Falling
Lana's POV
How could he??
The horse galloped along the path, hoofbeats thundering against the ground in time with the hammering of my broken heart.
I LOVED him; how could he?
I couldn't believe that the last two years of my life had been nothing but a lie. I thought I had found the love of my life - the one I would drop everything for - but he had betrayed me in a way I could never even have imagined.
I used to wait for him to come over, the dinner I had lovingly prepared for both of us getting cold on the table as the clock ticked like it was mocking me.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
There was always some excuse as to why he kept me waiting. He had to work late. He had to study. There was bad traffic.
How could someone look you in the eyes and tell you lies, day after day, for years? My stomach twisted and I felt sick just thinking about it.
I realised now that he'd been gaslighting me the entire time, and the worst part was that I'd actually fallen for it. Actually thought there was something there worth fixing. Even at the times when I thought I was going completely crazy!
When I had trouble believing him and started to question things, he told me I had trust issues and should go see a counselor. Then he'd had the freaking nerve to tell me he was so proud of me for going to work on them!? When all along...
All along every doubt I'd ever had had been correct.
That cheating bastard.
I'd come to Europe and to Spain for vacation to get away for a bit, wanting to clear my head, hoping up to the end that we'd be able to resolve our conflicts and find a new, shiny, happy future together. But then the truth had come out and I felt like her whole world was spinning away as if I was in a nightmare.
But I gritted my teeth. I was determined not to cry. He didn't deserve a single tear. But even though I was trying to keep going, I wasn't myself, either.
I hadn't been fully myself ever since I'd found out that there had been another girl - and that the other girl had become THE girl, and somehow I'd become 'the other' in my own relationship! For the last few days I had been too upset to eat properly, too upset to sleep more than a few hours a night.
That coward didn't even answer my call.
We didn't really break up. It was just over. He didn't even give me the satisfaction of TELLING him it was over. Suddenly, the life I thought I knew just ended, with no resolution, no goodbyes, no why, no accusations.
Riding a horse was a bad idea, I realized too late.
I wasn't 100% in control, and the clever beast knew it. He was fighting me for control, a proud and headstrong creature, wanting to go in a different direction. And for a fraction of a second I got a little dizzy - that's right, I hadn't really eaten today - and then before I knew it, I was falling.
Oh no.
Just like in a cartoon movie, time slowed down and - well, I couldn't say my life flashed before her eyes, but I did have just enough time to wonder if my insurance would cover this. And to inwardly wince knowing that my mom would KILL me if I broke any bones.
As I had lost control, the horse had barrelled further along the path into a little forest. In the midst of the fall, I suddenly felt a chill down the back of my neck. The shadows under the trees were murky, but in between my fear, the brief fall, and flashes of anxiety about insurance and lectures from my mother, I thought I saw a huge set of glowing amber eyes.
It was only a split second, and before I could look again, my head hit the packed earth of the forest trail. Everything went dark.