Chapter 27: Relationships Suck!

After waiting an hour outside the hospital room, the doctor finally came out.

It was a chaotic atmosphere once Nolan fell unconscious in the snow. Paris and I managed to bring him to the closest hospital. Nolan's parents came soon after I called them. Not wanting to worry my own, I didn't inform them about anything.

I didn't even have time to ponder over the piece of information Nolan gave me.

The eighth breakup.

He already had one.

But who, what, where, when, why, and how?!

"He's fine," Doctor Fitzgerald informed. "He simply fainted from stress and exhaustion. Was he working out? Doing any cardio exercise?" Nolan's parents turned to Paris and me for answers. I was still stuck on the fainting part.

He just fainted?

Had I been panicking for no reason?

Stupid Nolan.

"Well, he was running towards his car in the snow," Paris answered, omitting important details.

The doctor gave a comprehending nod and asked to talk to the parents alone. Before they left, I made sure to get permission to visit Nolan. I needed to clear some things with him before any misunderstandings could separate us.

Nolan was up, sitting and watching Mulan on the TV.

Seeing me, his carefree expression turned stiff.

"I don't want to see you," he said icily.

"Too bad the feeling isn't mutual." I pulled a chair next to his bed and put my hand over his which he jerked away quickly. "Stay mad at me if you want, but at least, clear everything."

"Everything's crystal clear," he said in a mocking tone. "You dated me to help me and I was stupid enough to fall for another girl. I never learn, do I? You're just like--" he abruptly paused before continuing, "like the rest of them." For some reason, I felt that he was going to say something else.

"I genuinely like you, Nolan. That little plan ended before it even began." I endeavored to explain. "Feelings can't be forced, especially not with you." As soon as those words left my mouth, I realized how wrong it sounded. Nolan didn't even give me a chance to elaborate. His head turned in my direction and I saw nothing but disappointment.

"Get out."

"You're taking it wrong--"

"I said get the hell out of my sight!" His voice raised with his temper. "I released you from your blackmailing sentence a long while ago and you still had the audacity to stay with me. Because you've never had a friend or a boyfriend in your life, you decided to use me as your testing dummy, didn't you? Never do I ever want to see your face again, Helen! Ever! Out!" He was losing it. On the little monitor, I could see his heartbeats rising and as soon as his coughing started, one of the nurses came running in.

As she shoved me out, my eyes remained glued to Nolan's pale face.

He had done the coughing on purpose.

Just to get me out.

In the doorway, I yelled, "Who's the eighth breakup?"

Shaking his head slightly at me, he resumed the coughing. What a tantrum king! By using his own problem to his advantage, he eliminated me from the room . . . but not from his life. He was the first guy I actually liked (any little feelings I might've had for Paris disappeared a long ago) and I wasn't giving up on Nolan so easily.

If he wasn't going to tell me about his eighth breakup, then I'd find out myself.

Once I reached Paris, he asked about the commotion and I just blamed the idiot patient's ill health.

"Well, I have to go. I'm sorry, but my life's a mess right now," Paris said, rubbing his face. I had completely forgotten about the college student's marriage. He was definitely in heaps of trouble in his community.

"I hope everything sorts out," I said sympathetically.

"For the both of us."

Downcast, I nodded. He left and I waited to talk to Nolan's parents. They returned with the doctor after a while and then paid a visit to Nolan before approaching me with gloomy expressions.

"How many times do we have to tell you to stay away from our son?" Mrs. Milesblue asked.

I frowned. "What--?"

"Young lady, we know you went to that psychologist and because of you, our son's been in trouble," said Mr. Milesblue as if it was all my fault. They didn't even the tragedies I went through. "Playing little Romeo and Juliet is fun in storybooks not in real life. In fact, it's not even that. He has no interest in a gold digger like you!"

I stared agape at the couple.

Gold digger?

That's what Nolan told them about me?

"If I was a gold digger, your son would be the last person I'd date. He needs a psychologist and you people obviously can't see that! Pay some attention to him!"

"We know how to handle our child. Thanks for the concern," Mrs. Milesblue said coldly.

I hated her.

"Please leave before Nolan sees you again. We don't want him stressed," Mr. Milesblue said, matching his wife's tone.

Hurt by their unjust statements, I briskly trudged away. If Nolan needed his time, then he could have it. However, telling such lies served no one any good. No tears reached my eyes instead anger and rage took over. How could he trust me when I was acting but not when I wasn't?

I rode a bus home and slammed the front door on my way in.

To my poor luck, neither one of my parents were home.

I jumped into my bed and buried my head in a pillow, screaming profanities at Nolan and his parents.

Relationships suck!

¤》¤《¤

It was more than an agonizing week after the incident and I sat in AP European History alone. No signs of Nolan. No information about the eighth breakup. I missed him so much. Sending him over a gazillion texts, I received no response except for "message failed to send" or "an error occurred."

"You can't be serious."

"For real?"

The two senior girls in the seats in front of me giggled.

"Hell yeah! My boyfriend told me Nolan joined his all boys' school and there's some Kayden guy who's going to beat him up today, after school. Apparently, he slept with Kayden's girlfriend when he was dating Helen. Two-timer."

Their words struck me.

Nolan. All-boys' school. Kayden.

Oh damn.

Now, I knew why he was nowhere to be seen! He had switched his schools! How could he?!

According to the information, he was going to get jumped!

Karma.

Wheels immediately began turning in my head, calculating how far away Kayden's school was and how much time it'd take me to run there to warn Nolan. Ten minutes, maybe?

Or I can text him?

Texting was faster, but my messages failed to deliver.

I could always just ignore him like he ignored me. But I like him too much for that. He might have moved on, but I didn't. Finalizing my decision to see him, I hurried out of the school as soon as the dismissal bell rang. The school was down the road, in a ghetto-type area, and it ended at the same time as ours did. I didn't have much time to save the guy who had captured my tiny heart.

School buses and cars slowly moved.

I jogged at the extreme edge of the road, avoiding any accidents. The parents and students inside the cars didn't even notice me.

I was like shadowhunter rescuing a stupid mundane.

Or a wizard saving a muggle.

As soon as the school came into view, I caught my breath. The guys gawked at me as if they had never seen a girl before. I looked around lost, not knowing where to go next in my impulsive rescue mission.

"Hey." A random guy with blonde, spiky hair blocked my way. He wore a small, loopy earring in one ear and one on his left eyebrow. I tried to move around him, but he wouldn't let me. "I didn't know angels flew so low."

"I didn't know losers aimed so high."

Some guys near us erupted into laughter. The loser in front of me didn't instead he smirked.

"You, me, handcuffs, and whipped cream: interested?"

"Huh?" I didn't even understand his meaning. He burst out laughing at my confusion. It wasn't my fault I prefer Harry Potter over Fifty Shades Of Grey. "Dude, where the hell is the fight?" I asked, almost losing my patience.

"Fight?" His eyebrows furrowed.

"Kayden Something versus Nolan Milesblue--"

"Don't tell me you're Janine," he said, shaking his head. These people knew about Janine? Of course, she was the cause of the assault Kayden was planning.

"No, I'm--where's the fight?" I didn't need to tell everyone my name.

One of the guys from the nearby group gestured something and almost pulling out my hair, I trudged towards him. "They're gonna corner Nolan in the back," he said, his cropped black hair flying in the wind. "If you came here to stop the fight, it's useless. Kayden has numbers on his side. No one likes the new loner."

I didn't care.

Hurrying towards the back of the school building, I crossed my fingers. Maybe I should inform the authority, first? That'd take a lot of explaining and time wasting.

As soon as I turned around the corner, I regretted it.

My eyes squeezed shut for a moment.

I did not just see Nolan's bloody face.

"Yeah, the party started a little early." I didn't realize the guy flirting with me earlier was still following. Ignoring him, I stepped forward when I pulled back. "Are you insane? Do you want to get hit?" This random stranger was telling me what to do and what not to do? I broke free of his tight grip on my elbow and pushed him away.

"Get lost," I spat at him before rushing in the mess. While students recorded the scene, Kayden and his gang gave them something to record. Nolan was on the ground, trying to fight back, but he was no action hero. It was seven against one. I couldn't even look at Nolan's face because it hurt. "Stop it!" I stepped between Kayden and Nolan.

I'll be honest.

I didn't expect Kayden to shove me to the side and resume. As I barged in again to end the beating up, one of the guys pushed me hard and I landed in front of the blonde guy who met me with an I-told-you expression.

"How do I stop this?" I asked desperately. If I couldn't stop it, someone else could.

"Principal's not here today, so probably convince the peacemaker of this school to help you out." I scratched my head, not knowing who the peacemaker was. Finding him would equal more time waste. "The peacemaker always settles the fight for good. And he listens to girls. Especially when they say 'please.'"

"Who is he?"

"Me, duh."

I nearly punched him.

"Then go and stop the goddamn fight!" I screamed. He crossed his arms as if waiting for something. Remembering his words, I clenched my fists and added, "Please."

He grinned before I pushed him towards the guys punching Nolan.

My eyes moved back and forth between the 'peacemaker' and the broken guy. Although I hated Nolan for moving away from me so quickly, the punishment for that action still fell in my hands, not Kayden's. These people wouldn't allow me to even get a foot close to my boyfriend! As that flirty blonde guy/peacemaker tried to reason things out, no one listened to him!

Useless brat called himself the peacemaker.

He met my eyes for a brief second and I didn't hide my disappointment.

Before I knew it, the blonde stranger threw a punch at Kayden's face.

Whoa.

¤》¤《¤

A/N

I'm like so flippin' excited to write the next chapter. Update will be on Friday (5 minutes before midnight as always lol. US eastern time zone). I was gonna save this chapter for Friday but then realized I promised a double update...might as well stick with the promise.
Btw, I started the sequel to Hate vs. Love, if anyone's interested <3 If you haven't checked out Hate vs. Love, I think you should. It's for all the haters and lovers xD

How was the chapter?

Too fast?
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