Its Always You (Book Two)

Part 4

/Tylors POV/

Tylor sprinted out of the class as soon as the clock signalled the end of the lecture. He couldn’t sit near her and pretend it wasn’t affecting him. Well, he did try for forty-five minutes, and those were the worst minutes of his life.

He was screwed.

He had thought everything was going fine at first when he entered college. A change of scenery is exactly what he needed in his life. That’s what his parents said when they booked his flight ticket. He was happy in Jersey, maybe a little too comfortable and did some s**t that he would like to forget. When he got accepted purely for his athletic skills, he wanted to give it a try. Tylor felt that he embarrassed his parents enough and took his subjects seriously.

The moment he stepped inside the class, he saw Anna. Nothing prepared him for that moment. She was sitting on the very first bench with her face pale like she had seen a ghost. He couldn’t believe his eyes, for a few seconds, it made him think that she was a fragment of his imagination. Tylor sadly had those on the first few months of their break up.

He controlled his expressions, trying not to react and give her satisfaction of knowing she affected him, still even after one year and six freaking months. It was pathetic as he thought about it.

Tylor tried to keep a blank face. He couldn’t help but focus his eyes on her for a fraction of second, because she was staring at him. With her soft, mussed hair, short hair which took him a while to get around, bright wide eyes, she was a sight. She appeared weak, the loose white tee almost drowning her tiny body. He tried not to let his eyes drift towards her legs, hyper-aware that she was in jorts. It was his moment of weakness combined with the attraction. He knew it. It made sense. Anna was exactly his type, and they dated for so long. He had the privilege to take her on dates, kiss her and occasionally cuddle, which affected his judgement. Also, it didn’t help that she was soft, almost too delicate staring at him like he wasn’t real.

Not because of anything else. Only that.

Somehow, he managed to stay calm and not freak out in the class. Not even when the professor asked him to sit beside her, it was a shock to him as well that he managed not to create a scene. Tylor was anticipating awkwardness and hidden resentment when he met her, but there was also desire. Desire to hold her even after the hell she put him through.

And then there was that moment where she greeted him with that sweet voice of hers. He pretended not to hear for his sanity. The way her face fell when he rejected her advances at the conversation was a punch to gut. She looked insecure of all things, immediately averting her eyes away from. Anna made a sound in the back of her hurt, almost hurt, but he ignored it. It so strange that she was affected by his indifference. Shouldn’t she be delighted? After all, that’s what she wanted from him. But seeing the sudden shift in her moment, he felt like punching himself.

Tylor suddenly remembered Aaron. He knew he was pathetic when he was jealous; he just didn’t understand why he was jealous again. Or maybe he wasn’t; he was just mad at her for picking him. The nerve to break his heart and then the very next day accepting Aaron’s proposal like nothing happened irked him. That was it. His blood boiled as he remembered that night clearly as if it happened a day before. His own best friend and girlfriend went behind his back and were probably happy. Anna was always gone for that perfect boy who can do no wrong. Tylor was naive enough to believe that she would forget about Aaron and date. Where did that get him?

It was enough for him to move the chair away from her. For the rest of the lecture, he tried to focus on the screen instead of her delicate flowery scent.

“Ty, bro, are you okay?” He snapped back to reality at the gruff voice. Raising his head, he noticed his friend Gabe staring at him with a confused look.

By the end of the day, Tylor managed to befriend Gabe who he shared business classes with. Gabe’s twin, Michael was on the college football team, so Tylor managed to make friends with both of them. They both convinced him to join the frat. He wasn’t sure if he regretted it yet.

“Yeah, of course,” Tylor quickly said, a little too quickly which made his friend frown.

“You sure? You have been staring at that ball since forever” Gabe questioned sceptically, his arms pushed in the air. He was stretching for cleaning duties. Atleast Tylor assumed that.

Tylor sighed and stood up from his bed, marching towards the study table. He plopped down and forced a smile in the direction of his friend, “Just a bit worried about my subjects, I guess.”

“Eh don’t worry about them. We have juniors at our disposal for assignments.”

Tylor shook his head, not interested in hearing that part of the story.

“Anyways I came to tell you about the party tomorrow evening. We are going to organise it so meet up with Michael after practice, and he will assign your duty.”

Tylor made a face, “A party? For what?”

“Do we need a reason to celebrate the achievement that is life?” Gabe dramatically exclaimed.

Tylor scoffed, “Right my bad for asking”

“It’s okay you can make up tomorrow in the party” With a wink, Gabe hurried out of the room.

***

“Hey, Ty!” Eleanor’s voice echoed in his ears. He could hear her grin through the phone.

“It’s been ages .”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Tylor grimaced. “I have been… a little busy.”

“Don’t worry; I get it. All that moving hasn’t been easy on you.”

Tylor nodded his head. Eleanor was the only one who took his side after the breakup. She managed to keep him sane throughout it and talked him out of stupid things. After high school, she took a gap year and moved to Maysville for her family’s business.

“Yeah...I’m finally settled now. What’s new with you?”

Eleanor grinned, “I was going to surprise you later, but I can’t hold it any longer! I got accepted to Wellington.”

Tylor spluttered, his eyes widening “Wow, that’s great!”

Wellington was the farthest building on their campus. He had no idea that Eleanor was trying to get into his college.

“I know, right! I will be there next week at most. It’s so exciting” She squealed over the phone.

Tylor hummed. He was then reminded that Eleanor was going to be in the same college, which meant she would find out about Anna. There was no use in hiding it from her anyway.

“Listen… I have something to tell you.”

“What?”

Tylor rolled his lips between his teeth,

“Anna...she’s in my class. We share the same minor subject.”

For a second, there was silence before he heard a sharp inhale.

“What?!”

Tylor winced at her sharp tone. “Yeah”

“What the f**k?” Eleanor murmured after another minute of stunned silence. “What the actual f**k?”

“I know right,” Tylor sighed, dragging his hands through his hair. He was still unable to believe it. What are the chances?!

“Ty! Bloody hell! That’s not good at all. As if you needed that selfish b***h back in your life.” Tylor frowned at the venom in her voice.

It wasn’t anything new, Eleanor didn’t like Anna. Hated her even and had taken it upon herself not to mention her name at all. She often had the colourful language to describe Anna, and it irked him. It was weird that even after everything, he cannot fathom others badmouthing Anna.

“I can’t believe this,” Eleanor continued, her voice shrill.“I am so sorry that I’m not there to comfort you through it. But only one week more.”

“I mean it’s not that bad,” Tylor replied honestly.

Eleanor made a sound, “Oh come on, Ty! You cannot trust her again. You don’t have to be nice to her anymore. She’s not your girlfriend.”

Tylor flinched at the last part.

“No, genuinely, it’s not that bad,”

“Anna is...” His voice trailed off.

“Anna is what? The stupid dumbass that broke your heart right before prom and left you?”

“Thanks for that Eleanor” Tylor snorted, his jaw tightening as he remembered that day.

She quickly apologised, “I’m sorry I just mean that you are the victim here. You don’t have to be nice to her or anything, especially after how much hurt she caused you.”

Tylor let out a sigh. “I get that but let’s not talk about it anymore. I am okay.”

“Fine let’s talk about my new classes!”

The rest of the phone call passed by pretty quickly with them talking about Eleanor. He was okay with that.

***

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