16. James Versus The World #2
Tucked into the corner, like they always were—Honey at the center of it, Andi beside her, Mel across the table, and Andre leaning back in his chair like he owned the space without trying.
For a second, I thought about turning back.
But then—
“James!” Honey called, her arm already raised.
Heads turned. All of them.
There was no escape.
I forced a smile, lifted a hand in a small wave, like I hadn’t been dodging them for a month. “Hi!” I mouthed, already backing toward the counter.
“I’ll—uh—order first,” I said, pointing vaguely behind me.
A few minutes later, tray in hand, I walked toward them.
Each step felt heavier than it should have.
I set my food down and slid into the empty seat.
“Hi,” I said again, softer this time.
“Hi,” they echoed—almost in unison… too polite.
And then…
Silence.
The kind that didn’t belong in a place like this.
The kind that felt like I had just walked into the middle of a conversation that ended the second I arrived.
I reached for my hot choco, more for something to do than anything else.
Andre was looking at me—not casually, not curiously. His eyes shone with a sharpness that read everything I wasn’t saying.
I cleared my throat lightly, forcing something normal into the air. “So… how are you guys?”
“Good,” Andi said.
“Yeah, good,” Honey added.
Andre just… nodded.
I nodded too, like that was enough.
I turned to Mel.
She was already looking down at her plate, avoiding my eyes.
“Mel,” I called gently. “How are you?”
She glanced up briefly, then back down, as though eye contact cost her something. “I’m okay.”
I waited.
She added, a little too quickly, “Just busy. Processing my visa for Australia, you know.”
“Oh,” I said, nodding. “That’s big.”
“It’s nothing,” she replied, shrugging it off like it didn’t matter.
But it did.
A pause followed—thin, stretched.
Andre was still looking at me, and I could feel it now, even without meeting his eyes.
Honey, sensing it, stepped in. “So,” she said, leaning forward slightly, “where have you been?”
There it was.
I let out a small breath, reaching for the easiest answer. “Busy. Work’s been tough lately. I—my client gave me more tasks than ever before. I—”
“James,” Andre cut in. Not loud. Not aggressive. But firm enough to stop everything.
I looked at him, and there was no humor in his face. No softness. Just something steady and direct.
“What’s really going on?” he asked.
I opened my mouth slightly, already reaching for another version of the same lie. But he didn’t let me get far.
“Because I don’t believe you’ve just been busy at work.”
Silence settled again, but this time, heavier.
And Andre held my gaze like he wasn’t going to let me look away from it.
I exhaled.
There was no easy way to say it, so I didn’t try to find one.
“Victor and I…” I paused, “…we’re back together.”
“WHAT?” all four of them said in unison, eyes bulging in disbelief.
“How?” Honey asked, leaning back, her brows pulling together.
“When?” Andi added, setting her coffee down a little too hard.
“Why?” Mel said, her hands flying to her head like she was trying to hold something together.
Andre didn’t say anything else—but the disbelief on his face hit me harder than anything.
“Victor,” I repeated, hoping it would land softer this time. “We ran into each other on New Year’s. And we’ve been talking again… Seeing each other…”
“Seeing each other,” Andre echoed, the words didn’t sit right in his mouth. “You mean dating?”
I shrugged lightly. “Something like that.”
“Something like that?” Andi let out a short, disbelieving laugh. “James—”
“He hurt you,” Mel cut in hard, her voice trembling.
“I know,” I said quickly. “But we’re past that.”
“James,” Andi said, firmer this time. “He literally traumatized you.”
“Guys—”
“Did he apologize?” Honey asked.
“No, but—”
“No?” Honey repeated, her frown seemingly eternal now. “How about some grand gesture? Something to sweep you off your feet?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t need to—”
“Then what changed?” Andre asked, leaning forward. “What’s different now from before?”
That question stopped me. My tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth. Words suddenly harder to reach.
“Guys,” I finally said, trying to keep it light, trying to keep it from turning into something bigger than I was ready for. “You don’t understand.”
“And do you?” Andi shot back, hurt and confusion visible in her eyes. “Because from where we’re sitting, it looks like you just opened the door and let him walk right back in… just like that. Like you didn’t lose your sanity, cry for months, and disappear on everyone.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I insisted. “It just… happened.”
“Things don’t just happen, James,” Andre said. “You make choices.”
I let out a desperate breath, shaking my head. “It… feels… different now. And I can’t deny anymore. I still want him. I still love him. I wanna spend the rest of my life with him.”
Silence followed.
But their expressions didn’t change.
Then Andi leaned back, crossing her arms. “Haven’t you learned anything?”
I frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
“From everything,” she said. “From before. From them.”
My chest tightened a little.
“From who?” I asked, though something in me already knew.
“From your exes,” Andre filled in.
Something in me stilled.
Andi added, softer now, “Francis didn’t come back for nothing.”
“And Kyle.” Andre added.
“And Rick.” Honey said.
Mel nudged Honey lightly, shooting all of them a look of warning.
I blinked.
Once.
Slow…
Silence fell over the table.
Because suddenly, I found it strange now—how all of my exes came at the same time… the same night. Then slowly, one by one, they came back into my life, like ghosts that knew exactly where to haunt me.
Andi and Mel went way back with me in college. Naturally, they knew Francis.
Kyle was friends with Andre even before I dated him.
And Honey? Out of all of my friends, she had always been close to Rick.
“They just… reached out,” I said, but even to my ears, it sounded thin.
My fingers curled slightly, gripping the fabric of my pants.
A thought was forming now—quiet and unwelcome, but too precise to ignore.
I looked at them… really looked at them and asked, “How did my exes come back all at once?”
No one answered.
But the guilt on their faces said enough.
My jaw tightened.
“How did my exes come back all at once?” I repeated, slower this time. Sharper.
Still nothing.
The silence stretched—thick and suffocating.
And suddenly, all those coincidences I had accepted without question started lining up in my head.
Francis.
Kyle.
Rick.
One after another. Like dominoes. Like someone had set them up long before I ever touched them.
And then I saw it.
Mel.
Her eyes were glassy now. Guilt smearing all over her face.
And then suddenly, her voice broke, “We orchestrated their return!”
Tears slipped down her face.
Everything in me went still.
“What?” I breathed, feeling my stomach drop.
“We contacted them,” she continued, her voice shaking. “We asked them to come on your birthday.”
“What?” I asked again, my vision blurring.
“We’re the reason they’re back,” Mel said.
“Why?” I asked quietly, disbelief settling deep into my bones.
Andi’s eyes were filled with tears now too. “We thought… we hoped their return would help you.”
“Help me with what?” My voice rose. “With moving on? With closure? Or with making me relive everything over again?”
“James—” Andre started.
“You played me,” I cut in. “You made me look like a fool.”
“No,” Andi said quickly. “It isn’t like that, James—”
But I was already standing.
My chair scraped loudly against the floor louder than it should’ve been.
This caught the attention of the other customers in the place. But I didn’t care.
I walked away. Because if I stayed even a second longer, I didn’t know what I’d say—and I might end the best friendships I had.
The 10 A.M. air hit me the second I stepped out of Punched Coffee—bright, sharp, and unforgiving.
“James—wait!”
Footsteps behind me followed. Quick and urgent.
I kept walking.
“James, stop!” Andi called. “You’re gay—you walk too fast!”
A hand caught my arm.
I turned instantly.
“What?” I snapped, the word cutting through the open street louder than I meant it to.
My friends stood there, slightly breathless.
Honey, Andi, Mel, and Andre.
No dim lights. No music to soften anything. Just the daylight.
Just the truth.
Andi stepped forward. “Just please listen to us.”
“I did listen,” I shot back. “Inside. Remember? Where you judged me for getting back to the person I am in love with. Where you told me you planned my heartbreak like it was a group project.”
“That’s not fair,” Andre said, jaw tight.
“Isn’t it?” I let out a hollow laugh. “Because it felt pretty organized to me.”
Mel wiped her face, shaken. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
“Walk me through it,” I asked in a sharp tone. “How was it supposed to happen then?”
They exchanged glances.
Andi inhaled, steadying herself. “The plan was supposed to be gradual. One ex at a time. Not all at once.”
A dry breath left me. “Oh. So the emotional damage was supposed to be scheduled.”
“James—” Honey started.
“No, let her finish,” I said, eyes still locked on Andi.
Andi didn’t look away. “We wanted you to talk to them again. To hear what went wrong. To remember who you were after them. To remember who you were before Victor.”
My jaw tightened.
Andre added, “That night on your birthday—that wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
“You were spiraling,” Honey said, softer now. “You were breaking down, and it was hard for us. You kept saying his name like you couldn’t breathe without him—that you blamed yourself for the ending.”
I swallowed. The memory came back in fragments.
“So you thought,” I said slowly, “the solution was to bring all my exes back at the club?”
“We thought it would help snap you out of it,” Andi said. “Make you see the pattern.”
A laugh escaped me—but this time it cracked in the middle.
“And when I collapsed because of the overwhelming feeling of seeing all of my exes in one place, was that part of the plan too?”