Love Me Or Leave Me ✓

~01~

Adelaide bit down on her lip painfully, clenching every part of her body as she closed her eyes and prayed, and prayed, and prayed, to not be seen. Her phone was clutched tightly in her hand, slight remnants of a short conversation thread visible through the cracks between her fingers.

"Ahh, Jason, no!" A girl squealed with laughter ringing in between her words. His own laugh followed, making the hole in her chest widen even further.

They were back already.  Adelaide thought she would have more time to prepare, but there he was, back from the Graduate's tour two days early.

Jason and his friends lingered near her corner a little longer. She sat perched in a narrow alley in between two buildings. She was going out to look for some spare change when she heard the laugh she had been dreaming about for weeks.

"Los Angeles is always amazing. Can we go back there for the third trip?"

"I don't think that's the best idea." Jason spoke. His voice melted into her ears like honey and she let herself sigh in longing. He was finally back.

Jason had miraculously gotten sponsored to go on the Graduate's tour, which was a collective trip held for graduates from various high schools. It had been tradition for years for the school boards to sponsor any ten students immediately after graduation, and to have them pick three locations of their choosing to go and enjoy two weeks of extreme fun.

Everyone who partook either delayed in applying to college, or took a gap year. Jason did neither. He had been sponsored by Sebastian Crave's father, their high school principal who had recently divorced from his wife and had a lot of money to burn.

It was a dream come true for Jason, but a nightmare in the making for Adelaide.

"Why? You don't wanna be away from your girlfriend too long?" His friends teased, making kissing sounds at him that he scoffed at.

"She's not my anything, relax. And she can't make me do shit. I'm just tired of palm trees."

Tears filled Adelaide's eyes. She just sat there, listening to them helplessly.

"Not your girlfriend, huh? You're such a shit liar! As if we don't see the way she follows you around."

Others laughed and joined in. "Nah, he wouldn't act the way he did in LA if he had one. Stop pestering my boy."

"Yeah, Jason is single as fuck. He's only 18, the fuck does he know about love?"

Then he spoke up in a quiet and uncomfortable tone. "Please stop talking about my love life. We have to decide the final stop of the tour."

"How about Vegas? The kids across town say they classmates chose there," Sebastian spoke up. Adelaide noticed how his voice had changed. He sounded older and more serious than before.

His group all shouted their cheers, Jason's being the loudest, until finally they started to slowly dissipate as the distance between the two individuals grew.

Finally deeming it safe, Adelaide opened her eyes whilst simultaneously letting out a deep breath. She sagged against the wall she was leaning on, tears starting to pool in her eyes as the familiar feeling of loss started to consume her. She moved towards the sidewalk on her right, already expecting the worst as the bright sun exposed her to the world from her hiding place in between two buildings.