My eyes are red when I wake up the next morning. I shake my head as I get up slowly. Sitting in bed, I slouch against the headboard. A feeling of helplessness overcomes me. As much as I try to keep my mind off of her, everything reminds me of Blaise.

My dorm, the one we had spent countless days in just talking about everything and anything, avoiding anything serious. Countless Never Have I Ever and Would You Rather questions float through my head. I can't forget a moment of it.

My feet feel heavy as I drag them against the cold wood of my dorm. It's Monday, today. I glance at the clock to my left. 10:23. Well, there goes any notion of getting to class.

Drowning in self-pity, I shuffle to the kitchen, making myself a bowl of cereal. The world feels squishy. As if, nothing really matters.

I swallow my cold cereal, it does nothing to solve the lump in my throat. My mouth feels dry as I spoon some milk into my throat.

The doorbell rings as I rinse the bowl in the sink. Placing the bowl into an open slot of the dishwasher, I wipe my hands on a nearby cloth.

Shuffling towards the door, I put my eye to the eyehole to see who it is. My shoulders slouch a little as I sigh at the sight of Eli and Aoife. I twist the knob and open the door.

They have bright smiles on them as they walk in. They make themselves at home as Aoife makes her way to the kitchen and Eli collapses on my light brown cloth couch.

"Well, you look like hell," Eli points out matter-of-factly. His grin turns sad as he sees my tired expression.

Aoife studies me.

My pajamas are too long as they pull around my ankles and my long-sleeve t-shirt is hidden by the giant fuzzy blanket covering my upper half. I tug it closer.

"Wanna tell us what happened?" Aoife asks, expectantly.

I shake my head. "I need to get to class," I lie, wanting them to disappear. I deserve a day to wallow in self-pity and mope.

Eli disagrees as he shakes his head. "If you're going to lie to us at least make it convincing," he says. He gets up taking a pack of chips from my cupboard, shifting himself onto my kitchen counter.

"Blaise and I broke up."

Aoife nods. "Figured."

I close my eyes. A wave of tiredness makes me cuddle into myself. I feel like telling them they aren't helping but I bite my tongue knowing that the person I'm pissed off at is myself.

Aoife gives me a pitying look before sharing a look with Eli.

The brown-eyes boy nods slowly. "So I was thinking mall? I mean, I've been wanting new shoes forever," he says.

Aoife nods. "Yeah, we should go."

I get what they're doing, distracting me. Maybe even trying to get me to let out my rage. I'm not up for it. "Yeah, you guys should go."

Aoife huffs as Eli shrugs.

They look at each other with a he's-hopeless look.

"Aight, y'all do whatever. I'm just gonna lie down right here," I say as I lie down on the couch.

Eli huffs, sliding off the counter. He pulls my arm. "Get up you big oaf, we're going shopping."

"Elijah, I don't want to," I snap, annoyance laced in my tone.

Shaking her head, Aoife looks at me. "Get up," she says, her tone commanding and no-nonsense.

I shake my head.

She huffs. "Get up before, I kick you so hard you forget what your name is."

I shoot up.

"Good. Now walk yourself to the closet, wear some acceptable clothes. We're going shopping."

I open my mouth to protest but shut up when I see her expression.

Shopping was uneventful. I feel bad for Eli and Aoife though, I was moping around so bad that they brought me back home in less than an hour. The mall's twenty-five minutes away. All I could see everywhere I went was her face or something she would have done.

I rub my eyes. I can't stop thinking about her.

Eli and Aoife left 20 minutes ago after seeing that I wasn't going to talk. I didn't mean to annoy them, I just wanted to be alone.

Why the fuck did I fall for her? Why would I do that?

I knew I couldn't have any relationships.

I miss her hugs. I miss her lips. I miss her quippy comebacks. I miss her smile. I miss her laugh. I miss the way she smacks me playfully. I miss the way she punches me. I miss her warmth. I miss her coolness. I miss her so fucking much.

I bury my face in my hands. I can't move on. I won't move on. Everything here reminds me of her.

The lump in my throat hasn't gone away yet. I feel sick.

Maybe if I talked to her...

No. You know you'll just end up hurting her more.

You should explain. You need to explain.

I stand up suddenly, my feet moving in an accord of their own. Walking to Blaise's dorm became second nature to me, so much so I didn't even realize I was walking to her...until I was here.

I contemplate knocking on the door for a moment. Just do it.

I lift my hand up and move it towards the door before shaking my hand and putting it back down. I should just go. I start to walk off.

No. She deserves an explanation. I walk back to the door. Preparing to knock, I lift my hand up, before shaking my head and putting my hand back down.

I'm so caught up in myself that I don't even notice the figure watching me with a sad, amused smile until they clear their throat. I turn sharply.

"Denim."

"She's not here. She's at a coffee shop...on the other side of town," he says. "Something about not being able to 'breath in this prison castle'." He wears a pained expression, almost as if he's looking in the mirror of his old self, which I guess, he is.

I nod my head, swallowing.

"I am sorry, you know. I'm sorry this happens. It's a curse."

I nod.

"I wish I could do something, anything, to make it feel better or to make it not exist at all."

I nod again.

"I can't. I'm sorry. You'll heal over time."

I nod once more, afraid that if I open my mouth I'll unleash a wave of emotion too great.

He continues talking, even though I just want him to shut up. "I- I hope you find someone else."

I snap. "WHAT DO YOU FUCKING MEAN? "FIND SOMEONE ELSE". YOU SAY IT SO CASUALLY. I DON'T WANT TO. I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING "FIND SOMEONE ELSE," I yell.

Noticing my volume, I recoil. "I- I think I love her," I whisper. "I don't know how, I just know that ordinary breakups aren't supposed to feel like this. They aren't supposed to feel like someone's ripping your heart out of your body with their bare hands and it's worse because that person is me." My voice cracks, as a shake runs through me. Two tears fall.

I hold back a sob as I shake. I look up.

Denim's expression of pity morphs into something else. A cross between horror and sorrow.

I close my eyes. She's behind me.

I turn around slowly and there she is.

Blaise. Goddamn. Enrique.

In all her heartbroken-but-still-so-cool and I-look-beautiful-even-when-I-cry glory, she stands in the corridor bracing herself with a railing as fresh tears running down her pink face.

Her expression is best described as fury as she grinds her teeth against each other. She's silent as she opens the door to her dorm. As the latch clicks open, she pulls Denim and I into the room by her shoulders and then locks it behind us.

With a fiery expression and lethal glare directed at the two of us, she says the one most menacing word she could've.

"Spill."

Dee:

It's coming to a close! AHHH! We crossed 20K! YAYYY!

Comments?

Thank you for reading.

Word count: EXACTLY 21, 300 WORDS <333