Chapter 2 : Fight for Him

Sharon’s POV

Derrick’s words felt like they were coming from a far-off place. I watched his lips move, and for a moment, I heard nothing. The room was completely silent, save for the erratic beating of my heart. This couldn’t be happening.

A moment later, sounds came rushing back to me. I heard students in the dorms chattering down the halls, faint sounds of crickets chirping off in the night, and Derrick's voice. I wanted to interrupt him, to laugh and brush off what he was saying as some kind of stupid joke. But the look on his face told me it wasn’t a joke. He was serious. He was actually serious.

How could he say this to me tonight, of all nights? After everything I’d done, all the time and energy I’d poured into making this birthday party perfect for him?

"Sharon?... Sharon?" Derrick’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, really looked at him, hoping he'd see how much he was hurting me. "Are you honestly breaking up with me, Derrick? After everything?"

“I’m sorry, Sharon,” he said, his voice steady. His eyes... Eyes that had once held so much love for me now had nothing but coldness in them. “I honestly wasn't planning on dropping such a bomb on you tonight, especially not here, but Chloris said...”

"Chloris!?" I cut him off. My eyes darted to her. Chloris had been quiet this entire time, like a snake watching its venom finish off its prey. She stood beside him, her face almost unreadable except for a faint, twisted smile at the corners of her lips. The same strange look she’d given me that afternoon. I hadn’t understood it then, but now it all clicked into place. This was all her plan. She knew about my surprise birthday party for Derrick and wanted to make sure he dumped me in front of all my friends and his. She had been looking forward to this.

Our friends, thrown into a pit of silence as the drama unfolded, seemed to sense the tension rising. One by one, they began to drift toward the door, making quiet exits to avoid the escalating awkwardness.

"Uh, great party, Sharon, but I think we'll just… yeah," one of them mumbled as they walked past, avoiding eye contact with all three of us.

"Wow, talk about bad timing," another whispered under their breath, shaking their head as they slipped out.

The humiliation I felt then was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It would only be a matter of time before the entire school heard about what happened here. I could feel the tears welling up as my stomach formed knots.

When the last of them left, only Tina stayed behind. She didn’t say anything, just stood close by.

“Derrick, please,” I finally managed to say, my voice shaking. “You can’t mean that. You can't do this to me, Derrick.”

He shook his head slowly. “I’m so sorry, Sharon, but I just feel this deep connection to Chloris. I can't explain it, but I know she's the one for me.”

Tears marked my face now, and I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony in his words. "Funny, that's exactly what you told me when we first started dating."

Derrick's eyes widened, and he reached out his hand to me. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that, Sharon."

"Don't you freaking touch me!" I jerked away violently from Derrick's reach. I was barely holding it together. I had known heartbreaks were messy, but nothing could have prepared me for this. I felt used and betrayed, like I had been tossed to the wolves. It was too much—the pain, the feelings of hopelessness. Without a second thought, I turned and made for the door.

"Sharon, just wait. We can talk this through," Derrick motioned to block my path, but Chloris placed a gentle hand on his chest, anchoring him to the floor. "Let her go, babe. She probably needs some time to process all this." Her voice sounded like poison, the same venom she had probably used to infect Derrick.

I ran out of the dormitory, my vision blurring with tears. Someone called after me, but I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. I just needed to get away—far away from Derrick, from Chloris, from all of them.

The cold night air hit me like a slap, but I kept running. I didn’t know where I was going; I just let my feet carry me. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and memories, spinning so fast I couldn’t catch a single one. How did it come to this? How did everything fall apart so quickly?

I slowed to a walk, finally stopping under a streetlamp, panting. My breath came out in ragged gasps, the night air had dried up my tears. I thought back to when Derrick and I first met, back in high school. I was that awkward, face-covered-in-freckles girl that everyone made fun of. “Freckle face,” they used to call me. But not Derrick. He saw me for who I really was. He stood up for me when no one else would. As corny as it sounds, he was my knight in shining armor.

God, I remembered the first time he came to talk to me. He was so nervous, his cheeks turning bright red, his hands fumbling with his backpack straps. I couldn’t believe it then, that someone like him could be interested in someone like me. But he was. And he made me feel special. He made me feel like I was the only girl in the world.

And then there was the time he officially asked me out. It was the fall of our freshman year, under the big oak tree near the library. I was sitting there, trying to finish an assignment. I didn’t even notice him at first. He just appeared, out of nowhere, standing in front of me with that shy smile of his, the one that always made my heart melt.

He asked me out in the sweetest way possible. He brushed my hair from my face and looked into my eyes before telling me he felt connected to me in a way that made no sense and that I was the one for him.

I remembered the way the world seemed to pause, just for a moment. How I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, how my palms were suddenly sweaty. And then I said yes. Of course, I said yes. And when I did, his face lit up with that trademark grin of his.

News of our relationship spread across the campus like wildfire. People who knew me from high school were the most shocked. Somehow, 'Freckle-face' Sharon had bagged Derrick, the most popular guy in school. It was all anyone could talk about for weeks. People would stop me in the hallways, ask me how it happened, and what I had done to win him over. I never had an answer. I didn’t do anything. I just… was me. And Derrick liked that. He liked me.

And I’d given him everything. I had rearranged my whole life around him. Like earlier in our freshman year, when he came down with a fever right before my big exam. I stayed up all night by his side, cooling his forehead with a damp cloth, and holding his hand when he shivered. The next day, I failed my exam, the first time I’d ever failed anything, but I didn’t care. Derrick needed me. That was all that mattered.

But now… now it felt like all of that was for nothing. The image of Derrick standing in my room with Chloris, looking at me like I was some distant memory he was ready to forget. I clutched my chest, wrinkling my blouse, hoping I could soothe the ache I now felt.

How could he do this to me? I had been there for him through everything. I had sacrificed so much for him. I had loved him with everything I had. And now he was just going to throw it all away for her? Chloris. Her name made me recoil. She had planned all this. I blamed myself for not seeing the signs earlier, for being so naive. How had she convinced Derrick to leave me for her? Had she offered to sleep with him? I shook my head; Derrick wouldn't fall for something so shallow. There had to be something else.

I knew Derrick, and this wasn’t the Derrick I knew and loved. He was just confused, caught up in some stupid manipulation. He would come back to me once he realized the mistake he was making. He had to. And if he didn’t, then I wasn’t planning on letting him go without a fight.

I stumbled down a street, sure I had already spent hours outside, but I didn't care. I stopped walking and wiped the sweat from my face with the back of my hand. I had wandered so far from campus that I was probably a few miles out. My legs ached from walking, and my feet were sore in my shoes.

Just then, a dreadful sight befell me. Over on the horizon, rays of light began piercing the night sky. "Shit," I muttered to myself. It was already morning.

And so, I began the strenuous walk back to campus. My body was exhausted, but my resolve was stronger than ever.

When I finally reached my dorm, Tina was pacing in the hallway, her face pale with worry. As soon as she saw me, she rushed over, relief flooding her eyes.

“Sharon! Where the heck have you been!? I’ve been looking for you all night! Are you okay?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

I nodded, though I knew my eyes were red and swollen, my face a mess. “I’m fine,” I lied. “Just needed to clear my head.”

Tina’s gaze softened, and she pulled me into a hug. “Oh, you poor thing. I’m so sorry, Sharon. You don’t deserve this.”

I welcomed the warmth of her body. I had been out all night without a coat, and I just hoped I wouldn't catch a cold. We stood there in the hallway, wrapped in each other's embrace. I felt grateful for a friend like Tina.

"So, what are you going to do now?" she whispered in my ear. "I'm pretty sure the whole school already knows what happened by now."

“I’m not giving up on him, Tina,” I said firmly. “Derrick’s just confused. I just need to remind him of what we had. I'm not giving up on him.”

Tina pulled back, looking at me with a smug expression. “Wow, who would have thought, Sharon Bennett fighting for her man? I never thought I'd live to see the day."

I managed an eye roll with a small smile. “Shut up, Tina.”

As I stepped back into my room, the door clicking shut behind me, I felt a strange sense of calm settle over me. This wasn’t over—not by a long shot. I wasn’t going to lose—not to Chloris, not to anyone.