Chapter 4: The betrayal

Alex pov

“Honey you will be late for school!” I heard a voice in my sleep and felt a heavy weight land on me, pressing me to my bed.

Ahhh!” I shouted as I opened my eyes to see Linda, my annoying best friend, grinning on top of me.

“Wakey wakey, honey! You’re late for school!” she sang in a high-pitched voice, mimicking my mom’s.

“Eeww, get off me, you ugly duckling!” I grumbled, shoving her off and sitting up.

“Wait, what’s this?” she asked, eyes narrowing as she spotted a picture falling from my chest.

Before she could grab it, I snatched it away, heart pounding. “Alright, you’ve overstayed your welcome. I’ll be down in ten minutes,” I said quickly, pushing her out of my room and slamming the door.

As soon as I was alone, I let out a sigh of relief. “That was close,” I muttered. If she had seen the picture, I wouldn’t have heard the end of it for at least two weeks. I stared at the photo for a moment, my fingers tracing the edges.

It was me and Jacob, smiling like we didn’t have a care in the world. My chest tightened as memories flooded back, a mix of joy and pain that threatened to overwhelm me. A tear hovered on the edge of my lashes, but I blinked it away, forcing myself to stay strong.

With a shaky breath, I tossed the picture into the bin.

“Hahaha, I can't believe you slept off on your first day of school. How do you even do that” Linda teased as soon as we came out of my house. We were heading towards our new college, a neighboring college called Forcados College, and it was our first day.

She kept laughing, clearly enjoying the fact that I had slept in on our first day.

I rolled my eyes, trying not to give her the satisfaction. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You’re just lucky I didn’t decide to sleep through the whole day. Besides, I slept late."

“Oohh, and what were you doing, crying over your mystery dream lover” she jokingly said, winking at me, not realising how close she was to the truth.

“Naahh!!, how many times will I tell you I am over it, I have moved on… i lied through my teeths, “in fact I plan to hook with somebody in our new college” I whispered the ending to her,

She gave me a playful shove as we made our way down the street. We were both excited but nervous about starting college at Forcados. It wasn’t exactly the most prestigious place, but it was well-known, and the new environment already felt like a huge shift from our regular lives.

"Man, this place is bigger than I thought," Linda said, her eyes wide as we entered the campus. There were students everywhere, some rushing to classes, others just hanging out by the courtyard, soaking in the sun. I spotted two couples making out casually, and no one was paying them attention.Everyone was minding their business. It was mesmerising, and at that moment, I felt like maybe my college won't be like my high school.

"Yeah, it’s a lot different from high school," I replied, glancing around. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being here yet. Everything was fresh and new, kinda intimidating at the same time.

We went through orientation, which was pretty standard: the usual speeches about being responsible adults and blah blah. But I kept getting distracted, my mind wandering to something, or rather, someone else. It was confusing as to why i would be thinking about him while i just dumped his photo in the bin, ready to move on. My heart ached for reasons, and no, it wasn’t just about missing high school. It was about missing him. And the feelings were stronger than I had ever felt.

As we left the auditorium, Linda kept talking about how we were going to conquer this place and have boyfriends fantasising about the cool hot guys that have been going around the campus. I just nodded along, my thoughts elsewhere. I finally let out a sigh.

"I forgot to tell you, I got into that local band we were talking about," I said, trying to shift the conversation back to something that wasn’t bugging me.

"The one with the really cute lead singer?" Linda’s eyes sparkled.

"Yeah, I’m their new guitarist." I grinned. "I mean, it’s not like we’re going on world tours anytime soon, but it’s something."

Linda clapped her hands. "That’s amazing, Alex! You’re basically going to be a rock star and hopefully get hooked. "

I laughed. "Yeah, sure, you psycho”

As we walked, I noticed a commotion at the end of the hallway, and Linda curiously dragged me along to go check it out.

A group of guys were standing by one of the pillars. All around them, They were surrounded by girls who were practically drooling. Hot would be an understatement to describe them. Something about the way they stood screamed confidence and money, like they owned the place. obviously, they are among the elites of the college. I looked away, sighing to myself. There's no need pining over what I will know I will never have.

But I looked back with so much speed. I think my neck cracked from the effort, but that was the least of my worries.

something, or I will say somebody caught my eyes, the tall one in the center. My heart skipped a beat.

And then I saw him.

Jacob.

Or at least, the boy I used to know as Jacob. He looked different now, taller, more confident. His features had sharpened, like puberty had carved him into someone almost unrecognisable. But those green eyes. Those same piercing green eyes that had haunted my dreams for three years.

My heart was racing, my feet moving on their own. Before I knew it, I was running toward him, barging through the swarm of drooling girls.

"Jacob!" I shouted, and without thinking, I hugged him tightly, feeling like the missing piece of my life had finally slotted back into place.

But before I could process the warmth of the hug, I was shoved back hard. Two guys, his friends, I assumed, were staring me down like I had just grown two heads.

"Whoa, man! What’s wrong with you?" one of them sneered.

“No leave me” I managed to escape their grip, not discouraged. "Jacob, it’s me! It’s Alex. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been? You just…"

“Hey, Andrian, you know this clown?" one of his friends interrupted, eyeing me with disgust.

Andrian?

I looked at Jacob, confused. Was this some kind of joke?

Jacob, or Andrian, as they called him, looked at me with a blank, emotionless expression. The same eyes that used to light up in our camp days now seemed cold and distant. He gave a small shake of his head, disdain evident in his eyes.

"I don’t know him," Andrian said, his voice flat and uninterested, not even bothering to look at me properly.

The words hit me like a slap across the face. I was short of words, I stood there like a deer in headlight, trying to process what really happened. Even as Jacob or Andrian left with his friends, without so much as a side glance, or a flicker of emotion.

I just watched helplessly, as Jacob, or Andrian, whoever he was now, turned his back on me and walked away with his friends, not even giving me a second glance.

I was left standing there in the middle of the hallway, my heart in pieces, staring at the empty space where he had been.

How could he not remember me? How could he pretend I didn’t exist?

The boy who had been my best friend. My first kiss. My everything.

Had totally treated me like trash.