Landon was in his dorm, sitting at his desk. He had a ten-page paper due in a week, and for once he wanted to get an early start on it while he wasn't very busy. After all, he wanted to refocus on his academics and sports again, which meant studying, getting his homework done, and going to all of his lacrosse workouts. He had decided to continue on with his life like none of this Kaelyn business ever happened. It was probably for the best anyway. Kaelyn and he hurt each other too much; it simply wasn't healthy for them to be together any longer. This was his second change, another fresh start.

His fingers wavered of his laptop's keyboard. For some reason, he was having trouble focusing on the essay. His mind was elsewhere. It wasn't like he was distracted, though. It just felt like he was lacking the capacity to think clearly and concentrate. His stomach was filled with butterflies and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

[i]I probably just feel bad for Kaelyn,[/i] he assured himself. [i]But we'll both be okay. I know it.[/i]

His thoughts of encouragement didn't seem to help.

With a tired sigh, Landon leaned back in his swivel chair and stretched his arms. It was about time for Katrina to be done with practice, but she hadn't responded to his text yet. Oh well, she was probably busy. The last person he wanted to confront right then was Katrina, anyways. Suddenly, a text notification appeared on the screen. Leaning forward, he saw it was from Kaelyn.

"Nope," he said, closing the notification without reading it. There was no chance he was having any contact with her.

He got up from his chair and slowly rubbed his face, disappointed that he couldn't get his mind to focus. Well, he still had an option that every college resorted to at some point or another—sugary energy drinks. While it wasn't 2am the night before the essay was do, Landon thought it'd be necessary to simply continue his daily tasks with some energy.

Landon slowly made his way to the bottom floor of his dorm building where there were a few vending machines located outside of the laundry room. One of them specialized in unhealthy, energy drinks, most notably Red Bull, Rockstar, and Gatorade. He didn't want to be jittery, so he decided on a blue Gatorade and slipped two dollar bills into the machine and got his drink.

As he stepped back from the machine, he heard one of the front doors open. He didn't think much of it until he heard a familiar voice called out his name: "Landon!"

He turned around to see Katrina standing there, still in her soccer gear. Her eyes were red and her makeup was smeared slightly. A red bruise was forming on her cheek and her hair was slightly tousled. Immediately noticing something was wrong, Landon came up to her.

"What happened?" he asked. "Are you okay? Did you get into a fight?"

In response, Katrina took a step back from him. Her eyes were wide and frightened. Landon stopped when he saw her recoiled.

"Katrina..." he said. "What's going on?"

"I talked to Kaelyn today," she answered finally. Her voice was trembling.

A burst of nervous adrenaline shot through Landon. He had completely forgotten that they played on the same soccer team. That's what was bothering him so much earlier! Damn it, damn it... Why would Kaelyn do this? She was insane, but this was not something he'd expect of her. The only thing that could've pushed her over the edge was... Yesterday... Oh god...They must've fought.

"Katrina, look—"

"Tell me she's lying," she pleaded. "Please, just tell me none of this is true..."

Landon was originally planning to never tell her about all this, but he didn't have the heart to blatantly lie to her face about something this serious. He looked down at the floor in defeat. He assumed his silence would serve as the best answer. Words never served their purpose.

Katrina shook her head in horror. "Why?" she squeaked out. "How could you? Why am I not good enough, Landon? Why am I [i]never[/i] good enough?"

He continued to look at the floor, too ashamed to speak.

"Landon!" Katrina cried out, her voice on the edge of cracking.

He raised his eyes to meet hers, and he could feel her heartbreak.

"It's... It's not that," he replied at last.

"Then what is it?" Tears lined the edges of her eyes.

Landon shut his eyes hard, not bearing to see her sadness.

"She just gets to me," Landon said, his voice beginning to falter too. "I was weak."

"Landon... Do you love her?" The question came as a surprise to him

He hated that word. [i]Love.[/i] People say it's the most beautiful emotion, but it's really the ugliest. It's like a drug. It's addictive, it's distracting, it's intoxicating, and it makes you do stupid things. Why? Why did it have to be that way? So far, all love did was inundate his life with problems and complications.

"I did before," Landon said, which confirmed what Kaelyn had claimed at practice. "But I don't anymore."

"Then why did you sleep with her?"

Landon frowned. He didn't know the answer.

Katrina shook her head again, and tears now covered her face again. Her worst nightmares had come true.

"Why don't you come talk to me... When you have your feelings figured out." Katrina got one last good look at Landon and without another word, turned to leave.

Landon didn't call after her. He just stood there, incredulous at what had just passed. There was no way in hell he was going to let Kaelyn get away with this. As much as he loathed her, her needed to talk to her and settle things between them once and for all. Without sending her a text of warning, he immediately left in the direction of her dorm building.