A Broken Heart

“Is that Drew Milton?”

Nina pointed to his car. I was ready to correct her, that it was just his car, but then I saw what she was showing me. Drew was near his car with some girl. I recognized her from the start.

It was the girl from the party, Melanie’s friend, Phoebe. He had ditched her because of me. But now he was pressing her back to his car, and they were kissing.

As I stood, watching them with horror in my eyes, I saw him lift her, and her wrap her legs around his hips. I was so petrified, I couldn’t move at all.

Tears were threatening to fall. Then I heard a noise right next to me. I snapped out of my trance and saw that Nina was throwing up. Just my luck!

“Hey, hey, girl. Easy!” I hugged her from behind, holding her hair back with my free hand.

Her whole body was trembling. Poor Nina. She wasn’t used to drinking. I guess it was our fault. I wanted to help her, but I couldn’t remember—was there water in my car or not? I waited for her to stop vomiting. She started crying.

“Here.”

I froze. I recognized the voice. I was honestly hoping to leave without him noticing me. I guess my feelings for him were real. Deep inside, I still hoped that Drew liked me too. How wrong I was!

The sound of his voice now left a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn’t want to look at him. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice. I looked up and met his gaze. He held out a bottle of water to us. Fucking knight in shining armor!

“Thanks.” I took the bottle, maybe too roughly.

Drew continued to stand there, observing us. I prayed that Phoebe would stay away. I guess luck wasn’t on my side tonight. She came over to us and took Drew’s finger in hers. He didn’t pull his hand away.

He let her do that. I looked at their entwined fingers, and it was me now who felt like puking. Nina had stopped and was gulping down the water from Drew.

“Nins, are you feeling okay? Ready to go back to the dorm?” I decided to concentrate on my friend. There wasn’t anything here for me. My heart ached, and I felt the urge to punch something or cry my eyes out. I didn’t know what to do first.

“Yeah, thanks, Rebecca. I think I can survive the trip to our dorm.” Her voice was weak. I helped her get to my car. I opened the front door, and she climbed inside. She was pale, and her forehead was covered in sweat. I closed the door and walked to my seat.

“Drew, babe, maybe we could go too? To your room?” Phoebe smiled at Drew. She placed her finger on his chest and slowly ran it down to his waistband. I clenched my fists.

“Rebecca, will you be okay? Did you drink at the party?” Drew wasn’t looking at Phoebe; his eyes were on me.

I held his gaze, not answering him. He didn’t have any right to be worried about me. I was nothing to him, ancient history. Well, I exaggerated; it had only been a few weeks since we stopped seeing each other. Still, I was so angry with him because of the pain I was feeling right now.

“Rebecca.” His voice was full of warning. He waited for my answer.

“Babe, you did everything that you could. Leave them be. We have more pleasant things to do.” Phoebe tried to draw his attention to her. How could he be with someone like her? I didn’t understand it. She was annoying, clingy, and oblivious to Drew’s mood. He was obviously tense.

“Drew, we will be just fine. I didn’t drink at all since I drove us here. Thank you for the water, though.”

I opened my door. I wasn’t planning to say anything to him. I should have stayed silent, but I couldn’t help it.

“And yeah, you should listen to your babe. You seem too tense to me. You need to relax, Drew. You need to help him, Phoebe, and I hope you’re ready to do it all night.” I slammed the door and took off. I was furious.

The closer we came to our dorm, the sadder I became. Nina was silent. She was a smart girl and knew when it would be best to stay out of it. I parked outside our dorm and helped her to her room.

She was grateful to me. I was glad that she looked much better. I wanted to be in my room. Alone. I had to pack my things anyway since Kate and I were going to take off in the morning.

“Becca…” Nina called out to me. “It’s not my business, and I am sorry for bringing this up… But I think that Milton likes you. Even in my state, I saw how he looked at you.”

“I don’t know, Nina.” I leaned against the doorframe. “He has a funny way of showing it, don’t you think?”

“He has a reputation. He hasn’t dated anyone. Don’t you think that he’s confused?”

“Oh God, Nina... I honestly don’t have the energy for this conversation...”

“That’s okay. Thank you for taking care of me. I guess I will see you after Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah, until then. Goodnight!”

She closed the door behind her, and I went to my room. I looked over my room. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I kept picturing Drew with Phoebe in my mind.

Perhaps, they were having sex right at this moment. Fuck! I took out my phone and earphones and started to play music. The sounds of Imagine Dragons took over my mind. I knew what I should do.

So, I started packing my belongings. I wanted nothing more than to leave college for several days. I needed this break.

After an hour, my stuff was packed, and my room was clean. I even sorted my papers and books in alphabetical order. I was feeling hot, but not with lust. I needed to let my anger out.

If it wasn’t already almost 3 a.m., I would have probably gone for a run; I did that sometimes while I was in high school when there was pent-up anger or frustration.

The most annoying thing was that I didn’t want to sleep at all. Maybe I could leave for home right now? I was sure that my parents would be happy to see me, even at this time in the morning.

But what about Kate? I was her ride home. Shit! My phone buzzed, snapping me out of my thoughts. I read Drew’s text: ~Don’t be jealous. It doesn’t suit you.~

Is he fucking kidding me?! I had been back at the dorm around midnight, and now that it was already 3 a.m., I was sure that Drew had slept with Phoebe; and after he was done with his business, he suddenly decided to tell me not to be jealous.

Who did he think he was? I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but I decided that the best option was to ignore him. He deserved nothing more. Although after his message, I made my decision.

I took my bag, wrote notes to Lily and Kate (with apologies), and left the dorm. By 4 a.m., I was parked at my parents’ house. The road was empty, so I had gotten here faster than usual.

I snuck inside and plopped myself on the couch in the living room.

If I said that my mom was surprised when she saw me in the morning, it would be an understatement. She totally lost it. I scared her because neither she nor Dad had heard me coming in.

But soon, all of that was forgotten. My parents were very happy to see me and to have the opportunity to spend more time with me. The only fly in the ointment was that I had left Kate behind.

She was forced to take the bus to come home. She was angry and didn’t talk to me for the whole day, but when mine and her family gathered in our backyard to celebrate, she didn’t have a choice.

I apologized to her, and everything became normal again. She told me about her night at the bonfire party.

Tim and she had decided to go on a real date after they both got back from the Thanksgiving break. Kate was hopeful about this.

I supported her, even if I didn’t recognize her behavior when she was around him.

Kate asked me what made me leave the college without her. I told her the truth. She averted her eyes from mine when she found out that Drew was the reason.

I laughed it off and said to her that I was perfectly aware that he had sex with Phoebe. It was too obvious.

Unfortunately for me, she knew it for sure. She confirmed my thoughts, and my heart sank.

It was one thing to be suspicious, it was another thing to know it for real. I guess my face changed because she shut up immediately, but it was too late.

Thank goodness, our parents decided to make their announcement.

“We wanted to make a toast. To our beautiful girls. We are very proud of both of you,” my dad raised his glass.

“Yeah, we are very proud parents. I couldn’t shut up at work about your success at improving your grades, Katie! And your essay was perfect, Rebecca!” Kate’s dad raised his glass too.

“We love you to the moon and back, both of you!” our mothers said in unison.

I started crying because of the nervous tension from last night’s events and because of this special moment.

I was fortunate to have the love of my parents, and I always knew that I could ask for help from Kate’s parents, and she could ask for help from mine. We clinked our glasses, and I gulped down all of my drink.

My mom raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t say anything.

“And it’s only Thanksgiving, folks! What are you planning for Christmas this year?” Kate asked.

“Actually”—my dad looked around, and I saw Kate’s dad nodding to him—“we’re planning to go on a trip.”

“What?! Where?!” Kate and I shrieked together.

“To Europe. We already bought tickets and booked some nice hotels. We want to see Paris, Barcelona, and stay for a few days at the beach in Spain,” Kate’s mother explained to us.

“Wow.” I exhaled.

“I am confused. Rebecca and I won’t be coming with you guys? Am I understanding this right?”

“Well... we were thinking about it... but the temptation was too big. We have discussed this trip for several years already and always postponed it...” Kate’s dad trailed off.

“We think it’s the best timing. I am sorry, girls... I am sure you wanted to spend your winter break at home with us, but just not this year.” My mom tried to reassure us, but I was stunned. I wanted to be with them. I always loved the Christmas holidays and now, this? Kate clapped me on the back.

“We will be okay. I already have a proposition for Becca. I guess we will spend these holidays not worse than you will.”

I stared at her. What did she have in mind? I was sure that I wouldn’t like it. And of course, I was right. Kate left for some time, and when she returned, she had a huge smile on her lips.

We stayed with our parents for a while longer, and then let them continue the celebration without us. Kate suggested going for a walk.

As we strolled through the streets of our hometown, she took my hand in hers.

“Well, Becca, I think I found the solution to our problem.”

“Why does it sound so suspicious?”

“That’s only your imagination, Becca,”

“Okay. What is it?”

“I talked to Lil…”

“If you’re going to tell me that we will go to Lily’s hometown for the winter break, I will stop you right there. I’d rather be alone on Christmas than be in the house with Logan and with the possibility of seeing Drew, too.”

“But Tim will also be there… Lily asked her parents, and they would be happy to have us. They think it will be good to have a chance to finally get to know Lil’s friends.”

“You aren’t listening to me! That will be torture! What if Drew ends up there? He’s Logan’s best friend, they live in one town, what if…”

“Oh, God, Rebecca! Chill! I didn’t want you to know like this, but okay! Drew didn’t only sleep with Phoebe. They’ve been a couple for a few weeks already. He apologized to her, making up some excuses why he ditched her at the victory party. He did that the same day that he took you and Lily to the restaurant.”