The College List I Crossed Out To Escape His Shadow Chapter 07

The College List I Crossed Out To Escape His Shadow Chapter 07

mind.

Every time he’d been hot and cold, every time he’d bailed on me, it all flashed through my

Looking at him now, all wounded and pitiful, I almost laughed.

“I’m shutting you out? Because you said ‘let’s hang out, I waited an entire afternoon. Because

you said you’d hike with me, I changed my whole schedule.”

“And what did you do? No explanation. You just didn’t show. You bailed on the hike without a

word. Turned out you were off with other people the whole time.”

“Then you screamed at me over a book. And now you’re saying I’m the one ignoring you? Did

you hit your head, Leo? Did you just forget everything?”

I shot him a cold look, turned, and walked.

Footsteps pounded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. “Don’t follow me.”

A few days after fall break, there was still time before the next holiday. One afternoon, with no

classes, I decided to head home.

And of course, I ran into Leo right at the entrance to Maplewood.

He hadn’t gone back to school either.

Not wanting a scene in front of the whole neighborhood, I suggested The Daily Grind.

I sat down but kept my bag on. I wasn’t planning on staying.

“So. What else is there.”

Leo sat across from me and slid two things across the table-the book, and the two finisher medals. Then he stirred his coffee and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

A long silence followed.

My patience thinned. “I don’t need these now. If that’s everything, I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” He shot to his feet. “I… I’ll say it. All of it I can explain everything.”

He sat down straighter and started talking.

“We’ve known each other forever. And honestly? That’s been a blessing and a curse for me. My mom was always stacking me up against you when I wasn’t in the room.”

“When we were kids, it didn’t get to me. But the older I got, the more it wore me down.”

He dropped his head.

“I know you didn’t do anything wrong. But I couldn’t stop it, sometimes that resentment would

just… spill onto you.”

“There were moments when just hearing your name from my mom’s mouth

would make my whole body react.”

out.”

“But whenever I calmed down, I wanted to be close to you again. So I’d find excuses to ask you

He risked a glance at me, then lowered his head even more.

“But then my mom would say something like that again, and I’d just… shut down. Or disappear

on you.”

“That fight we had? Same thing. But I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve dealt with it. It won’t

happen again.”

“So… yeah. That’s all of it. I’m sorry. I didn’t get how much I was hurting you. I didn’t see what

my crap was doing to you.”

I stared at him, not sure what to say.

My mouth opened, then closed. Opened again.

So that was what had been behind everything.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Leo, now that I know why, I still don’t think I can forgive you. Not yet.”

“I get that being compared like that sucks. Really. But I felt every single cold shoulder. Every sudden change. That was real for me.”

“I can’t just hear the reason and pretend it didn’t happen. Because before this, I genuinely thought I had done something wrong.”

I stood up to leave, but then my eyes landed on the medals on the table, and something

clicked.

“Actually, on that hike? I heard you guys talking at the trail shelter.”