Chapter 24: Was It A Lie?
I stood there, just peeking through the small gap in the doorway. Tyler and Nina. They were standing close, and whatever they were talking about looked serious. I couldn’t make out any words, just the way Tyler was gesturing with his hands and how Nina was standing with her arms crossed, looking at the ground.
’Was the breakup even real?’ The thought hit me so fast it felt like a physical blow. Maybe I’d gotten it all wrong. Maybe this was them working things out, and I was just the weird, temporary drama that had brought them back together.
And then this feeling, this awful, tight feeling, just seized my chest. It wasn’t like the ache in my ribs. This was sharper, deeper. It felt like my stomach had just dropped out of my body. For a second, it was hard to breathe.
’What the hell is this?’ I thought, my hand instinctively going to my chest. ’Am I jealous?’
No. That was stupid. I couldn’t be jealous. We were just friends. I didn’t even like her like that, I’d already decided that. This was something else. It was... disappointment, maybe.
The thought that she might have lied to me, or that I was just a pawn in their relationship drama, that’s what hurt. Yeah, that had to be it.
I didn’t want to watch anymore. It wasn’t my business. Sticking my nose in would only make things more complicated than they already were. I had come up here to apologize for being a jerk, not to spy on her getting back together with her ex.
Slowly, carefully, I pulled the door back toward me. I made sure it didn’t make a sound, letting it close until it was just ajar, exactly how I’d found it. Then I turned and started walking back down the stairs, my limp feeling heavier than it had a few minutes ago.
Each step down felt like a retreat. I kept telling myself it was the right thing to do. This wasn’t the time to talk to her. Not when she was in the middle of... whatever that was.