I picked up a glass of beer from the table and threw it straight into Simon’s face.
The liquid soaked his hair, strands clinging to his forehead.
His eyes squeezed shut from the sudden impact, but after a brief pause, they snapped open.
Silence crashed over the room.
Le
The dim lights flickered weakly above, struggling like a breath on its last legs.
Simon clenched his teeth, his jaw tight as he glared at me.
I met his stare without a trace of emotion.
“Are you sober now, Simon? It appears you didn’t hear me clearly that night, so let me say it again, in front of everyone.
“Simon, we’re done.”
I didn’t wait for a reaction.
I turned and walked out the door.
One of Simon’s friends couldn’t hold back and asked, “Simon, you’re really not going after her? She seemed serious this time.”
Simon kicked over the coffee table, sending fruit platters and glasses shattering to the floor.
“You think I’d go
after her? Ha! As if she’s worth it. I’d love to see what Chloe amounts to without me.”
That night, around a dozen of our old high school classmates gathered for the reunion.
It had been years since we last saw each other, and the drinks flowed freely as laughter and conversation filled the air.
The class president had always been close to Noah back in school.
He told me that Noah came tonight just for me.
“Chloe, we all thought you two would end up together after graduation. Who could’ve guessed his biological parents would
suddenly show up and take him overseas?
That was the year I found out the truth.
The same Noah I grew up with–the boy who ate plain bread and pickled vegetables with me in our small rural town, who never had a decent winter coat and was always mistaken for a street beggar–turned out to be the long–lost heir of a wealthy family.
Just then, the door swung open, and Noah walked in.
1/4
All eyes
turned toward him in an instant.
I glanced back.
He stood taller than the crowd, dressed in a perfectly tailored charcoal–gray suit.
Having broad shoulders and a lean waist, he looked like he had stepped straight off the cover of a high–end magazine.
“Well, well, if it isn’t our very own Noah Wells. It’s been years, and you finally decided to show up.”
“Noah, you’re late. That means you owe us a few extra drinks tonight.”
He greeted everyone politely. “Of course.”
At the same time, his gaze drifted through the room until it locked onto me..
The moment our eyes met, my heart pounded so hard it felt like it might break free from my chest.
+15 BONUS
During the second half of the reunion, I stepped out of the restroom only to be yanked into the dimly lit stairwell.
The space was narrow, the air thick with the scent of alcohol clinging to Noah.
“Why haven’t you answered my messages?
