Four pairs of eyes darted towards me as I returned home.

None of which looked happy to see me, to say the least.

Cole must've gone to bed.

The thought of him and the others being disappointed in me, made me rethink everything. I found myself wondering whether I should've just let him go.

No.

I loved him, I thought to myself.

They didn't understand, I convinced myself.

Shrugging off my thoughts, I diverted my attention to the people in front of me.

"Hey," I attempted to begin a conversation with anyone.

Silence.

I proceeded to walk towards Olivia, who I hadn't seen all day, but with one swift movement, she turned herself away from me and began talking to Noah.

I already knew Noah was mad at me, but he must've told the others too.

I sighed, proceeding to touch Olivia's shoulder, "Liv,"

She took my hand off her shoulder as she turned, "You know what, Scout? You pride yourself in being this strong woman, which I believe you are. So practice what you preach, girl. We can't sit here and support this anymore,"

"But Liv-"

"No, Scout, you know I'm right," she flipped me off as she went into her tent.

I looked up at Noah for comfort, as he usually gave me but he provided the opposite, "Break up with him, Scout,"

He shook his head as he went into Olivia's tent.

I couldn't break up with him.

Sure, I liked Cole, but I loved Trent.

Didn't I?

As I turned back around, I noticed that Daisy and Eli had gone into their tents as well.

I was alone.

But it was okay, I still had Trent.

Since no one else wanted me around, I figured I would go and surprise Trent in his office.

I picked up my jacket and headed back where I entered.

I turned back one last time, contemplating whether I should go or not.

But at last, I shook my head and navigated my way out of the forest

***

Rows of towering skyscrapers stretched above me, their windows alight from within. The fog softened the hard lines of buildings and diffused the orange glow of sodium-vapour street lamps.

He worked very far away from me, so it took me a while to get there, but I finally made it.

I gawked at the size of the building.

It never failed to amaze and overwhelm me.

Being in the wild for 4 years really changed me as a person, I wasn't used to the city life anymore.

Blinking twice, I pushed through the fancy doors and found myself in the busy, even more extravagant reception.

People dressed in smart attire were rushing in and out, all over the place, carrying important paperwork.

To say it was overwhelming was an understatement.

I peeked over the reception desk, and Mrs Perkins barely acknowledged, me with a hand up to stop me from speaking until she was done typing away on her computer.

Ironic, really. Her surname was Perkins, but she was far from perky.

She should have named herself Mrs Cold or Mrs Emotionless.

I rolled my eyes as she made me wait for 10 painfully slow minutes at the desk.

Finally, she took her attention away from her screen, "Ms Martin,"

"Looking," she raised her eyebrows, "Very you,"

I feigned a smile, fighting the urge to talk back as I gave a mildly passive-aggressive response, "Why thank you, Mrs Perkins,"

"What can I do for you?" she inquired, deeply uninterested in my response.

"Is Trent around?" I asked, smiling at the thought of seeing him, even though we had just seen each other a couple of hours ago.

She sighed, "Yes, I'll let him know you're coming up,"

Mrs Perkins, put the phone to her ear, when I tried to stop her, "Actually, I want it to be a surprise, Mrs Perkins,"

She rolled her eyes at me wit no discretion, "I've already dialled it,"

How hard was it to press end call?

"Can't you just cut it?" I fired back, attempting to stay calm.

"Hello," I heard Trent's voice.

"Good evening Mr Trent," she began.

"What's the matter, Hilda?" he asked.

I gave her a look and she internally groaned as she replied, "You have a couple of things to sign when you come down,"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise as she covered for me.

"Okay," he agreed, "Is that all? I have to go now,"

"That's all Sir," she assured, "Enjoy your evening,"

And with that, the line cut dead.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed as I excitedly ran to the elevator.

He was on the very top floor, so it took a while for me to reach the floor he was on.

I twiddled my thumbs waiting for the elevator to come to a halt.

It eventually sounded, the doors opening to reveal a large corridor, leading to his room.

After what felt like a century, I reached his door.

It was unlocked.

I furrowed my eyebrows, knowing it was never usually open while he worked.

He must've finished early.

I pushed the door slightly, and I saw him.

But he wasn't alone.

Ten bucks on it being Ashley.

This time was different though, I felt myself getting over in an instant.

I was unfazed.

Maybe I never loved him.

This wasn't real love.

Real love wasn't supposed to feel like getting your heart stomped on every fived

This time, I slammed the door and swiftly exited, without turning back, anger boiling inside of me.

Naturally, part of me wanted to stay and punch him in the face before I left him in the dust, but I wanted to deal with it calmly for once.

"Scout," I heard him call my name as he chased me down the corridor.

I spammed the down button, the doors closing just in time for to not get in.

Slumping on the back wall, I sighed in relief.

What baffled me was that I didn't even feel bad that he was cheating on me. It was as if I wanted it to happen, to give myself an excuse to get over him once and for all.

As I went to leave the premises, Trent caught up with me.

"Scout, it's not what it looks like-" he shouted, breathless.

I laughed at that, and turned around, walking towards him slowly.

Screw being calm.

I rose up to my tiptoes and slapped him. Hard.

Everyone on the ground floor, turned, eyes wide open at the sight.

I didn't care though.

He looked at me coldly, embarrassed by the number of people witnessing a fight with his soon to be ex-girlfriend.

"If that didn't make it super clear," I took one last step forward, "We're over, for real this time,"

With that I strutted out of the premises, all eyes still focused on me.

I could hear Trent shouting my name multiple times.

But I finally realised how stupid I was being, I didn't need him.

The people I needed were right in front of me the whole time. I owed them all an apology.

Smiling, I shook my head, as I kept jogging away.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

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Sorry for the late update once again, still tryna get back into it. Nevertheless, hope you enjoyed this chapter - make sure to give me a vote and a comment to let me know x

Scout finally got some sense knocked into her and left Trent (what a scumbag)... HOORAYYY!!

Next update: 13/9/20

Teaser: trent's not done just yet...