Words left me. My eyes stung with tears as I stared at his backside. My heart fell silent. It felt like he was walking away from me again. As if stuck underwater, him walking away was slow and warbled as I flashed back to that morning he left me alone.
I blinked back the tears, walked out of the gym, and paused outside to collect myself.
Linda stopped her long strides down the hall to stare at me. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Of course not. Mind your business.” I reminded myself to breathe.
“I heard your little parting in there. He practically rejected you.” She stared down at her nails.
I bit my tongue and walked away from her.
“They say distance is the first part of a breakup!” she called after me.
I kept walking away. I hated how her words affected me. Part of me wondered if she was right. Was Asher distancing himself? If so, why? Everything had been perfect as far as I was concerned.
Once I was back in my classroom I yanked my phone out and started up the group chat.
Faith: Guys. Asher’s acting distant. It feels awful. Like my heart is seriously aching. Help.
Eve: What’d he do? Are you sure he’s not just having a bad day or something?
Faith: It’s not just his attitude but something feels off with us.
Mags: You’re getting in your head, babe. Let it go. You guys are fine.
Faith: How can you be so sure?
Eve: You two are in love. Don’t stress just yet. No need to worry unless he does something serious.
I stared at their responses. I guess I didn’t have a real reason to worry, but something was off with him. Call it a gut feeling but Asher never acted so indifferent with me.
I took another deep breath before I set my feelings aside and focused on my work.
Two weeks had passed since Asher first started distancing himself from me. I knew the feeling well. My dad had started distancing himself when I began to look more like my mother. Preston started after we became engaged. Asher doing it hit differently. I couldn’t stop loving him. He was throwing away my affections and leaving my heart in a shattered disarray of pieces once again. This time it was slower.
He was still around, but not really. He wasn’t mentally present anymore. It felt like we were going through the motions. And yet, I still held out hope that he would come back around. Maybe Linda was right.
My phone rang and I dug around in my bag before I pulled it out. “Hello?”
“Can we meet up? I need some serious advice,” Luca rushed out.
I blinked and stared at the stacks of ungraded papers on my desk. My mind was so jumbled that I had slacked on grading. “I was planning on staying after for a few hours today to catch up on grading. Can’t we talk over the phone?” I asked as I shuffled through the papers to find the poetry assessments from last week.
He coughed a few times. “I’d rather talk in person.”
I sighed. I guess the grading could wait until tomorrow. I hated to go in on a Saturday but it wasn’t like Asher cared if I was home or not. “I’ll head out in a minute.”
“Actually, care if we meet at the cabin?”
“Sure, that’s fine. But in return, you need to give me some advice.”
“Like what?”
“What the hell do I do with Asher? He’s been avoiding me like the plague, Luca. It hurts.” I gathered up all of my belongings and started walking out of my classroom door.
“Asher is just a weirdo. He’ll be back to normal soon. Listen, I gotta go. See you in a few!” He hung up the phone.
I huffed, tossed it in my bag and hurried down the hall.
“Did you and Asher break up?” Linda’s voice rang throughout the empty halls.
I kept walking, not turning back to give her the satisfaction of a reply. She cackled behind me as I walked out of the front doors of the school. That woman was evil.
It took me about forty-five minutes to reach the cabin. I parked in the dirt drive and walked to the front door. A torn piece of paper was stuck on the door with duct tape. Go to the dock, was scribbled on it in red ink. It sent a chill down my spine.
I scowled, opened my bag and dug for my phone. I dialed Luca and put the phone to my ear. After a second try, he still didn’t pick up. I huffed, shoved the phone back in the bag and adjusted the strap on my shoulder. I took a deep breath before I started down the small trail behind the cabin and toward the dock on the lake. The air was pungent with the scent of jasmine.
I watched my step as I wandered down the pebble path. As I drew closer, I noticed a certain brown-haired man standing on the shore of the lake, steps away from the dock. It was worn down, with planks that fell off and the wood had visibly broken down. My brows furrowed as I tilted my head. Where was Luca?
Asher turned around and greeted me with a broad smile. “He’s not really the one you were meeting anyway.”
He was wearing black dress pants and a white button-up. He looked good, too good.
I pursed my lips and crossed my arms. “You’ve been an ass the past couple of weeks and now you have me driving all the way to the cabin to meet you? Under false pretenses, by the way! And what for?” I gasped. “If you want to break up then you need to just do it. This is torture, Asher. I… I can’t do this anymore!” I buried my face in my hands as my eyes stung from the tears welling up.
He closed the distance between us and put both hands on my shoulders. “Where did you get
