and kisses his cheek. "Tell everyone I say hi."
⠀⠀⠀"I will," he tells her. "Don't let him get away."
YOU ARE READING
The Boy Next Door
Teen FictionHayden Willis had become used to her pampered life in New York, but all that's about to change after her mom marries a farmer from middle-of-nowhere Kansas. Hayden leaves the only home she's ever known, her friends, her boyfriend, and her city lifes...
