~next day~
I went to class and had made up my mind to ignore him.
I saw him sitting near my seat, and our eyes met for a brief second.
(ignore him) I said internally.
I went to the other seat and sat there opening my notebook.
"You dropped this."
I looked up.
Her.
She held out a notebook.
Not mine.
"Thanks," I said anyway.
She didn't leave.
Instead—
She sat down in front of me.
Close.
Too close.
"Interesting," she said softly.
I frowned, "What?"
"You're not sitting next to him,"she said, like she was thinking.
I didn't respond.
"Did something happen?" she asked casually, like we were best friends.
"No."
She smiled.
That same smile.
Like she already knew the answer.
"You can tell me," she said.
"I won't judge," she added.
"I'm fine."
She leaned a little closer.
"He kissed you, didn't he?"
My breath stopped. How did she know?
"How do you…?" I asked, not finishing my sentence.
"Cause he does these things to every other girl," she said, rolling her eyes. "He looks innocent, but he is not."
I didn't respond.
"He kissed me, the day before he kissed you," she continued.
I didn't say anything.
Didn't move.
Because suddenly—
I didn't know what to feel.
"And now he's acting as if nothing happened?" she added.
I looked at her.
"How do you know that?"
She let out a small laugh.
"Because that's what he does."
"He did the same with me."
Silence.
Every sound in the room felt distant.
"What?" I whispered.
"We kissed," she said casually.
"Not once either."
It didn't sound heavy.
Didn't sound important.
Like it meant nothing.
Just like he made it feel.
"And then?" I asked quietly.
She smiled again.
"He got bored."
There it was.
That word again.
The same one she said yesterday.
"I'm just saying," she added, leaning back slightly,
"Don't read too much into things."
My fingers tightened around my pen.
Because I already had.
Way more than I should have.
"I'm not," I said.
She looked at me like she didn't believe that.
"You seem like the type who would," she said.
Before I could respond—
"Ivy."
His voice.
Sharp.
I looked up.
He was already looking at us.
At me.
"Come here," he said.
That tone again.
I stood up.
Not because he told me to.
But because I couldn't sit there anymore.
"She doesn't listen much," the girl said lightly as I walked past her.
I heard it.
But I didn't respond.
~after class~
"What were you guys talking about?" Ethan asked, jogging, trying to catch up to me.
I had already left the class in a hurry to not see him or her again, but he followed me.
"Leave me alone," I said, surprisingly calm.
"Not until you tell me what she told you," he said, trying to reach me.
I turned around.
"What is your goddamn problem?"
"Listen to me-"
"No, YOU listen to me, I don't care about how you are with others or how you were with them, but I genuinely thought that we had something special, and if it was not that special to you, I get it, I'M FINE, because I'm trying to stay calm and to forget about this whole thing. So, please leave me the fuck alone. I don't feel important to you." I said panting.
"What did she tell you, Ivy?" he said, confused at my outburst.
"You kissed her, before you kissed me in the same week, what is wrong with you?"
"It didn't mean anything," he said.
Of course.
That again.
I let out a small breath.
"It meant something to me."
There it was.
Out loud.
Finally.
He didn't respond immediately.
"Ivy, I-"
"My bus is here, bye Ethan," I said, interrupting him.
Then—
"You're overthinking."
I nodded slowly. I didn't say anything after that.