Chapter Sixteen

"Nothing!" she blurted out before she could stop herself and shot to her feet, running away from the couch for her bedroom.

She sat on the edge of her bed and covered her head in her hands, her breathing uneven and fast. What was she thinking? He wasn't just any man! He was her boyfriend's father! How could she be entertaining such thoughts about him? If anyone found out, she'd be dead. God, how could she think about something so horrible?

Images of his curious expression were still fresh in her mind. He had obviously noticed her attention on him, and didn't know what caused it. What if he knew what she was thinking? What if he knew and he was thinking about what a terrible human being she was for having those thoughts?

She shook her head, as if that could chase the frustrating thoughts away. But the more she wanted them to leave, the more powerful they became and before she knew it, she was forcing herself to play racing games on her phone that required full use of her focus and reflexes.

When the next day came, she headed to school and went out of her way to make sure she didn't cross paths with Keanu, but unfortunately for her, she received a text in a group chat she had with her family and Leonard's that Leonard wanted his dad to pick him up after school because he had injured his feet after playing soccer with his friends. Keanu agreed, and invited Alice to join them since she didn't have a car of her own. She couldn't think of any ways to get out of it, so she said yes.

When official school hours were over, Alice went to Leonard's building in hopes that she could walk with him to Keanu's car so she wouldn't be alone with him, but she wasn't prepared for what happened next. She was standing in front of his classroom when through the crack of the door, she saw him making out with one of his classmates.

Betrayal tore through her mind as she remembered the girl. She was Sabrina, a girl whom Leonard flirted with the moment he had the excuse to. She had always been worried about her, asking him if he was interested in her. He told her she was paranoid, but the proof was right in front of her - he was undoubtedly cheating now.

She backed away from the classroom and ran to the school lobby, tears falling from her eyes as she ran. He told her that she was the only one for him, that she was his forever, that they'd be together always, but he didn't mean what he said! Stopping just shy of the pick up point, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hands until her eyes were dry. Then she went out to meet Keanu.

"Are you alright?" Keanu said the moment she appeared.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Alice said, smiling.

But he didn't say anything in response. She stood there, waiting for Leonard as her heart sank lower and lower. She felt a tremble in her hands, and she scoffed silently to herself. He played her for a fool! Was he ever serious about her?

It didn't take long before Leonard showed up. He waved to them with a friendly smile and they got onto Keanu's car. She rode with him in silence for about fifteen minutes before she felt the floodgates open.

"What the hell?" Leonard said. "Why are you crying?"

"You fucking asshole."

"Excuse me?"

"I saw you."

"You're not making any sense."

"I saw you kissing Sabrina, you asshole! You said I was enough, but you're cheating on me!"

Leonard's jaw dropped. Keanu remained in silence as he drove but she knew he could hear everything.

"Are you fucking her?" Alice asked.

"Look, Alice. You don't understand."

"Hell I don't!"

"You really don't. It's nothing serious. It doesn't mean anything to me. She doesn't mean anything to me. You're the one I love."

"You love me? Don't make me laugh. Since when have you ever treated me like you should? The only sacrifice you ever made was on day one, but after that it was like you had been replaced by another person. You make me question myself all the time, you had the gall to force yourself on me before, and now you've made light of the five years that we've had because of some girl you don't really know. There were good times, sure, like when you boasted I was your girlfriend after I shared my achievements to your friends, but even then it was not right. By doing that, you were making my moment your own! What have you done during the past five years that was thoroughly for my sake, and my sake only?"

"Geez, thanks for the speech. Do you want a standing ovation?"

She closed her eyes in frustration, the tears rolling down. Why the fuck was she putting up with this piece of shit of a boyfriend?

"Besides," Leonard said. "We were obviously on a break, so I wasn't actually cheating, was I?"

"On a break?" Alice yelled as she glared at him. "Since when?"

"We left things unresolved when my dad ratted you out and we fought, remember? We were effectively on a break."

"In no words did we ever communicate a fucking break to each other!" Alice screamed, her hands shoving him.

He flung her hands away. "God, what's gotten into you lately? You used to listen to me all the time, but now it's like you suddenly decided to grow a personality!"

"How dare you say that?!"

"Dad, tell her she's being crazy!" Leonard said and Alice stared at Keanu through the rear view mirror. He glanced at the both of them before he returned his eyes to the road.

He kept silent.

"I'm breaking up with you," Alice said.

Leonard scowled hard at Alice. "Oh, yeah?" Then he raised a hand up at her, ready to strike her across the cheek.