Chapter 24: Like T-Swift Said, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

       I was feeling very bored the past couple days. The weather wasn't showing any sign of letting up so after coming home from school, I was stuck indoors.

       All I wanted to do was go horseback riding or something. Anything instead of staying in my room.

       Granted, it wasn't too bad because I shared a room with Sawyer but still. I just wanted to do something outside.

       The day the rain finally let up, my mood came down instead. I didn't know why. This just happened at times. There were days it took me forever to convince myself to get out of bed or where I didn't want to be around too many people.

       Mom, thankfully, let me stay home from school today. She said my grades were good enough that missing one day wasn't going to do anything.

       Because I couldn't force myself to get out of bed, Sawyer decided to bring me some breakfast; sunny side up eggs, bacon, and toast. "Thanks," I said, sitting up on the bed as Sawyer handed me the plate of food which was resting on a tray.

       "No problem," Sawyer said, sitting down beside me on the bed. "You feeling okay?"

       "I guess," I said. "I just don't feel like going anywhere today. Or being around too many people. I'll be okay. This normally just lasts for a day or two."

       "Well, just tell me if you need anything," Sawyer said. "But just as a heads up, a high school science class from the city is coming here today for a field trip."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why?"

       "Because this is a farm," Sawyer said. "There's a lot for them to learn here. We get schools here all the time. I just wanted to tell you in case you wanted to go outside or something and wouldn't be caught off guard with all the people there."

       "Okay, thanks for the heads up," I said. "I might go see Paint later. If I can force myself to get out of bed."

       "Again, if you need anything, I'm here," Sawyer said.

       I smiled softly at him. "I know."

       Sawyer kissed my forehead before leaving the bedroom. I wasn't too hungry so I didn't eat much of the food but I still tried to eat something.

       When I felt like I couldn't eat anymore, I placed the tray of food on the nightstand and laid down back on the bed, pulling the blankets up to my shoulders.

       I was hoping I would be able to go back to sleep but my cell phone started buzzing with a lot of incoming texts coming in. I sighed, reaching for my phone to see all the text messages from Lulu.

Jamieeeee where are you? The second bell is about to ring.

Okay it rang and you're still not here?

Are you okay?

Jamie, answer meeeeee.

Omg.

Did Kitty get to you?

Should I call the cops?

Jamie, you're scaring me. Please answer.

       As much as I wanted to laugh at Lulu being melodramatic, like always, I didn't feel like laughing at all. I just sent her a simple reply.

I'm at home. I'm not feeling well.

       I placed my phone back on the nightstand, wanting to go back to sleep. I got a few more text messages from Lulu but I just left my phone. I felt bad for ignoring her but I just wasn't in the mood to talk right now.

       I was able to sleep for a little bit but I ended up waking up when I heard a lot of commotion outside. I guess the high school students were here.

       It took some time but I was able to get myself out of bed as I walked over to the window. I was hoping I would be able to check out Sawyer but I wasn't able to. Not because he was outside. But because as soon as I looked out the window, I recognized the school that was here.

       It was my old school.

       And the reason why I recognized my school was because my ex-boyfriend was there.

       So much for me going outside.

       I sighed heavily, moving away from the window. I still wanted to at least get some fresh air and go see Paint but there was no way I was going to go outside with him there.

       I didn't want to stay in my room all day so I grabbed the tray of food and brought it downstairs to the kitchen. 

       Nobody was in the kitchen right now. I guess everyone was helping out with the field trip right now.

       As I was clearing off the plate I had from breakfast, I looked out the window that faced towards the barn. All the horses were in the fields after the few days of it being raining all the time.

       And Paint didn't seem to enjoy having so many people on the farm right now. He was constantly whining, darting back and forth around the field.

       Sawyer was trying his hardest to calm Paint down but it wasn't working.

       As much as I didn't want to see my stupid ex-boyfriend, Paint needed me right now. I put on my shoes and headed outside. It was easy to avoid everyone here since they were currently on the other side of the farm but I did see him look at me.

       I just ignored him.

       I walked over to the field Paint was in. Sawyer noticed me and gave me a small smile. "I take it you're here to see Paint?"

       "Yeah, I saw him freaking out," I said. "I figured I could calm him down. By the way, if you see me ignoring the students here, it's nothing personal. Just kidding, it's very personal."

       "Wait, what?" Sawyer asked.

       "I don't want to get into it right now when I want to go see Paint," I said, starting to climb over the fence to see Paint. "But I will tell you that I used to go to that school. And if you see someone by the name of Pierce, please feel free to glare at him."

       "Jamie, hold on," Sawyer said but I was already making my way to Paint. 

       Paint was still freaking out a bit, running around the field as he constantly changed his direction because he wasn't comfortable being anywhere.

       "Paint," I said softly. Upon hearing my voice, Paint stopped running around and looked over at me. "It's okay. I'm here now."

       Paint trotted over to me, nudging my arm with his snout. I smiled at him, gently rubbing his neck. I was still feeling a bit down but at least being near Paint was making me feel a bit better.

       I decided I was going to stay with Paint the whole duration of my old school's field trip, even though I didn't want to be anywhere near Pierce. I was just going to try my best to ignore him.

       After spending some time with Paint in the field, I led him over to the fence so I could sit down on top of it while seeing what the class was up to because I was, admittedly, a bit curious. Paint just stood beside me, looking at all the people there. He was freaking out now that I was here.

       Sawyer walked over to me and sat down beside me on top of the fence. "You know, I'm still so impressed how easily Paint was able to open up to you. Especially since you kept calling him evil."

       "He was evil," I said. Paint almost understood what I was saying because he neighed loudly and shoved my arm with his snout. "I'm kidding. And I said was. Meaning past tense."

       Sawyer chuckled. "I love how you treat talking to a horse to be completely normal."

       "What? Is it not supposed to be normal?" I asked.

       "I mean, it can if you want it to be," Sawyer said. "And to be completely honest, it does seem normal for you. So... This Pierce guy. He's your ex-boyfriend you told me about, isn't he?"

       I looked down. "Yeah. Out of all the schools and classes to come here, it just had to be his."

       "Their field trip is almost over at least," Sawyer said. "They'll be leaving soon. I have to get back to work but when I finish, I can go to the diner to pick up some food for us. Maybe even that very spicy burger that you love so much."

       I glared at him. "Funny."

       "I was kidding," Sawyer said. "Well, about the burger. I will get food if you want me to. Then we can watch a movie or even eat outside if you want."

       I smiled at him. "Sounds great."

       Sawyer smiled back before hopping off of the fence to head back to work around the farm. Shortly after he did, it seemed as if the class was given free time to wander around the farm because they all walked in different directions.

       And Pierce decided to walk over me.

       I was kind of tempted to tell Paint to kick him but that might not be the best thing to try and teach Paint.

       "Jamie Krukowski," Pierce said once he was standing by the fence. "I didn't know you lived on this farm."

       "Obviously," I said. "You know, since I cut off all communication with you."

       "About that..." Pierce said and I already knew what he was going to say.

       "No," I said. "No, don't even finish that or I swear, I will punch that stupid smile off your face."

       "You didn't even know what I was going to say," Pierce said.

       "Uh, yeah, I was," I said. "You were going to apologize, saying you overreacting about some of the things you said to me and how you really want another chance because seeing me here reminded you about how much you like me and how sorry you are."

       "You know me so well," Pierce said. "Then again, we did date for quite some time so that's not surprising. So...?"

       "Seriously?" I asked. "I just told you not to finish that sentence so clearly, I'm not giving you another chance."

       Paint was starting to sense the tension between me and Pierce since I was talking about angrily now. He started panicking a bit, thinking something was wrong.

       "Hey, it's okay," I said softly, gently rubbing his neck to get him to calm down. "I'm okay." It didn't take long for him to settle down. When he did, I looked back at Pierce. "Can you just leave? He doesn't like being around people and you're starting to freak him out."

       "I just want to know why you won't give me another chance," Pierce said.

       "For a few reasons," I said. "Or a lot of reasons but I'll name a few. The first one being how you told me to just get over my dad's death just because I wasn't being affectionate with you. And don't try to justify it. That was a cruel thing to say. And because I don't want to list all the reasons, here's one more. See that insanely hot guy over there stacking the bales of hay? Yeah, that's my boyfriend and he treats me better than you ever did so just back off."

       Pierce was a stubborn person and I knew he was going to keep trying to talk to me so I hopped off of the fence and led Paint over to the middle of the field. Now my mood was even more down. I wouldn't be surprised if I wouldn't be able to go to school again tomorrow after seeing Piece again and having to remember everything that happened between us.

       All I wanted was a peaceful life but apparently, that was going to happen.

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pierce sucks lol bye

also i really love the chapter titles. they're so fun to come up with ahahahaha