1 “The Girl With A Bobcut”
CHAPTER 1
How long has it been? Amelia thought.
That question kept circling in her mind from the moment she stepped onto campus. It was a thought she hadn’t entertained in about two years, not since she stopped going to college, until today.
“Oh my God, is that her?”
Her ears tickled as soon as she heard those words coming from another girl’s mouth. She knew, even if she was not looking at the other girl’s way, that she was talking about Amelia.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Remember that girl from years ago?”
“Are you talking about that viral video four years back?”
“Yes! That is her!”
Amelia could tell the other girl was pointing at her, even from the corner of her peripheral vision. She hated being labeled based solely on a superficial video, especially since they had no idea what she’d gone through.
“Wasn’t she known as the obsessed ex-girlfriend?”
“Psychotic would be more appropriate for her.”
“She reportedly used the threat of an abortion to pressure the man into staying with her.”
Hearing their laughter and mockery, Amelia was hit by that awful, painfully familiar feeling of being shamed. Everyone would look her way and quickly look away to gossip. They found humor in her misfortune simply because it hadn’t happened to them. It made her wonder what happened to “women support women.” Instead, Amelia was labeled obsessed and psychotic just for what she’d endured.
“Her style has changed since she took those four years off,” one person remarked.
“Yeah,” replied another, “she used to have long hair, and now it’s a very short bob haircut.”
Amelia remembered how the rain pattered softly against the large windows of the bustling coffee shop, blurring the grey street outside. Inside, the warm glow of the cafe lights offered a cozy contrast to the muted tones of the day.
She sat at a small table, the familiar scent of coffee filling the air, a comfort she’d cherished. A steaming cup of coffee sat untouched before her, its aroma mingling with the rich scent of freshly ground beans.
She glanced at herself, satisfied as she tried to look nice for today.
Tiffany sat directly opposite her, and Amelia felt a knot of nervousness about why she’d randomly asked both Kyler and her to meet. Slowly, Amelia picked up her coffee, about to take a sip, when a shocking slap landed squarely on her face. A sharp, resounding slap echoed as her hand connected with Amelia’s cheek, causing her coffee to spill on her and the table.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd, followed by hushed whispers and murmurs, and phones were quickly pulled out and darted at their table. “I trusted you! How dare you steal my boyfriend from me?!” Tiffany yelled angrily, causing more attention towards them.
Amelia could remember how Kyler rubbed Tiffany’s arms with his huge hands, “Calm down, baby. I told you she was so obsessed with me. Like… Like a psychotic girl trying to steal me from you, my love.”
“Tiff, I don’t–”
“Enough with the lies already, you stupid b***h!” She yelled so loud, cutting Amelia off from what she was going to say, and was trying to embarrass her.
All Amelia could do was curl into herself, mortified by the attention they were drawing.
“How dare you try to flirt with my own man?!” Her hand struck Amelia’s cheek again. As Tiffany did, Amelia saw several students from their university with their phones out, recording the entire incident.
“This is going to be viral at the university,” one of them chuckled, still recording.
Pulling herself out from what Amelia was remembering, a horrible flashback, she sped up, wanting to get away as soon as she heard them talking more about what happened. The last thing that Amelia wanted was that kind of attention.
It was why she had completely changed her style and cut her hair as short as possible—she just wanted to blend in. Perhaps, just become invisible. But despite wearing a baggy gray hoodie, black cargo pants, white sneakers, and a baseball cap, she was still drawing attention. She hated it.
She just ran and ran, my mind screaming that she couldn’t stay there and listen to them talk about her in such a horrible manner. Everyone sees her, but not everyone really sees her. They’d look and quickly look away. It hurt deeply, she knew that, but what stung even more wasn’t the unfairness of it all. It was knowing she had let people take advantage of her when she was at her most vulnerable.
Trust needs to be earned, so her walls were now built higher and stronger.
As she kept running, she accidentally bumped into something hard, causing her to almost fall towards the ground until an arm reached and wrapped around her, holding her before she could hit the cold stone ground. She gasped almost immediately when her eyes met his. Bluish-Silver. The shade that Amelia has longed to hate.
“Hello, my love.” His voice, as always, was a smooth, caramelized drawl.
Kyler f*****g Martin.
Her ex-boyfriend. She hated his smile and the way his eyes, both innocent and mischievous, fixed on her. She hated the curl of his lips as he watched her reactions. She just hated him.
She hated that she loved him.
But how in hell was he still here? He should have graduated three years ago; that was why she came back, because she was so sure he’d be gone. Yet here he was, and she still hated the control he had over me—a control so strong it made her hate herself.
She hated him.
She f*****g hates him.
She quickly yanked herself away from him, putting as much distance between them as possible. He just watched her, those same pitiful yet scheming eyes on her face. “It’s good to see you back here finally, Milly,” he said, his voice deceptively calm. He looked down at her from his towering height. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
