"Scar?"
Scarlett's eyes couldn't believe who she was seeing outside the building. It was Harley in black leather shearling jacket over white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans with three takeaway cups in one hand. The look on his face was enough to tell her that he was as aghast as she was. Holding her breath, she dodged past him without saying anything.
"Scar, wait!" Harley called out.
But Scarlett didn't stop walking away from him. It was hard to look him in the eye after what had happened. Suddenly, on her way climbing down the doorsteps, someone tugged at her arm and spun her around. Her head was down and her mouth was locked.
Please, don't talk to me. I'm trying to forget you, her conscience wished.
"Scar, please," Harley said softly. "Why are you avoiding me? Did I do something wrong to you?"
Slowly turning to him, Scarlett was so close to blurting her feelings out, but she held it back behind her tongue instead. It was better to just finish this encounter very soon. All of a sudden, a ringtone blared from inside his jacket that they both jumped. Releasing her arm, he took his phone out of his pocket and once he looked at the screen, he put on an apologetic look.
"Sorry, it's Joey. I got to take this."
With that, she thought it was her cue to leave so she nodded as she stammered, "O- okay, I better get going, anyway."
"Where are you going?" Harley asked as his hand holding the phone reached for her arm again, standing before her.
"Uh... I- I'm going out with... Liam," Scarlett lied before she could control herself. For the second time, somehow Liam's name was the first thing that had popped up in her head. This should be the last time she involved him into this problem.
"Oh." Harley's grasp on her arm loosened. "Okay, enjoy your date, then."
When disappointment pasted on his face, Scarlett hoped it wasn't a mistake. She hoped he would say that he didn't want her to go, kiss her and tell her that he loved her. But until she started inching away, he just stood still there doing nothing. For a moment, she couldn't lie that she thought he was jealous, but it turned out to be the dumbest thing she had ever thought.
But suddenly, without any warning, someone grabbed her arm again, twisted her body around and the next thing she knew was her lips met someone's lips. Everything came about in a split second and before she could digest what was happening, the person had already pulled away. Harley stood close awkwardly from her as he looked away, twitchy.
Her heart started thumping fast and her face went hot. Would this be the moment she was waiting for all this time? But right when his mouth croaked to talk, the front door of dormitory building flung open and a blonde girl wheeling out a cabin luggage appeared, panting, as she hastily shouted, "Come on, Harley, we're going to be late for our flight!"
Scarlett's eyes immediately fell on the girl as she gasped. It felt like the time stopped ticking while they stared at the blonde girl who froze up there looking as shocked as them. Definitely different girl from the park a few days ago. What happened the next second was Scarlett's feet rocketed away as fast as they could without her realizing it while her heart was barbed very badly that made tears roll down her face.
How could he do that to her? How could he kiss her when he was actually picking up another girl there? Was she just a joke to him? Was she just another toy for him? If loving him hurt her so much, she wished she had never fallen for him. But it was too late. And now she wished hating him would be as easy as he caused the exquisite pain in her heart.
***
Jessica startled when Ashley barged into their apartment sobbing. Before Ashley scuttled across the living room to her room, Jessica rapidly intercepted her. Ashley melted to her embrace.
"Ash, what happened?" Jessica asked in a shocked tone.
Ashley could hardly speak since she was blubbering so badly, shaking her head. Caressing it, Jessica just let her cry her heart out in her arms. It was useless to ask Ashley questions while she was in this state. Whatever had happened between her and Joey just now, it was definitely much worse than before. Just like that, Jessica felt genuinely angry with him.
Following five minutes of crying, Ashley said she just wanted to go to bed then haled herself into her room. She looked like a walking dead. After Ashley closed her door, Jessica rushed to Joey's apartment with a bad temper. This time, he absolutely could use a confrontation.
Joey was having his phone pressed to his ear on one shoulder while his hands were busy unwrapping a present when Jessica stomped inside. As soon as he saw her, he abruptly shoved the present into his pullover pocket right when his phone slid off his shoulder to the rug.
"Dammit!" He squatted down to collect his phone. "Jess, what are you doing here?" he asked as he fumbled to end the call.
"What did you say to Ashley?" Jessica asked hotly.
Puckering up, Joey shrugged one shoulder. "What, no big deal."
"Don't lie to me, Joey," she growled between her teeth.
"I'm not lying," he grouched.
"She's bawling her eyes out right now because of you!"
"What, I'm not the only person who can make her cry," he protested.
"Oh, yeah, right," she rolled her eyes cynically, "so the building guy just randomly came up here just now to make her cry. Make sense."
Joey aimed his eyes to his phone as it rang then swiftly picked up his backpack on the couch. Approaching the front door, he said to her, "I got to go. Harley's waiting for me."
But Jessica flung the front door shut and blocked it instead. "You're not going anywhere until you talk to me."
He groaned, rejecting the call. "What do you want me to say?"
"Did it really mean nothing to you?"
A series of dings pealed from his phone. "Will you please excuse me? My sister's bombarding me with a thousand texts. We're late!"
"No, answer me first!" she rebuffed.
"Okay! What meant nothing?" Joey prevaricated.
In disbelief, Jessica snorted then began to smack his arm while every smack represented every word she was saying, "Stop-playing-dumb-with-me!"
"Ouch! Ouch! Jess, stop it!"
"Then, just cut it out and admit it!" she snapped.
"Okay, okay! It meant nothing to me!" Joey spread his arms out, irritated. "You happy?"
"Really, Joey?" she scoffed, narrowing her eyes. "Really?"
Taking a deep breath, he stayed tight-lipped. His silence could unmistakably be taken to mean a tacit denial. His phone was back on ringing, but he rejected it again.
"Why, Joe, why do you always act like you don't care about her?" Jessica grumbled.
Again, his ringtone went off. "Seriously, Jess, step aside! My sister and Harley are waiting for me downstairs."
Standing defiantly, she folded her arms. "No."
Joey clicked his tongue as his eyes rolled. "I don't care about her."
"Can you please stop telling such obvious lies?" she beseeched with her voice rising impatiently.
Once he hit the lock button on his phone again to stop the ringing, it went so quiet they could hear a pin drop. A recently-released Apple Watch box sticking out of Joey's pullover pocket captured Jessica's attention and she could guess it was a birthday present from Ashley. It was inscrutable what was going on in this stubborn guy's head. A literal slap in the face was incontestably necessary for him right now.
Why won't he confess to even himself that he has feelings for Ashley? How could he be such a bullheaded moron who's afraid of falling in love? Jessica's mind griped.
"Come on, Joey, for once just wear your heart on your sleeve."
"What on earth are you on about?"
Her expression screamed 'Seriously?' at him. He made her totally short-tempered. How could he not see that he and Ashley had feelings for each other? It was written all over their faces. Everyone knew it but them.
"Okay, why, then?" Joey questioned, pain noticeable in his voice. "Why should I care about her while the guy she actually likes is Harley, not me?"
Jessica lifted her eyebrows in surprise for a moment before her mouth finally produced a scornful laughter. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous."
Joey swallowed, his eyes darting clockwise. "No."
"See, you don't even have the balls to admit it."
Judging by his heavy breath and tense stance, he appeared to be on edge of losing his head. His phone blasted a ringtone once again. "I have a plane to catch, Jess," he mumbled.
The moment Joey was about to walk past her to reach the door handle, she held up a hand to his chest to detain him. "You know what, you're so not a man I thought you were. I was wrong to ever think you were the best guy for Ashley."
By that, Jessica flicked her hair over her shoulder with her chin in the air, and left.
***
(to be continued)