Five Steps Away

Chapter 12

"What the fuck?" I whisper to myself, rereading the same message for the millionth time this morning.

Cant pick u up tdy, sorry :ELIJAH

No explanation or reasoning whatsoever.

My mind's been racing ever since.

Is he ok?

Did his car break down?

Did I do something yesterday?

I've replayed the events about a million times and can't figure out what it is that I did wrong. I thought last night was fun.

He probably didn't think so.

But he said he did have fun. And Elijah's not a liar.

I hike my bag up higher on my shoulders, forgetting how much of a pain in the ass it is to walk with a bunch of textbooks on your spine first thing in the morning.

The air wooshes around me, and I let out a breath when I'm finally inside the school, taking a second to appreciate the heaters.

I rush and drop my things into my locker before heading straight to Elijah's locker, only to find it closed, without Elijah's body leaning on it watching me walk to him.

I wait for about 10 minutes till' I'm late to class and a teacher scolds me for being too slow. As I walk to the English classroom, I glance back every so often, hoping to see him suddenly appear out of thin air.

What happened?

I sit down in a seat at the back next to Lily. She's deep in her notes as usual, and the class is loud and chattery. I don't have anyone to talk to, so I pull out my phone and try to distract myself. But I can't, as multiple different scenarios of why Elijah isn't here today race through my head.

"Hey."

I turn my head so swiftly I almost get a headache. "Hi."

Lily furrows her eyebrows. "Are you o— I mean how are you?"

I let out a breath. "Fine."

I look back down at my phone, and go onto Elijah's contact. I hesitate, my fingers hovering over the call button. But then, I finally tap it. The sound of the phone ringing is quiet yet still it resonates in my ears. Each ring stealing a heartbeat.

Why am I worrying so much? He's probably just sick. I'm just overreacting. I need to relax.

When the phone stops ringing I feel my heart drop. Why isn't he answering his phone?

I text him, fully knowing how desperate I sound when I ask him why he didn't come to school. To be honest though I don't care how I sound.

I look up from my phone, remembering that I'm in class.

I don't understand why I'm stressing over such a small thing. He's just sick. He's probably just huddled up in a blanket, watching a movie or something.

At the end of the day I go to my locker to take my things. I grab my books one at a time, stuffing them into my bag before turning around.

I almost jump when I see Cire walking toward me. The hallway is empty.

I start walking faster toward the school exit, praying that he doesn't catch up to me. But in a matter of seconds he's right next to me and my skin prickles.

"Hey," he says. I don't answer. Instead, I keep my head straight and continue walking.

"Michael not with you huh," He says, looking ahead like we're walking together. I walk faster, knowing full well that I could sprint, but he'd still catch up to me. "Trouble in paradise?"