"What did you think? That he was going to fall for a nineteen-year-old girl? I mean look at you, you still dress like you're in high school and he's a man Dolores. A man." Note the emphasis on the word man. "Ouch, Lin." "You rather I lie to you?" "No, but, couldn't you be a little less mean." "I rather you not go through what I went with Jameson, I would have wanted to know he wasn't going to stick around for the very beginning." Right, that jerk had broken my best friend's heart. "He made me like him." "What are you talking about? You practically undressed him with your eyes since day one." "So did he!" "But my question is," I start clearing my throat. Since they went out on a few dates and Lin didn't reveal anything, I was curious. "Did you see him naked?" There, I asked. Her cheeks turn crimson, and she bites her lip, nodding. Whore. "I saw." "You saw?" "Oh, I saw." "How much?"

I'm standing in the curve waiting for the big red Dodge my dad drives, it has been fifteen minutes, and I'm starting to get desperate. There's also the unforgettable presence of him around me. I thought I had gotten rid of the way he made me feel, the way he abandoned me, but it is all there. I tried clutching my hands to the sides to avoid doing that thing I used to do whenever I felt the piercing ache in my chest. Is all coming back, bits and pieces, good memories and the bad one, that one night. I feel my phone vibrate once more in my back pocket, and I ignore it too. I know is Beck wondering why I haven't replied to his texts. I was about to, but then I didn't want to. I'm having mixed feelings and all because of one single picture. I'm pretty sure he must be laying down on some beach at some exotic place with a beautiful woman with bee-stung lips and curves for days. That image alone makes me angry. All I can do is pull my baseball cap even lower, to the point where I c

""You left her lock up in a bathroom three years ago."  Just like I wanted, my voice came out flat and without feeling. Of course, I didn't want him to think I still cared. It seemed that my words struck home; he shifted uncomfortably in his seat while I took back my cap and pulled it down, covering my hair. "You left," I repeated again and continued to hold his gaze, knowing quite well that I wasn't as strong as I was making him believe that if he hadn't looked away first, I was seconds away from breaking. It did cross my mind once or twice that I could burst into tears any minute, and I for sure was an ugly crier. The awkward silence that followed opened up the overthinking gates and the what-ifs. Relieving the past never got me anything, yet just by a few exchanges of words, I remembered everything, every word, that one kiss. How was it possible that I couldn't shake him off after years?

I loathed those words as quickly as they left my mouth. Just hours ago, I struggled to keep away and pledged that I would never require or need someone as I did before. Now, I’m squatting on the cool tiled floor of my tiny one-bedroom apartment, expecting a man that had withdrawn himself from my life years ago. “Please,” I urged. Begging time to run faster, praying for Liam to manifest in front of me. “Dolores?” He sounded strange, but soon the noise quieted down, and the surrounding space seemed to open up. “Where are you?” “At my place. My boyfriend is here. I ordered him to leave, and he’s trashing my bedroom. I can make out things breaking.” Knowing the sound of my voice sounds as terrified as I seem. I told him to come ready for anything that might happen and sent him my address in a quick message. I must have stayed inside the bathroom for the longest time until nothing else broke until he got tired. The noises of the night filtered in, and I em

I've secretly stolen something of his while he was in the room, oblivious to my doing. He was distracted, looking down at his phone while I took his worn shirt and pushed it all the way to the bottom of my small duffel bag. I couldn't quite believe my brazenness and quick actions, but the memento was already in my possession, and it scared me that he found out about it. The minute I sniffed it, my reaction was quicker than I thought. I just stole a dirty shirt, well not dirty it just smelled like him, a wood-like minty scent. All I can think of right now is my bag with a shirt that doesn't belong to me. I still had a chance to put it back. "Weren't you hungry?" I feel as if someone has let go of an elastic band on my brain. The return to reality is quite painful and unsettling. He is, after all, sitting in front of me, gazing at me with a frown. "I yes, sorry." "Go on then, eat, they brought that thing ages ago." He looks down at the untouched plate i