The Mixtape of Hatred

"Conner, can I kiss you?" Jack asked, making his best friend spir out his lemonade.

"You have a boyfriend?" Conner answered in a rising tone, "Why though?"

Jack shrugged, "I kissed Brent and felt nothing, is it a sign?"

Conner returned his shrug, "When I kissed Leslie I didn't feel a thing either, but he's an amazing fu-"

"You kissed Leslie?!"

"He's Bi!"

"He has a girlfriend!" Jack pointed out.

"Girlfriend, smirlfriend, he likes me, and I think he's cute, so who cares if he has baggage?"

Jack does, he was in a similar situation with Alex. The one chance he had of ever getting him back was gone because he had a boyfriend, and also because he chose Tanner over him. He saw it coming, of course, Tanner was there for him when he was not. Tanner went to prom with him, Tanner loved him longer.

He has Brent now, though, nice, caring, beardy hipster Brent. So why is he still thinking about Alex?

He wishes he still had flashbacks, maybe Verity knew what he should do.

So he dialed the number he hasn't dialed in a very long time.

-

Verity is still the gorgeous girl he dated back then, tall, long hair, piercing eyes. Her hair had changed colours since the last time he saw her, and she had a glinting engagement ring on her finger.

"Hey, Ver," he smiled.

"Hi, got you your usual, hopefully it's still the same."

"Caramel Macchiato?" He asked jokingly, he knew what she was talking about. Back in the day, they used to get similar drinks and sit in a booth far away from the general public. It was always an iced latte, Jack usually gets the vanilla and Verity used to get the caramel, and they'd switch whenever they can. It was a cute tradition he wished he had with a boy he loves right now.

"No."

"I know," Jack chuckled.

"Jack, it's been a while since I've sent you the mixtape and seen you telepathically, how're things going with Alex?"

Jack let out a small nervous chuckle, "Alex and I aren't dating, I'm dating my boss, Brent."

"Coffee guy? Didn't know he was gay, or into you," she almost laughed, "But then again, I was attracted to you, back in the day."

They both paused, enjoying the silence as they sipped their drinks, swapping before Jack could break the silence, "You're engaged?"

"Yeah, to this guy named Jacob, Shayne, he's pretty cool."

Jack nodded, "Hope he treats you right."

She nods, swapping the drinks again after she and Jack had had a sip.

"What brings you here? Why did you want to meet me so badly?"

Jack sighed, "I don't know, it's just that when I had the flashbacks, you were there to guide me through life, and honestly, my life right now? Isn't what I envisioned it to be. Alex rejected me in my workplace, my boss dropped a bomb at me and told me that he had romantic feelings for me, and now, I'm trying to forget about the love of my life by dating the one guy who has the power to fire me out of heartbreak. Sure, he's kinda cute, but I don't know if I'll ever end up loving him back. What should I do?"

Verity let out a small breath, "Sad thing is, I'm no longer here to guide you through this, Jack, looks like you've gotta figure this out on your own."

"Question though," Jack uttered, "If I kissed him and felt nothing, what does that mean?"

"It means he's not it for you," Verity kissed his forehead, "I gotta go, Jay, you know where to find me and how to contact me, I'll always be here to help you out."

And with that, she left.