Preston stared at the message for what felt like an eternity, his thumb hovering over the keyboard. Every part of him wanted to respond ask her for an explanation, demand the truth, get some closure. But another part of him knew that hearing her side of the story would only make things more complicated. It was already complicated enough.
He dropped the phone onto his bed and rubbed his face, trying to clear the fog of uncertainty swirling in his mind. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so torn. He'd always been able to rely on his instincts, but right now, they were just a blur of confusion and hurt.
The buzzing of his phone broke through his thoughts again, this time with another message from Karma.
Karma: Please, Preston. I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen.
Preston let out a frustrated sigh. He stared at the message again, but this time, the words didn't hit him the way they should have. They felt... hollow. She was sorry, but what did that even mean? Sorry for what? Sorry for talking to Dylan? Or was it something deeper than that? Something he couldn't see?
He picked up the phone again and typed a quick response, his fingers moving faster than his thoughts.
Preston: What's there to talk about?
He hit send before he could stop himself, and immediately, his stomach churned. He shouldn't have been so harsh, but the truth was, he didn't know how else to respond. He needed answers, but he wasn't sure he was ready for what they might be.
A few minutes passed before Karma replied.
Karma: I know this isn't easy for you, but I need you to listen. I didn't mean for things to get this way, but I can't just keep pretending everything's fine.
Preston clenched his jaw, his heart pounding in his chest. She wasn't making sense. He wanted to scream at her, to tell her she couldn't just expect him to accept everything without an explanation. But part of him was still holding on to the person he thought she was, the girl he'd been with for the last few weeks.
Preston: Then tell me what happened. Tell me what you really want.
A few long minutes passed, and when the response finally came, it was different from anything he expected.
Karma: I've been talking to Dylan more than I should have. And I don't know how to explain it, but I feel like I'm drifting from you. I didn't want to hurt you, but I think I've made some bad choices. I never meant for it to go this far...
Preston read the message twice, trying to make sense of the words. He couldn't breathe. It wasn't just the interaction he'd seen—it was everything that had been happening behind the scenes, all the little moments she'd left unsaid, all the spaces between them that had been widening without him even realizing it.
Karma: I care about you, Preston. But I don't know if I can keep pretending like nothing's changed.
He stared at the screen, the words blurring as the weight of them sank in.
She cared about him, but she didn't know if she could keep pretending. Was that all it was? Just a slow fade? Or was there something more to it? Something deeper, something he wasn't ready to face?
Preston sat there, the silence of the room pressing in on him, the ache in his chest growing with every passing second. He had always believed that things like this could be fixed, that love and trust were enough to hold people together. But now... now he wasn't sure.
He set the phone down and lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. His mind raced with a thousand questions, each one more painful than the last. But in that moment, there was only one certainty: he wasn't sure who Karma was anymore, and that was the hardest truth to swallow.
Preston lay in the silence, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts a blur of confusion and pain. He couldn't stop the questions from swirling in his head. Had he missed the signs all along? Had she been pulling away without him even noticing? What was it that had made her feel so distant? More importantly—was there any way to salvage what they had, or was it too late?
The buzzing of his phone once again pulled him from his thoughts. This time, it was Karma again.
Karma: Preston, please. I don't want to hurt you. But I need to figure things out too.
He read the message a few times, but the words felt cold, distant. The raw honesty he had been hoping for still seemed just out of reach. She needed to figure things out? Wasn't that what he was doing? Didn't he deserve some clarity?
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was tired—physically and emotionally exhausted. The weight of everything was too much to bear, and yet he couldn't stop the need to know more, to hear her side of things, to understand where they went wrong. But was he ready for that? Was he prepared to listen to something he might not want to hear?
Before he could respond, a knock on his bedroom door startled him. His mom's voice filtered through.
"Preston, you okay in there? You've been quiet."
He quickly shoved his phone under his pillow, trying to wipe the exhaustion from his face. "Yeah, Mom, I'm fine," he called back, his voice sounding far more casual than he felt.
"Alright, well, dinner's ready whenever you're hungry," she replied before walking away.
Preston sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He could feel the pressure of the situation weighing down on him. He needed to make a decision. He needed to talk to Karma—face-to-face. He couldn't keep living in this limbo. But the thought of confronting her, of hearing the truth of her feelings, terrified him. What if she didn't want to work through it? What if she was already gone, even if only in her heart?
He glanced at his phone again. The screen was still lit up with her messages.
Karma: Can we meet tomorrow? Please, Preston. I want to explain.
Tomorrow. He could put it off, pretend that it didn't matter, but deep down, he knew it did. Karma was still important to him, despite everything. And even if he wasn't sure where they stood, he couldn't keep avoiding the inevitable.
He took a deep breath and replied, his fingers moving slowly over the keys.
Preston: Fine. Let's meet tomorrow. I'll be at the park after school.
He hit send, his thumb lingering on the screen before he finally pulled his hand away. He wasn't sure what would come of this conversation, but he couldn't go on pretending like things were normal.
The rest of the night passed in a blur of quiet dinner conversations and restless thoughts. Preston tried to eat, tried to relax, but his mind kept drifting back to Karma and the mess they had created.
The next day, after school, he made his way to the park. It wasn't far from the school, and he needed somewhere quiet—somewhere that felt neutral. He sat on a bench near the fountain, his fingers tapping nervously against the metal.
It didn't take long before Karma showed up, her steps tentative as she walked toward him. Her face was unreadable, her usual spark dimmed.
Preston stood as she approached, trying to keep his cool, but inside, his heart was racing. This was it—the moment where everything could change.
"Hey," Karma said quietly, stopping a few feet away. Her voice was soft, almost hesitant.
Preston swallowed hard, not knowing where to start. "Hey."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The tension between them was thick, the silence stretching out longer than either of them probably wanted. Finally, Karma stepped forward, her hands wringing in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Preston. I really am." Her voice was small, but it was real. The guilt in her eyes was unmistakable. "I've been a mess, and I know I hurt you. I never wanted to, but I couldn't help how things… changed."
Preston looked at her, his heart in his throat. "How things changed? Karma, you've been distant for weeks. I had no idea what was happening. And then, I see you with Dylan, and it felt like... it felt like you didn't even care anymore."
Karma's face faltered, and she looked away. "I never wanted you to feel like that. I didn't know how to explain it. I was confused, and I started... I started getting closer to Dylan, but it wasn't what it looked like. I never wanted it to go that far."
Preston's eyes narrowed. "But it did. You got close to him, and you didn't tell me. You hid it from me. You just let me walk around like everything was fine while you were slipping away."
"I didn't mean to," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I swear, I didn't. But the more I tried to ignore it, the harder it became to tell you. I didn't know what to say, and I was scared of losing you."
Preston exhaled sharply, his anger flaring up again. "Then why didn't you just talk to me? Why didn't you tell me what was going on before it got this bad?"
Karma bit her lip, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I was scared you'd hate me. I didn't want to ruin everything, but I know I already have."
The words hung in the air between them, heavy with regret. Preston took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm inside him. He couldn't fix this with anger. He had to decide if he was ready to forgive her, if they even stood a chance anymore.
"I don't know, Karma," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know if I can just forget about what happened. It's hard... to just move past it."
Karma's expression fell, and for the first time, Preston saw how truly sorry she was. But he also saw the distance between them now—the thing that had been slowly growing, even before the mess with Dylan. She was still a part of him, but part of him wasn't sure if they could ever go back to what they were.
"I get it," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "And I don't expect you to forgive me right away. But I want to try, Preston. I don't want to lose you."
Preston looked at her, torn. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that they could fix things, but something inside him told him that it wouldn't be easy.
He took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."
The words stung both of them, but they were the truth. Neither of them had the answers, and for now, that was all they had.