Page 94 of Elijah

“You’re going away with some guy called Leon, yet you still kissed me,” I cried, desperately trying anything I could to get her to change her mind. “I never said anything about that.”

Amy’s eyes went wide and wild as she pointed a finger at me. “Don’t you dare try and turn this onto me.”

“I’m not, but it’s true.”

“I’ve been seeing him for a month, we’ve had a few dates and I would have called him tonight if I was going to get back with you. I certainly wouldn’t have waited to see if we’d worked out and kept him as my backup plan.”

“I was never going to do that,” I yelled, raising my hands in the air in frustration.

“Yeah, well,” Amy sneered. “That’s what it seemed like and I will never be second best, for anyone, ever again.”

With her long hair swaying over her shoulder, she strode away around the side of the house, in the direction of the driveway.

I sank onto the bench seat before my legs gave way and dropped my head into my hands.

How the hell could everything have gone to shit so quickly? My heart had been so full but within minutes it had been ripped out and torn into shreds. My breath was quick and sharp as the shock hit me of losing Amy again. I needed and wanted her and now I was never going to get her back. I wanted to scream and tear the place down. My anger was so raw and putrid that the only relief I got was from hitting my palms against my head, wishing I could redo it all; the last fifteen minutes, the last eleven years.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d sat there, but the noise inside the house had got louder, more raucous, and the air outside was cooler. I shivered in my t-shirt and knew I had to go. I couldn’t be there, around people enjoying themselves, when all I wanted to do was cry and wallow in the shit hole of my own self-pity.

I didn’t have my car, as Tino and Sophie had provided taxis for everyone, so I pulled open the door of the first in line and gave the driver my address.

As we drove through the streets, my phone buzzed with a text. It was too much to expect it was Amy, but I pulled it out of my pocket anyway – always hopeful.

Mia: How’s the party?

I gave a deep sigh and stared down at it, wondering what to respond. I looked out to the streets racing by and pictured her pretty smile. Making my mind up, I dialled her number – she answered almost immediately.

“Hey you. I didn’t expect you to call. I just wanted to see what the party was like.”

My smile at the sound of her voice was involuntary.

“It was good, but I’m knackered, so I’ve just left.”

“Oh okay. So tell me, is Joe Bennett as good looking in real life as he is on telly?”

I laughed quietly. “Well, how about I tell you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m coming to see you.”

As she squealed with delight, I pulled the phone away from my ear.

It was time to move on with my life – without Amy, no matter how much it broke my heart.