Chapter 64 Weird
But anger surged, hot, sharp, and overwhelming. She stepped forward.
“Well,” she said loudly, her voice cutting through the air, “that’s funny.”
Both men turned and immediately, Ryan’s face drained of color.
Amelia stood there, eyes blazing, her hurt buried beneath fury. “Because you’re definitely not my type either.”
Ryan opened his mouth. “Amel—”
She didn’t let him speak. “Not even close,” she continued, her voice steady despite the ache in her chest. “And just so we’re clear? You could never be.”
Melvin shifted awkwardly. “Amelia, we didn’t mean—”
“I don’t care,” she snapped, turning toward him briefly. “I heard what I needed to hear.”
She looked back at Ryan, her eyes sharp and cold. “I thought you were different. Guess that’s on me.”
She didn’t wait for a response.
She walked past them, head high, heart breaking with every step.
When she reached her car, her hands were shaking as she unlocked it. She got in, slammed the door shut, and sat there for a second, staring straight ahead.
Her chest burned. Her eyes stung but she refused to cry there. She started the engine and drove off, gripping the steering wheel tightly as the road blurred in front of her.
The drive home felt longer than usual.
By the time Amelia pulled into her driveway, the sky had darkened completely, the evening air cool against her skin as she stepped out of the car.
The house was quiet when she entered, too quiet. Normally, she would have welcomed the silence, but tonight it pressed down on her chest, amplifying everything she had been trying not to feel.
She kicked off her shoes by the door and dropped her bag on the couch. Her movements were slow now, the adrenaline from earlier finally wearing off, leaving exhaustion in its place.
She dropped the groceries in her designated areas, and went straight to her bedroom, she changed into something comfortable, and climbed onto the bed, pulling her legs up beneath her.
Her phone lay beside her.
After staring at it for a moment, she picked it up and opened the chat she hadn’t realized she’d been waiting for all day.
Her mystery man.
The one person who felt safe. The one person she could talk to without pretending, without fear of being misunderstood or judged. She typed for a few seconds, erased it, then typed again.
Justagirl
\[Today was… bad. Like really bad.\]
The reply came almost immediately.
Thatloverboy
\[What happened?\]
She swallowed, her fingers hovering over the screen before moving again.
Justagirl
\[I had the worst encounter today. I don’t even know how to explain it properly.\]
There was a pause this time, just long enough to make her feel like he was choosing his words carefully.
Thatloverboy
\[Do you want to talk about it?\]
She shifted on the bed, pulling her knees closer to her chest.
Justagirl
\[There’s someone I like. Or liked. And today I found out he doesn’t actually like me the way I thought he did.\]
Her chest tightened as she sent it. She didn’t say Ryan’s name. Somehow, saying it even in text felt like reopening a wound, and she wasn't ready to reopen such a wound yet.
The three little dots appeared, disappeared, then appeared again.
Thatloverboy
\[I’m sorry. That hurts more than people realize.\]
Her eyes burned slightly at how easily he understood, she had told herself she would never cry over any man and certainly not one that is not worth her time or tears.
Justagirl
\[It does, What makes it worse is that I heard it accidentally. I wasn’t supposed to. I just… did. And worse still, it made me feel stupid, it's like I had this whole imagination in my head of how things might play out between us.\]
She could almost feel the embarrassment again the shock, the way her confidence had cracked in an instant.
There was a pause this time, longer than before.
When the reply came, it surprised her.
Thatloverboy
\[I understand more than you think.\]
Her brows furrowed.
Justagirl
\[What do you mean?\]
The dots appeared… disappeared… then appeared again.
Thatloverboy
\[I saw someone today too, someone I kind of like.\]
Amelia sat up slightly, intrigued.
Justagirl
\[Kind of like?\]
Thatloverboy
\[Yeah, but because of the complicated relationship between us, I had to lie to her. And then I had to watch her walk away.\]
Justagirl
\[Why would you do that? Why not just tell her the truth, that you like her but can’t date her because of the situation?\]
She waited, chewing lightly on her bottom lip.
Thatloverboy
\[Because that would complicate things even more. And it would take time I don’t have, besides… it wouldn’t change anything.\]
She stared at the words, rereading them slowly.
There was something sad about that answer. Something final. Like he had given up even before whatever it was began.
Justagirl
\[So you chose silence instead.\]
Thatloverboy
\[I chose distance.\]
That line sat with her for a moment, as she thought about what his message might mean.
Justagirl
\[I guess sometimes honesty doesn’t fix anything, some connections are just… not meant to happen.\]
Thatloverboy
\[Exactly.\]
She exhaled slowly.
Justagirl
\[So basically, we’re both dealing with relationships that were never meant to be.\]
Thatloverboy
\[Looks like it.\]
A small smile tugged at her lips despite herself, it felt good talking with someone that understands her situation, she thought.
Justagirl
\[At least we’re not breaking up with anyone, just letting go of what never really started.\]
Thatloverboy
\[That’s one way to look at it.\]
They exchanged a few lighter messages after that nothing heavy, nothing deep. Just enough to keep the conversation going. Eventually, the conversation slowed, and Amelia set her phone down beside her.
For the first time since earlier, her breathing felt normal again.
Then, a thought crossed her mind.
Rebecca, she misses having her friend around, She grabbed her phone again and tapped Rebecca’s name, pressing call. The phone rang once… twice… then went straight to voicemail.
Amelia frowned.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
"That’s weird," she muttered softly.
Rebecca always picked up. Even if she was busy, she’d send a quick text. Amelia glanced at the time, then shook her head lightly.
'What is she doing that she’s not picking up?' she thought as she tried it for the third time, this time it went straight to voicemail.
Rebecca was never one to leave her phone unattended to, so what is keeping her away from it, she thought.
Just then an idea came to her mind, or maybe she finally decided to put her honeymoon to good use and sleep with Derek, she thought with a sly smile.
She sighed and set the phone down again, staring at the ceiling once more, she decided to call again later, as she decided to take a short nap.