Getting Over Him

I really have to get over Andrew, Heba thought. This isn't healthy.
Listening to Mina talk bad about him and listening to Andrew say worse
things about Mina, not knowing what to believe...

If only it were that simple. She couldn't stop thinking about him.
Staring at him out of the corner of her eye in physics class. "He's
just using me to get to Mina", she chided herself, but her heart
wouldn't listen.

Heba tried to stop herself from clicking on the little button on the
side of her screen that read, "Andrew has just signed in".

She did anyway.

She stared at the dialogue box, waiting for the little bubble to appear
at the bottom along with the words "Andrew is typing a message"

It didn't appear.

Despite all attempts to play hard to get, her impatience got the better
of her. She typed her message and clicked on the "send" button before
she had chance at a second thought.

Heba waited anxiously to for him to reply. When he finally did, Heba
clicked on the window anxiously to read what he wrote.

"Andrew says:
Uh-huh"

Tears of embarrassment and infuriation threatened to unleash as she
closed the window and continued checking her e-mail. Not exactly the
enthusiastic reply she was looking forward too. She kept thinking what
his problem was as she read forwards half-heartedly.

Finally she clicked on the chat button again. "Is something wrong?" she
typed. This time, she minimized the window, and when she saw it
blinking, left it for two solid minutes.

She tried to read slowly and calmly despite her jittery
heartbeat.

"Andrew says:
I'm just in a bad mood and want to be alone"

Another bullet of shock shot through Heba. Followed by frustration, and
the humiliation of broken pride. She closed the window again and turned
off the whole computer.

She couldn't think of a plausible reason for his *attitude*. But at
least this time she was able to let him go. Nothing hurt Heba as much
as *broken pride*. She was determined not to talk to him first and
definitely not give him a second glance during their physics
class.

It was better that way. Andrew is a major player; he would have lured
her obliviously into more humiliation and more dents in her
pride.

It was better this way.