Chapter 22 One Chance, One Mistake
"Hello?" Bellatrix answered her phone. She didn’t need to look at the screen; she already knew exactly who was calling.
"Hey, Bell!" The way he dropped the 'a' at the end of her name made her heart sink. It really was him.
"What do you want, Clyde?" she asked, her voice flat. She was standing on a crowded sidewalk and had to press herself against a storefront to avoid being jostled by passersby. She had never been able to walk and talk at the same time, unlike people who could carry on a full conversation while navigating a crowd.
"Still can’t walk and talk, I see," Clyde teased.
Bellatrix's eyes scanned the busy shopping center. "You could’ve just walked up to me instead of wasting my minutes."
Clyde let out a soft, husky laugh. "Hungry? It’s almost dinner time."
She kept searching the faces in the crowd for him, but he was nowhere to be found. "My mother is expecting me home."
"Oh, just tell her you’re with me. She always liked me, always saw the best in me. I doubt she’ll mind." He chuckled again, though the sound was a bit bittersweet. "I remember her calling me, crying, apologizing because you broke my heart."
"Are you going to show yourself or not?" Bellatrix irritably asked.
"Not unless you agree to dinner," Clyde responded, still with a tease in his voice.
Bellatrix snorted and ended the call. "I don’t want to see you anyway, let alone eat with you," she muttered to herself.
Gripping her shopping bag, she stepped back into the flow of the sidewalk. Suddenly, a hand clamped firmly onto her arm, pulling her back toward the wall. A tall guy with a lean, muscular build stood over her, smiling. Those familiar dimples appeared in his cheeks, and Bellatrix fought the urge to smile back.
Those dimples were a map of her past. They reminded her of innocent days playing in the park, of "kiss tag," and splitting a single ice cream cone because they only had enough change for one. She remembered him kissing her in third grade in front of the whole class, the hot sting of embarrassment, and the silly jokes that felt like the funniest things in the world back then. They reminded her of a kiss after a high school dance — the kind she wished would never end. He was her first love, wrapped up in every sweet, aching memory she owned.
"No smile?" Clyde asked softly. "It’s been a year, Bell. Still nothing for me?"
Bellatrix kept her expression firm.
"I remember when we couldn’t go a day without talking," he said, his hand still resting just above her elbow.
She remembered, too. For two months after the breakup, she had picked up the phone every single day to call him. She’d get halfway through dialing his number before reality hit, and she remembered she was the one who walked away. She had never told him why; she had been too afraid of the truth.
His smile flickered for a second before returning even brighter. "You’re even more beautiful than I remembered. I saw this gorgeous girl walking down the street, so carefree and striking, and I wondered why she was alone. It took me a moment to realize it was you."
"I'm not interested in your flirting, Clyde."
"It isn't flirting if it's the truth. And I only say these things to you."
That was the problem — it was true. Since they were kids, he had showered her with attention while remaining cold to everyone else. He never made an effort with other girls, not even her friends. Since the age of six, Clyde had been tethered to her. He had teammates and acquaintances, but no one ever got close to him. No one but her.
"I need to go home." She tried to move toward a gap in the crowd, but Clyde didn't let go.
He pulled out his phone and hit the speed-dial button. "Mrs. Saunders! It’s Clyde. I’m doing great... Oh, I know she isn't home, she’s right here with me. I was hoping I could take her to dinner since it’s been so long?" He grinned at Bellatrix's shocked expression. "Great, thank you! I’ll have her back by ten. Bye!"
He tucked the phone away, his face turning seriously. "I’m not letting you leave until you explain. I called, emailed, and wrote letters for six months. You ignored everything. Honestly, I expected you to hang up the moment you saw my caller ID."
Bellatrix swallowed hard. She didn't know why she had answered, either. Or maybe she did. Maybe she knew they couldn't keep running forever. One way or another, she had to tell him why their "happy" life ended overnight.
It had been a year. Surely their hearts had moved on enough to handle the truth. "Fine, Clyde. I will explain."
The tension left his face, replaced by his usual smile. He slid his hand down her arm, interlacing his fingers with hers. "Great! Have you been to Daily Sweet Café? They have the best desserts."
"I work there, Clyde. I got a discount, so let’s just go there."
"Even better!" he cheered.
As they walked, Bellatrix looked down at their joined hands. It feels different now. There were no sparks, no racing pulse — just a dull warmth and the memory of a time when his touch used to make her shiver. She looked at the back of his head, a thought occurring to her.
"I’ve never seen you at the café before," she noted.
"I usually go in the afternoon, before my shift starts."
"I work the night shift after school." A chill ran through her. They were living parallel lives, occupying the same seats at different hours, so close yet completely apart. "What are you doing for work?"
"Helping my dad with construction. He wanted me to finish college, but I’m just not the type to sit around with books. That was always your department." He squeezed her hand, his fingers shifting to hold hers tighter.
· · ─────── · 𓅪 · ─────── · ·
Inside the café, the evening waiter took their orders. Bellatrix sipped her soda, watching Clyde obsessively polish his silverware with a napkin. He had always been paranoid about dirty dishes.
"I’m probably the one who wrapped those," she said. "I inspect them pretty closely."
Clyde looked up, beaming. "Well, in that case, I’m safe." He set the fork down as a gesture of trust.
Her eyes drifted to the necklace he was wearing. Hanging from the chain was a ruby ring — the one he’d given her in ninth grade as a promise that they would be together forever. She had left it on his desk the day she broke up with him. Seeing it now, she realized with a jolt that he hadn't moved on at all.
She sighed, hoping that the truth would finally give him the closure he needed. "You're too clingy, Clyde. Too needy."
Clyde, who had been trying to catch the waiter's eye, froze. "What?"
"It started the day we met. I let you play ball with us because you were sitting in the corner alone. You were small, and kids were mean to you." It's hard to imagine now, looking at his six-foot-three frame, but he had been tiny back then.
Clyde went quiet.
"I was kind to you, and you glued yourself to me. You got jealous of my other friends. You got a little better after fifth grade because I forced the issue, but you still refused to make your own friends. You wanted every single minute of my time. I realized I was becoming your enabler."
He ran a hand through his blonde hair, looking down at the table. "Enabler?"
"I was providing everything for you. I was your classmate, your best friend, and your girlfriend. I was helping you hide from the world, and no one saw it. Our parents just thought we were 'close.'" She leaned back, feeling the weight of the past. "But I needed other people. You were always in the way. I felt guilty going on a girls' weekend or shopping, and when I did bring you along, my friends were frustrated because you took up all my attention."
Clyde's hands balled into fists on the table. "I didn't know I was a burden. If you had just told me... I would have done anything! Anything!" He snapped, drawing looks from other customers. "If you wanted me to make friends, I would have. I just wanted to be there for you. I didn't want you to feel abandoned."
Bellatrix shook her head, wanting to change the subject. "Do you have friends now?"
"Yes," he said quickly. "Clem and Ashton, they are both from the team. I hang out with them all the time. Actually, they were with me today when I saw you... I made up an excuse to ditch them."
"That's good. I'm glad you're branching out."
"What about you?"
"I have Alonso and Mayzie. I’m at Ravenfield University (RU) now, so I don't see many people from high school anymore."
"Are you seeing anyone?" There was a desperate note of hope in his voice.
"No," she said, watching him relax. "But there are people I'm interested in," she added, trying to kill that hope before it grew.
A heavy silence fell over them. Suddenly, Clyde stood up and bolted for the door. Bellatrix hesitated, then tossed some cash on the table and ran after him. She found him tucked into a narrow alleyway between the café and a pottery shop.
He was crying, his face buried in his hands, his back pressed against the brick wall.
"Clyde?" she whispered, touching his arm. "It’s been a year. Why are you doing this?"
"Don't you know how much I love you?" he choked out. "Do you think a year away wipes out ten years of history? Ten years of loving you?"
"Clyde, this isn't healthy. You shouldn't rely on one person for everything."
"Then tell me what to do!" He dropped his hands, his eyes red and pleading. "Tell me who to be and I'll be it. Just stop the guessing game. Stop the waiting. End the suffering, Bell. Please."
"I want you to forget me. I want you to move on and be happy on your own. I want you to trust yourself before you trust anyone else." Her voice wavered.
"I can do all of that, except the part about forgetting you. I can't move on." He hung his head. "I know I’m needy and selfish. I’ll stop. I swear. If I mess up even once, I’ll walk away and never look back."
Bellatrix bit her lip. The old guilt was clawing at her chest. She had never given him the chance to change; she had just vanished. "I don't want you to change just to get me back, Clyde. That's not the right reason."
Suddenly, he moved. He pulled her forward, pinning her gently against the wall. His hands rested on either side of her head, and his face was inches from hers. She felt his tears land on her hands.
"People change for the people they love every day," he whispered. "Just give me one chance. Just one."
Bellatrix's resolve, which she had spent a year building, crumbled into dust. "Alright, Clyde. One chance."
She dropped her bags and reached up, cupping his face and forcing him to look at her. "I'll take you back."
He let out a jagged breath and pulled her into his chest, kissing her with a desperate, hungry passion. He held her as if he were afraid she would dissolve into smoke if he let go. But as Bellatrix stood there in his arms, a cold, sharp pain hit her heart.
She knew, even as she kissed him back, that she had just made a terrible mistake.