In Love With The Bad Boy

Chapter 3: The End Of It All

Kat’s eyes fluttered open, the soft hum of the air conditioner the only sound in the hotel room. It was still dark outside, the room bathed in the dull glow of city lights through the partially closed blinds. For a moment, she didn’t move, her body frozen in place as if still trying to escape the nightmare that had unfolded just hours earlier.

Her throat was raw, her eyes swollen and puffy from crying. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, not like this, not after everything. But the exhaustion had crept up on her, a slow tide pulling her under as she lay curled in a ball, clutching the blanket. The tears had come so easily, spilling from her as her body reacted to the horror of what she’d seen. Jason and Julianne. Together. Betraying her. She had no idea how long she had cried, but the dull ache in her chest, the heaviness in her head, told her it had been a long time.

She turned her head, staring at the empty space beside her, as if expecting someone to be there. But of course, no one was.

No one was ever going to be there again.

The weight of it hit her again, sharp and suffocating, and she buried her face in her hands, stifling another wave of tears. But nothing felt like enough. Nothing would ever be enough to erase the image of her best friend in bed with her boyfriend. The anger and sadness had tangled inside her, knotting her insides into a tight, unbearable ball.

Kat didn’t know how long she lay there, her mind a spinning blur of pain and confusion, but eventually, she forced herself to sit up. Her limbs felt heavy, like they didn’t belong to her. The cool sheets brushed against her skin as she swung her legs off the bed, her feet hitting the floor with a dull thud.

Her reflection in the mirror was a stranger to her. Her mascara had smeared beneath her eyes, the remnants of her tears staining her face. Her hair was a tangled mess, the strands sticking together as if they were as exhausted as she was. She didn’t recognize herself—didn’t recognize the girl who had woken up in this hotel room, broken and abandoned.

She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do next, her mind clouded with the chaos of the night.

“Get up,” she whispered to herself, her voice trembling. “You have to get up.”

With effort, she pushed herself into motion. The pain in her chest felt almost physical now, a constant, unrelenting pressure. She needed to do something, anything, to escape the endless loop of thoughts that threatened to suffocate her.

She made her way to the bathroom, the light flickering above the mirror. The water pressure was weak, but the coldness of the shower felt like a small relief against the heat of her own thoughts. She stood there for what felt like forever, letting the water run over her, trying to wash away the weight of the betrayal, the shame, the hurt. But no matter how much water poured over her, it didn’t change what had happened. It didn’t change anything.

She had to face it. Jason had been sleeping with Julianne. They were together now. And she had been left alone, drowning in the aftermath of their lies.

After the shower, she stood in the bathroom for a moment, staring at her reflection. Her skin was pale, her face tired, but she knew she couldn’t stay here, in this hotel, forever. She couldn’t let herself just wallow in self-pity.

Kat took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, and wiped the fogged-up mirror with her hand. She needed new clothes. Something. Anything. She couldn’t go back to her condo—not with the thought of running into Jason lurking in her mind. He would be waiting for her, wouldn’t he? He’d try to talk to her, try to explain himself, but she didn’t want to hear his excuses. She didn’t want to hear anything from him.

She grabbed her purse and put on the same clothes she had on earlier. It was the only option she had, and she didn’t have the energy to care. The world felt too heavy to navigate. But somehow, she managed to force herself out of the hotel room, into the elevator, and out into the parking lot.

The drive to the mall was a blur. Kat couldn’t remember much about it, other than the overwhelming sense of emptiness that filled her chest. She kept her eyes on the road, focusing on the hum of the engine, the red lights, the way the world seemed to pass by without caring about her grief.

The mall was busy when she arrived, the usual hustle and bustle of people shopping and chatting filling the air. It felt so out of place. The sound of laughter, the clink of hangers on racks—it was all so normal, and yet she felt so detached from it all. She wandered through the stores aimlessly, barely noticing what she picked up. A pair of leggings, a sweater, some socks. She grabbed what she needed, and that was all.

She stopped by the food court to grab something to eat, but when she saw the familiar faces of her friends, Julianne, Lisa and Rosie, sitting at a table in the corner, her stomach churned. They were talking—laughing—too loud, too carefree.

And then Kat heard it.

“I still can’t believe Jason and Kat broke up,” Lisa was saying, her voice a little too cheerful. “It’s so sad, but I guess... I guess we all saw it coming, right?”

Rosie nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I love Kat, but she and Jason... they were never really happy, you know?”

Kat’s breath caught in her throat as she stood there, frozen.

“Yeah,” Julianne added, her voice just as casual, “Jason only stayed with her because their families wanted it. I don’t think he ever really loved her. He was just doing what was expected of him. But now that he and I are finally together, it feels like it’s all falling into place.”

Kat’s stomach dropped.

Finally together.

Her best friend. Her boyfriend. Together.

“I’m glad he finally saw it,” Julianne continued, her voice light, almost carefree. “It was just... Jason was never meant to be with Kat. I think we were always supposed to end up together. It just took some time.”

Kat felt like she had been slapped across the face. The words stung—so sharp, so cold—that she couldn’t move. She stood there, just out of sight, hearing her best friend, the girl who had been her closest confidante for years, talk about her as if she was some afterthought. As if Kat had never mattered to her at all.

She wanted to confront them. She wanted to march up to their table, scream, shout—demand an explanation for every word that had just come out of Julianne’s mouth. But instead, she did the only thing she could think of.

She turned and walked away.

She slipped out of the mall, her heart hammering in her chest as she made her way to her car. The tears came again, hot and bitter, stinging her eyes. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All she could do was feel the rawness of it all—the betrayal, the lies, the way her whole life had unraveled in front of her.

She sat in the car for what felt like hours, gripping the steering wheel as the tears soaked her face.

It wasn’t just that Jason had left her. It wasn’t just that Julianne had betrayed her. It was that her entire life, the life she thought she had, was now nothing more than a hollow shell. The people she had trusted, the people she had loved, had taken everything from her.

She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t stay in this city, not with the constant reminder of what had happened, not with the possibility of running into Jason, Julianne, or any of their friends.

She needed to get away. She needed space to breathe, to think.

Kat made a decision then. She would go home. To the one place that felt like it could still offer her some peace, even if just for a little while. She couldn’t bear the thought of staying here, of facing the people who had turned her world upside down.

With shaking hands, she pulled out her phone and booked a flight for the earliest available flight back home.

She didn’t look back.

The next chapter of her life had begun. And she had no idea where it would lead her, but for now, she just needed to escape. To find herself again. And maybe, just maybe, start to rebuild what had been torn apart.

But for now, all she could do was cry.