Welcome To Carlsonton Academy

Chapter XXVII

I stormed into the cafeteria with tears streaming down my face. My friends were all seated at the usual table. They waved to me as I approached, but I didn't respond. I was fueled by rage.

"I hate you! I hate you all! I hope you all rot in hell!" I yelled at them, before turning away. All eyes were on us. My sobs were resonating around the room. I could sense everyone was shocked by my behaviour, but I couldn't care less. I ran off to my bedroom, leaving the others in confusion.

I slammed the door shut behind me and cried into my pillow. My stupid friends and their stupid advice. How in the world did I believe that James would feel the same way? Because of what he said? For all I know, he probably said that to make me feel better. All of it was just one lie, and I fell for it. Curse him. Curse them. Curse me.

There was a soft knock on my door. Ryan stuck his head in. Before he could say anything, I started off.

"You and your fucking advice can go to hell! Never in my life am I ever going to listen to anything you people tell me. It ruined me! Hope you're all happy now."

I was furious. Nothing ever worked my way. The universe was always against me.

"Okay. Calm down." Ryan slowly approached me and sat down at the edge of my bed. "Tell me what happened."

"Well, I took your stupid advice and look where it got me."

"Please be more specific."

"I told James how I felt."

"And?"

"Let's just say Jalerie is never going to happen."

"Why? What did he do?"

"It doesn't matter. He clearly doesn't feel the same way."

Ryan sighed. "Narrate the whole conversation to me."

I took a deep breath. "So at first I was like 'We need to talk about it' and then he was like 'No we don't'. So I said that we need to figure things out and he said there's nothing to figure out."

"Hmm. Continue."

"After that, he was getting ready to leave, so I grabbed his hand and told him that I really liked him".

Ryan looked at me expectantly.

"H-he said that he doesn't feel the same way."

He frowned. "That could mean a lot of things. It sounds to me like he was being very ambiguous."

"You weren't there. If you'd seen his expression..."

"What was it like?"

"He looked so... cold. Like I'd just ruined his life by saying those words."

Ryan pulled me in for a hug. "I'm sorry, Val."

"I can't believe I actually thought he liked me."

"Don't blame yourself. He's the one who made the first move and said he loved you."

"I guess it was a lie."

"Perhaps not."

I looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Remember when you kissed Shane, you walked away because Shane only liked you while you were crazy about him? Well, this could be a similar case."

"So you're saying that he was so rude because I said I really liked him, but I didn't love him?"

"No, but maybe he's under the impression that this is all a joke to you. He probably thought you were going to friendzone him. So he didn't give you a chance to explain yourself."