He looked between me and Justin, who shook his head vigorously, but he huffed out a loud breath. “Sorry, dude, I think I should take her home. I don’t think you two want to say anything that you might regret later on. Maybe you can talk about things when she’s a little…calmer.” I narrowed my eyes at Nate, the guilty feeling for him having to experience going away pretty quickly.
Calmer, really? For everything that I had heard, I thought I was handling myself pretty damn well. They were both lucky that I hadn’t turned into a crazy bitch on the both of them and started destroying everything, because that’s really what I felt like doing at the moment.
“Della, you don’t need to leave like this. Please, just sit down so we can talk this out. Can’t you at least give me that? I don’t want to lose you,” he dropped down to his knees, twisting his hands tightly into his hair like he was in pain. I wanted to reach out to taken that pain away, but then I remembered what I had just found out. He should be the one suffering, I know I was.
“We have nothing else to talk about,” I said, turning to glare down at him. “Has this all been one fucking joke to you? You fucked a girl on the night things between us became serious. The same night that we were together, sure it wasn’t sex, but it was close enough. And this girl shows up at your house and you failed to mention that too.” I scrubbed at my arms, suddenly feeling like a needed a shower, to try and wash all the memories of every time he had touched me.
“I never want to see you again,” I screamed, punctuating each word. I could see tears glimmering in his gray eyes as he stood up and took another step towards me, but I turned away quickly. I heard him sigh in defeat and I knew that he was finally leaving me alone.
He didn’t deserve to be upset, I did. I was the one that he had betrayed for months with the lie that he held inside. If I wasn’t here tonight, who knew if he would have actually ever told me. Nate followed me out the front door as I headed out to his car without looking back. I tried to calm myself down on the way back to the dorms, using deep calming breaths.
I had been through worse before; I could handle this like the strong woman I was now. Nate pulled up in front of the dorms, taking a deep breath as I scooped up all of my bags. “You know, Della, he really does love you. And I know I haven’t been your biggest fan, but I can see how much happier he is when he’s with you. So please, think about at least giving him a chance when things are a little calmer. You might regret it one day if you don’t.”
“Whatever,” I bit out. “Thanks for the ride and tell Justin to have a nice life.” I slammed the door shut and made my way into the building. I’m sure I looked like a complete and utter mess, but I really didn’t care. People could stare all they wanted. Yes, I wasn’t the only person to ever go through a heart wrenching break up, but right now I was only focused on getting home. Once I got there I knew I could completely break down.
I somehow managed to get the door open with shaking hands and dragged my bags in behind me, the lingerie spilling out as a reminder of what was now gone. “Hey, Della,” I heard Callie’s perky voice call out from the kitchen. “I figured you would be gone all-” she cut off when she saw what state I was in and immediately rushed over to wrap her arms around me. My tears started up once again, but this time they were the loud, ugly sobs that were supposed to be the private kind.
“Oh, Della. What happened, honey?” Callie asked as she stroked my hair, and I drenched the thin tank top she had on. I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it right that second and Callie was okay with that.
I let everything out while one of my best friends comforted me, something I needed and something I wouldn’t have ever been able to do with any of my friends back home. I didn’t regret coming here, I really couldn’t. Zoey and Callie had changed my life for the better and this right here proved it. But right now, I felt like running and never coming back because everything just seemed too hard, and I knew everything would be a reminder of Justin and what I thought we had once had.
Chapter 23
Della: Three Months Later
“All right, see you in a bit. Can’t wait to see you.” I hung up my phone, walking to the kitchen to make sure everything was ready. Grams had helped me pack up a picnic lunch last night before her and Grandpa had taken off for the annual trip to her sister’s house.
The house seemed oddly quiet as I grabbed an oatmeal raisin cookie to munch on while I waited. The summer had just begun, and I had certainly been looking forward to it. After a rollercoaster of a ride with Justin, I was ready for a much needed break from all of the drama.