Chapter 2
644 Words
Therefore, I always felt that Zack had true feelings for me.
Unknowingly, the clock struck seven. People came and went at the entrance, but there was no familiar figure.
I kept on waiting, until half past ten, and finally made the first call of the night.
The phone rang for over a minute, and an automated voice came through. "The number you dialed is busy, please try again later..."
I couldn't help but wonder what could he be busy with. Was he discussing a new strategy with the coach, or dealing with the school administration? Or perhaps it was because of Chloe?
He always had so many things to deal with, and it seemed that everything could take precedence over me.
I didn’t know how long had passed, but I dozed off at the table. At first, it was a bit cold, but as I slept, my body gradually warmed up.
When I opened my eyes again, the restaurant was closing up, and the streetlights outside flickered in the dark.
"11:53, it's not too late."
Zack's voice, filled with warmth, echoed in the quiet space. Then the boy in the team jacket tightened the coat draped over my shoulders. I looked up at him, still half-asleep, and asked, "What took you so long?"
Zack paused. "Chloe got into a fight with some dropouts on her way home. I had to bail her out of trouble."
He couldn't even be bothered to make a better excuse.
Feeling somewhat numb, I asked, "So you went to handle it for her?"
Zack nodded. "Yeah."
The pent-up grievances burst forth, and tears rolled down my cheeks. I looked at the face I had loved for so long and asked him, "What about me? Zack, do you think everything related to me is unimportant?"
The boy, rarely at a loss for words, cupped my face and kept wiping away the fallen tears with his thumbs. In the end, he said awkwardly, "Don't cry, Stella."
Well, he didn’t know how to comfort people. After all, every time we argued, I would silently process my emotions and then present my mature, rational Ivy-League-bound side to him. He never needed to comfort me.
Zack moved a heavy, overly sweet strawberry cake in front of me, along with a bouquet of red roses. He then said hoarsely, "Your favorite, strawberries and roses."
But I didn’t like roses. Nor was I fond of strawberries.
Zack would always forget.
I took a piece of the cake and took a bite. It tasted too sweet, sickeningly so. Just like the relationship between me and Zack, it had become increasingly suffocating over time.
When we first started dating, he wasn't like this. Even though he was obsessed with robotics, he took good care of me. But later, there were too many important things, and I was always the one being overlooked, always coming second to everything else.
After my mood settled a bit, I looked at him seriously and said, "Zack, you should keep your distance from Chloe. No team captain should be bailing out a member from street fights in the middle of the night."
He frowned. "She's been hanging out with the team for a year."
I lowered my gaze and said softly, "Maybe it would be more appropriate for her actual friends to handle it."
"She doesn't have anyone else, Stella. Don't be unreasonable."
I took a deep breath. "Zack, don’t you know about the rumors in school? They say that Chloe is your true love, and that I just use my grades and my code to force you to stay with me."
After a pause, I continued, "Aren't you afraid... that one day I might leave you?"
He replied quickly and confidently, "But you can't leave me."
What Zack didn't know was that disappointment could breed the courage for me to leave him.
- Writer
