I gave myself a few minutes to calm down before grabbing my phone and calling Bree back. It rang a few times before she answered it, though she did not sound too sure as she said, “Hello? Is everything okay?”
Hearing her voice soothed the ache in my soul, the wound seeing Hilary had reopened inside. I closed my eyes, wishing I was with Bree right now, wishing I could hold her, lean into her, bury my face in that bright pink hair and forget about the rest of the world.
It took me too long to speak, but eventually I said, “Yeah.” The last thing I wanted to do was tell Bree that Hilary was just here, but…I found I wanted to say it, anyways. Get it off my chest and out in the open, show Bree that I was serious about her, that I’d never go back to my ex. “It was Hilary.”
Bree didn’t answer for a while, and when she did, she said something I totally wasn’t expecting: “It’s okay, Calum. I get it.”
I stopped pacing the hall, freezing as I asked, “What?”
“You don’t have to say it. I…I’ve been waiting for it to happen. It’s okay.”
Waiting for what to happen? Did Bree think…did she think I was getting back together with Hilary? Did she think that I was calling her back to break things off with her? Why the hell would I want to end things with the girl I was falling for, the girl who took up space in my mind at all hours of the day?
“Bree—”
It sounded like her mind was already made up, like she’d been bracing herself for this since the beginning. “It’s okay. I know what you’re going to say, so you don’t have to. It was fun while it lasted. I…goodbye, Calum.” And then, before I could get a word in, edgewise, Bree hung up.
I blinked, staring at my phone screen, at the call ended flashing across it. What the hell? No, no. I called her back, but she let it go straight to voicemail. Twice, three times…she’d either blocked my number immediately or turned off her phone. I repeat: what the absolute hell?
By now, I knew how Bree’s mind worked. I knew she probably thought Hilary and I were fixing things over here, even though I’d told her, swore to her, that that would never happen. I grew upset. Not angry at Bree, but just in general.
I knew that girl didn’t like surprises, but I didn’t care. She and I needed to have a talk, and it was a talk you could only have in person. Before I thought better of it, I grabbed my keys and was out the door. It’d be pitch-black, super late by the time I got to her house, but I didn’t care. Bree needed to know that things were over between me and Hilary…
But they weren’t over between us.
If no one else would fight for her, I would.
Chapter Sixteen – Bree
Intense sorrow rose within me, and I was unable to fight it. Why bother, when I’d known this would happen all along? It was like a train wreck; I couldn’t look away, couldn’t turn my back to it, even though I’d seen all the signs that pointed us towards disaster.
I knew Calum would never stay with me forever. I knew whatever we had was only temporary…but still, that did not make me feel any better. It was no comfort to me, not right now, and it would never be.
When I hung up the phone, I turned it off. I knew Calum well enough to know he’d call back, wanting to talk, wanting to explain himself. He’d told me he would never get back with his ex, and I nodded along like a stupid fool, wanting to believe him—but all the while, deep down, I knew love worked in mysterious and sometimes downright stupid ways. I knew there was no hope for Calum and I.
How could I stand against a woman who’d held his heart for so long? I wasn’t special. I wasn’t worth it. I was just me, and that was the opposite of a compliment.
All of the emotion warring inside me bubbled to my face, and I wanted to cry, to let it out because I was so freaking sad. I didn’t want to say goodbye to Calum, but it was for the best. I’d known I wouldn’t be able to keep both him and Mason anyway…better say goodbye sooner rather than later.
And Mason…the clock was ticking on him, too. He’d walk out of my life as soon as we were done with this project, as soon as we shared no more classes and never saw each other on campus.
I bit back the tears as I stumbled out of my room, my goal the bathroom. Hide myself away in the shower, let the warm water course over me, and cry.
But I ran into my sister in the hall. Even though it was Thursday, she was getting ready for a night out with Kyle. She walked out of the bathroom right before I tried going in, half her hair curled. The other half of her blonde hair was pinned to her head, out of the way, and it looked like she’d retrieved the bottle of hairspray from the vanity’s cupboards.
Michelle instantly froze, still in my way. “Is everything okay?”
My eyes were watering; no, it should be obvious nothing was okay, but I wouldn’t hold it against her. I knew sometimes I made a big deal out of nothing, that my negativity got the better of me, but this didn’t feel like one of those times.
This…this felt like my whole world was crumbling
