Chapter 5

Chapter 5

- (I'll post the next chapter after 10 comments on this chapter. The story is still continuing 💕)

The party was held at a luxury house on the outskirts of the suburbs. A sprawling mansion with a glass-rimmed balcony and a pool that glowed a neon, artificial blue. German sedans and Italian sports cars lined the driveway like a showroom.
As we walked in, everyone looked like they belonged in a music video. I adjusted my dress, a dark green slip that hugged me in all the right places, trying to channel the confidence Zuko had seen in me the day before.
"There's the bar," Sibongile shouted over a remix of a popular Amapiano track. "Stay close, okay?"
But my eyes were already scanning the room. Looking for him. I wandered toward the patio, where the air was slightly cooler, my heart racing with anticipation. I wanted to see his face when he saw me. I wanted that forehead kiss to turn into something real.
When I turned my back, there he was.
Zuko was leaning against the glass railing, a drink in one hand. But his other arm was draped possessively around the waist of a girl I recognized instantly. Amanda, she was a popular girl in the township. She was the "it-girl" of the social flawless skin, expensive Brazilian hair, and a laugh that sounded like silver bells. She was whispering something into his ear, and Zuko was leaning down, his face inches from hers.
I stood there, paralyzed. The "good girl" in her green dress, holding a cheap plastic cup, staring at the King and Queen of a world she didn't understand.
The cold realization hit me like a punch to the stomach: I wasn't his "something special." I was just another girl to him. A girl he'd played with for an afternoon because he was bored between races.
Suddenly, Zuko's eyes drifted toward the door. He saw me.
His body went rigid. The drink in his hand tilted as his smirk vanished. For a split second, his face went pale, a flash of genuine shock, maybe even guilt, crossed his features. He started to take a step toward me, his lips parting as if to call my name.
"Zuks? Where are you going?" Amanda asked, her manicured hand tightening on his arm, pulling him back into her orbit.
I didn't wait to hear his excuse. We weren't anything after all.

I turned and bolted. I pushed through the crowd, the expensive perfume and the loud laughter feeling like a suffocating blanket. I ignored Sibongile calling my name from the bar. I didn't stop until I was out of the gates, out in the dark, cool night where the silence was finally loud enough to drown out the sound of my heart breaking.
Sibongile was right. I wasn't built for this.

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