As Long As You're Mine

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Nick

       “Are you sure he’s not there?” the girl behind me worriedly asked, loud enough for me to hear through the headphones pumping music into my ears. If I had been in a better mood, I may have actually turned around and told her to shut up, but I didn’t feel like socializing with a stranger today.

      I still couldn’t understand it. Why did Elle run from me? I was done with all the bullshit between her and Jake. It was dumb and a lie. She was lying to herself and that was the most painful thing about the whole ordeal. She needed me and I needed her; why couldn’t it be that simple?

      “Next!” a blonde boy I had met in the past called behind the counter. I paused the musical notes floating into my eardrums, and approached.

      “Blake,” I greeted, trying my best to be polite.

      “Nick,” he returned as recognition flashed through his eyes. “What can I get’cha?”

      “A mocha Frappuccino, please,” I said dully, hoping that a form of caffeine would jolt me out of the dreary mood in which I had landed.

      “Coming right up, bro,” he said, punching my order into a computer. Sighing, I handed over a credit card, not bothering to check which one it was.

      You know those moods you get in that nothing can cheer you up? You’re tired and no amount of sleep can change it. Seeing happy people and content couples makes you want to scream, and cute puppies turn into annoying animals that bark a lot. Everything from coffee to class reminds you of that one person or thing that put you in the dejected state. It’s one of those slumps you can’t get out of no matter how hard you try. Currently, that was my life.

      Mere hours ago, Elle had announced that she was pregnant… and then proceeded to run from me. I knew it was terrible that I was allowing one girl to screw with my emotions in such a way, but there was nothing I could do about it; she was Elle.

      I never envisioned this happening. Two years ago when I asked her out, I didn’t expect that the relationship would last over a month. I didn’t intend on being with her for as long as I was, and I most certainly didn’t plan on falling in love.

      When I was younger, the word “love” was a foreign concept that was challenging for me to grasp. It didn’t make sense to me and I thought it was a bunch of crap that Disney made up to brainwash kids into thinking fairytale endings could exist in real life. I guess I was one of the kids who ended up getting brainwashed…

      “You can pick it up right over there,” Blake pointed, handing me back the plastic promise of money.

      “Thanks,” I mumbled, dragging my feet over to where he had gestured. Elongated minutes passed by in a haze, until I finally received my steaming, brown liquid. I trudged over to an unoccupied chair in a seating area, and set my coffee down on a wooden table.

      I reached inside the pocket of my hoodie for my phone, mindlessly retrieving it. Ignoring the missed calls and texts that had accumulated, I pressed shuffle, and a song that fit my life to perfection began: Breakeven, by The Script.

      “Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?” a girl asked. I shook my head, not bothering to look up. “Nick?”

      Generally, when someone knew your name, it was a sure sign that you two had had at least one previous interaction. As I slowly lifted my head to view to the female individual before me, I instantly realized that we had shared more than one form of communication prior to now. “Elle.”