To My Future Cheating Husband

XLIII. Silver Lighter

Ava's POV:

The dead leaves crush underneath my shoes as I continued strolling around the festival. I can hear everyone's voices, feel their shoulders brushing against mine, and smell the delightful snacks. Yet, somehow, it feels like I was still alone.

I press my face into the palm of my hand. "What the fuck, Ava. You can't feel that way if you're the one who rejected him."

Feeling the buzzing in my back pocket, I slip my phone out to see Eli calling me. Inhaling a deep breath through my somewhat stuffy nose, I cleared my throat before pressing the phone on my ear. "What's up?"

"Hey there, pretty lady," his joyful voice whisp into the ear.

I shove a hand into the pocket of my jean sweater. "What is it, Eli?"

"I stopped by your booth earlier. Mr.Nocella said you were given the rest of the day off? Want to hang out with me?"

I can feel the small smile emerging, and I scratch my head, "Well-"

"Av! Av!" Mary's voice dash in the air tingled with excitement. "You should come with us! Eli is amazing when it comes to game booths! He won me an alligator and a hippo. We only spent three dollars!" They laughed.

I exhaled silently as their laughter slowly died down. Perhaps, this is for the best. Mary is a good girl, one who is perfect as someone's girlfriend. Unlike me, who's social reputation is at a low, hers has always been clean. Even her ex-boyfriend has nothing to complain about her.

"Where are you?" Eli asked.

I forced out a cheery tone, "I'm just walking around." Even with these conflicting emotions, I know it's only temporary. Eli is a good guy, and it has been a while since I've been treated this kindly; perhaps that's why I like being with him. "I think I want to be alone for a little while. I'll call you guys later okay?" I said before Eli can push any further.

"Oh." There was a brief silence between us as I waited for his response. "Alright, call us when you're ready."

"Okay," I said, before ending the call.

This is for the best, I continued telling myself. Once Eli sees, or perhaps he already saw it, how great Mary is, they will become a couple. Eli will move on from me, and I don't have to be concerned about whatever it is or isn't between us.

Tucking my phone inside my pocket, I began walking in circles, evaluating the booths. Often enough, I would pass by some schoolmates who ask me to join, but I declined.

"Av!" a familiar girl from Luke's group called out. Even though we are both deemed socially popular, Luke and I hang out in different crowds. I choose to be with my twin while I entangle himself with our old crew.

"Hey Zoe," I said, and she went into me for a hug. Zoey is one of the girls from the cheer team. We aren't close, but we do interact once in a while. Behind her, I saw Sarah, along with a few other girls and guys. Sarah looks away from my eyes, and I'm certain its guilt or even worse; she doesn't feel bad about what she had done.

"You're alone?"

I nodded, "Yeah," I said, giving the other girls a side hug.

"Want to hang with us?"

My eyes scanned the group once more, realizing that Luke wasn't present. I'm slightly interested in why he isn't present but not interested enough to ask. "I'm actually looking for my brother," I fibbed.

"Oh, I think I saw him going that way with a few others earlier." Zoey pointed in the other direction. Even though we aren't close due to a lack of similar commonality except cheerleading, I've always known that she is a nice girl. There is also the fact that we used to be close in elementary school.