"You okay?" His eyes rove over my face, checking each dip and curve.
"I'm fine." I smile, even though it feels forced.
"People have been talking in school, you know? That you and Roman haven't been talking at all this week. Are you guys okay?" Roman and I are the married couple in school. People barely pass us a glance when we're together, but I guess there are still eyes on us.
I shrug. "I don't really know." Tears try to make their way to my eyes again, and I blink them away.
"Well, whatever he did, he’s an idiot. You're a catch, Luna."
"Thanks." It doesn't feel that way right now. Otherwise, why would he be leaving me?
Because at the end of the day, if he's moving to California, that'll be his home. In one year, my plan is to move to New York. I always thought our plans would align, but it couldn't have been further from the truth. We'll be in separate parts of the country in one year. The furthest we could possibly be away from each other, we will be.
Has it always been this way? Have our destinies always meant to be separate? Maybe we were never meant to be, and that makes me the saddest of all. I always thought we were soulmates. That's been our thing, him and I. How could that be true, though? If we're about to be apart, for who knows how long? Possibly forever?
A swallow down a sob and look at Bryce. He's staring at me with a sympathetic look on his face while mine turns red, my eyes water, and I hold back a gut-wrenching cry.
"He's an idiot," he says. "I'm guessing you aren't going to prom then?"
I frown. I've forgotten all about it. I got my dress, and Roman got a matching tux. That must be out of the cards now. "Probably not."
"Well, if you do, maybe you could save me a dance?"
"I'll do that." I won’t. Without Roman, I won’t be going at all.
I don’t say that, though, because even though the thought of dancing in the arms of another man is nearly crippling, maybe this is how it's meant to be.
Us apart.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ROMAN
Isit on my bed, my foot bobbing with an empty bag in front of me. So much to do in the next week and a half, yet I can't find it in me to pack, or do any of the necessary things I'm supposed to do before I move across the country.
The only thing on my mind is her.
She's been avoiding me.
I don't know what to do, and it's killing me inside. My parents know this, her parents know this, my friends know this.
I don't want to leave her. My insides feel like they're tearing in two at the thought of being in a different state than her. But I have no other choice.
Everyone tells me to take the chance. That if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
But how can something be right when it feels so damn wrong?
How am I supposed to leave when every bone in my body is aching to stay?
I let her be the first day, knowing that she might need a little bit of space. The second day I searched her out, and her mom said she wasn't feeling well. The pity on her face when she told me made it clear that we all realized she was lying.
I tried talking to her in school yesterday, but she fled my presence every chance I got. I could have held her down, shouted at her to listen to me. Forced her to understand. But that's not her, and that's not us.
We aren't angry with each other. We're seamless. And now things are messy, and it feels so fucking wrong.
Staring at my empty bag and guitar case sitting on the floor, I shake my head in disgust. If I know one thing, it's that I can't leave with us like this. I have to make it right, otherwise I refuse to go. Everyone will have to get over it.
I grab my keys from my nightstand, knowing exactly where she's at right now.