Darryl's Pov:

     A girl called out to Zak. I wonder who she is, I've never seen her before. But Zak looks tense. Instead of answering her question, Zak asks, "What are you doing here?"

     The girl smiles and says, "So it is you! I just moved to this school. Did you miss me?"

     The girl looks at me and notices that I'm holding hands with Zak and says, "Who are you?"

     She says it in a bit of an irritated tone. I then say, "Oh, my name is D-"

     Zak interrupts me by saying, "That's none of your concern. Stay away from us and f*ck off."

     I silently mutter a language as Zak drags me away from the girl. Many people are staring at us. They probably watched the whole thing. I look at Zak and ask, "Who was that girl?"

     Zak says a little too quickly, "No one important."

     The day carries on as normal, but I keep hearing students starting rumors and making theories about that girl and Zak. I want to ask Zak about it, but he clearly doesn't want to talk about it, so I won't pry. Once the day almost ends and I am home, I realize that I am still wearing Zak's hoodie. I take a shower and brush my teeth, and when I'm done, I can't help but wear Zak's hoodie to bed. It smells like him. It makes me feel like he's still here with me, so I end up sleeping with his hoodie on. 

     The next day, I go back to school carrying Zak's hoodie. Once I get to my first class, I go up to Zak and hand him his hoodie. I say, "Here's your hoodie, thanks for letting me wear it."

     Zak smiles and takes back his hoodie. He then pulls out my hoodie and hands it to me. He then says, "Here. You left this at my apartment yesterday."

     "Oh! I completely forgot about it. Thank you!"

     As I'm about to put on my hoodie, I then notice something. It looks... a bit more... worn out than I remember? I look at Zak questioningly and ask, "Zak... you didn't wear my hoodie by any chance, did you?"

     Zak looks surprised, not expecting my accusation. He nods guiltily, blushing a bit. I smile and say, "Don't worry, I- also wore your hoodie to sleep..."

     Zak looks surprised, but then he giggles at my confession. He then says, "I guess we're both guilty then."

     I blush and nod. Instead of wearing my hoodie, I tie it around my waist. Zak does the same with his. I go back to my seat and the rest of the class time goes by. After class, I start walking to my next class, when suddenly, I'm stopped by a voice saying, "Excuse me, your name is Darryl, right?"

     I turn around to see the girl from yesterday that recognized Zak. I can feel others around us staring. I respond saying, "Yes... that's me. Who are you...?"

     "Oh! No wonder you seemed familiar, after everything Zak has said about you. And the name's Holly."

     "So... Holly, you know Zak?"

     "Of course, I do! We've actually known each other for years! I was actually his first love. I'm his ex."

     Somehow, hearing that makes me freeze. I know Zak has had a lot of exes, but somehow, the fact that this is his first ex, makes it more significant. I then say, "His first- love...?"

     "Yes! I was Zak's first lover, and he genuinely loved me, but we ended up breaking up. And recently, we actually met again and we catched up with each other, and we actually want to date each other again. But out of pity, and to play with someone's heart one last time, he is still dating you, but is planning to break up with you soon. Sorry you had to find out like this."

     What...? She can't be serious, right? She continues by saying, "You don't actually think you two were going to work out right? Sorry to burst your bubble, but Zak is a player for a reason. The only person he would ever stay true to is me, his first love. I don't know from the beginning, but if Zak really loved like he claimed to, then he wouldn't be moving on so quickly with me, would he? Right now, it's all an act, he's pretending to love you. He wanted to play with your feelings a little longer before breaking your heart and getting together with me. That's why I moved to this school in the first place, so that we can always be together. I'm telling you all of this because I pity you, I don't want you to be as hurt as you would've been when Zak broke your heart. You should be thankful that I'm even telling you this. I recommend breaking things off with Zak."

     ...This... can't be true right? I feel tears coming to my eyes. No. No. No. No. No. NO! This can't be real. Just when things were really starting to go great. I- I thought he actually had feelings for me. I thought that I could feel the love between us, but was it all just in my imagination? According to Holly, it's all just an act. I feel tears streaming down my eyes. I can hear people gasping and whispering, watching the whole scene. I even heard around that students were starting to also believe that me and Zak could actually work out. That it wasn't one of Zak's games. Holly gives me a pitiful look. She says, "I really feel sorry for you, but it had to be revealed sooner or later."

     I then turn around and run away while covering my face filled with tears. Once I arrive at class, I rush to my desk, not wanting to be questioned. I sit down and put my face in my arms on top of my desk, covering my tears. A little bit later, I hear footsteps come towards me. I then hear someone gently whisper, "Darryl...? Are you okay?"

     I slightly lift up my head to see Eiza standing in front of me. I then quickly put my head down and croak out a "No."

     "What's wrong Darryl?"

     Eiza gently puts a comforting hand on my back and pats it. I try to calm down and slow my breathing and heart rate. I then wipe my tears and look up at Eiza. I then slowly explain everything to her in a low voice so that nobody hears. Once I'm done explaining, Eiza looks furious. She then says, "I knew it! He can't be trusted. People like him just can't change. If you want Darryl, I can teach him a lesson."

     "P-please don't. We'll get nothing out of that. It's not worth it."

     Eiza sighs and says, "I guess your right. But you should talk to that *ssh*le and ends things."

     I just stay silent, and Eiza goes back to her seat after the teacher scolds her for standing up. When class is over, I wash my face in the bathroom so that it doesn't look like I cried before going to my next class. I try to avoid Zak's gaze in that class. I keep doing so until class has ended. I am walking out of class towards lunch, until someone stops me by holding my hand. I look to see that it's Zak. He looks concerned. He then says, "Darryl, what's wrong? You seem gloomy. Do you want to talk about it during lunch? Just the two of us?"

     The lovestruck part of me wants to say yes. But I am stopped by the broken part of me that wakes me up reality. I almost fell for his act again. I then say coldly, "Not now Zak."

     Now he really looks surprised at my sudden attitude, but then goes back to being concerned. Just stop pretending and playing with my heart already. Zak says, "Wha-what's wrong? Why are you so cold all of a sudden."

     I take a deep breath, trying to stop myself from crying again. I then say, "Stop pretending like you care Zak."

     "What are you talking about? Of course I care. I'm your boyfriend!"

     "Don't give me that nonsense. Holly told me the truth about everything!"

     Zak stops in his tracks, shocked. He stays silent before finally saying, "Holly...? What do you mean? What did she tell you?"

     "Don't pretend like you don't know anything! It was your plan all along anyway. I... I thought I could trust you..."

     Zak looks like his world is shattering before his eyes. He then says, "Darryl, I don't know what Holly said to you, but you can't trust anything that girl says. She's a manipulator."

     "Oh, like you haven't manipulated others before! Don't give me those excuses!"

     Zak freezes, surprised at my words. Honestly, I don't know why I said that. It was a heat in the moment. I kind of regretted saying it, so I take deep breaths to try and calm down. But despite that, I can still feel my eyes watering. Zak then says, "Darryl, I know I was a player before, but I never manipulated anyone into anything! All I've ever done is mess with their feelings, that's it! There's a difference betwe-"

     "Stop. Just- stop Zak..."

     Zak falls silent, looking hurt, but I know that's all an act. The broken part of me wants to end things completely between us. But the part of me that's still in love with him doesn't want that. So instead, I say this, "Zak- I... I think we should have a break right now. I need to process everything."

     I pull away from Zak's grasp and start walking away, with some tears streaming down my eyes and leaving a defeated Zak in the middle of the hallway, with a bunch of high schoolers staring.