It was a nagging feeling. That’s what she had. It was bothering her and she couldn’t ignore it any longer. Sure … she needed to get her stuff to better prepare herself for the summer program. But Theo will only stay for so long and she needed to be with him, at least to explain in person how her summer is going to be.
She wanted to stay in Goldstone, it was her initial plan before Theo came along. The nagging feeling told her to go back to Chestnut to see if their new relationship was going to last beyond that summer.
She didn’t tell him she was coming back, she wanted it to be a surprise. The minute she arrived, she went straight to Theo’s house.
He was surprised or more like shocked to see her. The look on his face was not what she expected. His eyes bulging wide, his face was drained of colors, and his mouth gaped opened.
“Micky?” his voice was almost inaudible.
She laughed, “Yeah … who do you think it is? I wanted to ask you if you’re surprised … but it’s pretty obvious,” she ran and jumped at him. They kissed.
“I’ve all packed and ready to go … why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?”
She glanced at his vintage red convertible and saw some of his stuff in the backseat of his car. “Really? You didn’t tell me you were coming today either,” she giggled, “I guess I beat you to it?”
His laugh sounded forced. He fidgeted on his feet and let her go. He tucked his hands in his pockets and gathered his thoughts to say something.
“What’s the matter?” she sensed him.
“Hazel …” he looked away for a moment and drew a long breath. “There’s something I need to tell you …”
“What is it?”
He held her hand and squeezed, “I need you to listen carefully and … please … I don’t want you to get upset …”
She stared at him blankly. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for what he had to say now that he had warned her. “Why would I be upset?” her voice weakened.
He covered his face with both hands then pulled out his hair in frustration, “I … I need to go back to Gastonbury … actually … I was going to Goldstone after I go back to Gastonbury … today … right now …” he stammered.
“Why? What for?” she furrowed her brows.
He was breathing heavily, he couldn’t stand still, he was pacing and she was getting more worried. Before he could answer, his front door opened and someone came out from inside his house. A beautiful blonde girl Hazel had never seen before. Or maybe she had seen her before in one of his Instagram post … the girlfriend … she didn’t even remember what her name was.
Her eyes went back to him. Her heart was crushed. He stared back at her and shook his head.
“No … no … it’s not what you think … please … Hazel … I need you to listen to me …”
She felt her stomach tightened and she had lost her ability to speak. She looked at the girl again who was looking back at her. The blonde girl went back inside the house. Hazel turned around, she needed to process what she was seeing and she couldn’t face him. Not at that moment.
He grabbed her arm, “Wait … where are you going? Hazel … I can explain …”
“She’s the girl I saw in your Instagram … your girlfriend …” she mumbled.
“No … she’s not …”
It grabbed her attention, she looked at him waiting for him to confirm what he just said.
“She was … but not anymore … but I wasn’t totally honest with you when you asked me if I had a girlfriend … ”
Her eyebrows raised, her jaw dropped, “You lied? You were still with her when you came here?”
The look on his face confirmed it. She turned again to leave. His hand still around her wrist and he pulled her back.
“I was going to break up with her when I … when we …”
She wasn’t listening. She wanted to disappear.
“I’m in love with you, Hazel, please … I didn’t know what to do … I didn’t plan to come back here and still felt everything for you … I knew it meant something, it’s you that I wanted to be with …”
“But you still had a girlfriend!” she finally screamed it. She yanked her hand from him and pushed him on the chest. “You had a girlfriend and you lied to me! You could’ve at least told me the truth then maybe I … maybe we didn’t …” she was losing her words.
“You wouldn’t think twice about me if I told you the truth … I screwed up! I know … but I tried to make it right … I broke up with her so I can be with you … Hazel, please …” he saw the look of horror on her face and knew it’s not going to be okay.
“It was my first time … I told you that …” the reality of being lied to by the person she trusted the most dawned on her. She closed her eyes and held her head. She couldn’t stop her tears from coming out. “Why is she here? She stayed at your house?” she was thinking out loud.
He sighed, “She came here to confront me about our relationship … she was upset when I told her about you and she … it doesn’t matter, Micky, it’s over with her … I was going to tell you when I get to Goldstone …”
“It matters to me! You lied! And so early in our relationship and how easy for you to lie to me like that?”
He shook his head, “No … that’s not true … it wasn’t easy for me, I did what I did because I was scared I was going to lose you … again … like the last time you were with Lee … I’m sorry Hazel, please let me make it up to you … ”
He was pleading. She was crying. She had never felt pain inside of her the way she did that afternoon. She shook her head and pulled herself away from him.
“I don’t want to talk to you … let me go … I want to go home …”
She walked away despite him begging her to stay.