Page 33 of Mine

Didn’t they have anything better to do with their time?

Was our breakup the highlight of their week?

I exhaled as I threw my books into my locker, my temper rising when they fell back out from all the crap I had piled in there.

“Shit,” I mumbled, as I leaned down to pick them up.

"You okay?" Rosie murmured, her eyes filled with concern.

I crammed the books in, dragging out the two I needed. Whispers continued to fill the hallway, and I knew they were about me.

"Yeah, I will be. It's a shitty situation."

“You got that right, Gretchen,” boomed a voice, silencing the hallway instantly.

"Finn," Rosie warned, as he pushed past her, his lips curled up in a sneer.

"You've ditched Luke forthatprick? I can't believe you would do that to him. You know how much he adores you. Luke could've hadanyone." He shook his head at me before walking down the hallway, his bag slung over his shoulder.

I turned to see Rosie staring after him in stunned silence.

“I deserved that,” I whispered, biting my lip as my eyes filled with tears.

"Ugh. Just ignore him—what does he know?" Rosie mumbled, her voice trailing off as we saw Krystal standing at the bottom of the corridor, a wicked smile on her face. “What the fuck is she smiling at?”

I narrowed my eyes at her before following Rosie into class, preparing for even more grief. “Fuck knows,” I sighed.

I searched the room desperately for Cal, my eyes meeting the judgemental ones of my classmates.

I slid into my seat and tried to ignore the stares from everyone, dragging my phone out of my bag.

GRETCHEN:

Where are you?

CAL:

Bit of something to deal with at home. I'll text you later...are you okay?

GRETCHEN:

You aren't coming into school? Cal don't leave me on my own here. It's fucking horrible.

I stuck my phone in my bag and rubbed my eyes, as though by doing that it would erase this shit from my brain.

The door slammed open, and I jumped, a sinking feeling in my stomach when I saw Finn, Ethan and Luke walking in.

Luke had dark circles around his eyes, which he trained on me.

Holy shit.

I stared out of the window, trying not to make eye contact with any of them. My leg jiggled when I heard the chair beside mine scrape across the floor, the familiar scent of Luke's cologne making my stomach do gymnastics.

I dragged my book out of my bag, my phone dropping out between us on the floor.

Luke glanced down, his eyes falling on the digital envelope with 'Cal' on display. His eyes met mine, flashing darkly.

"Where is he? Left you to face the music alone? What alovelyguy,” his voice was thick with sarcasm, the anger clear.