This person is a stranger.
Cold.
Different.
Breaking my heart.
“You… don’t think there is anything to talk about?” I question. “But… the other night…”
He looks at the ground. “I don’t want to make this any worse than it has to be. We know the reality of our situation. We… can’t be together, Melissa.”
I feel like I swallowed a dagger.
I’m bleeding on the inside.
But I won’t let him see.
So, Blaze made up his own mind without me. I won’t beg. I won’t plead. I will let him go, but it is going to be on my terms.
“Okay, then,” I tell him. “You can go. I’ve got everything covered.”
“No, Melissa, I want to finish helping you,” he says.
I cut him off. “No, you’ve done enough, thank you. I can take it from here.”
He stands there, looking upset, but not leaving.
I don’t give a shit if he feels bad.
Heshouldfeel bad.
“Go, Blaze,” I bark at him. “I don’t want you here.”
I refuse to let my face twitch.
There will be no tears that he can see.
No hesitation.
No break in my armor.
And so, he leaves. And I break down all on my own.
Chapter Seven
Blaze
This is wrong.
I should be there at the theater with her, not lying on my bed in my dorm room, thinking about her and regretting my whole life.
What am I even doing?
I’m not the kind to just wallow in bed.
I’m a fighter. An athlete. A man of action.
I pick up my phone and call my brother.