Through Thick & Thin

Chapter 10

Reyanna stood in the shower of Michael’s apartment and just let the warm water run on her back as she thought about what had just taken place. After everything she had done to Michael, after pretty much shutting him out completely, he still loved and cared about her. She hadn’t meant to just break down in front of him like that, but it had happened. The way he looked into her eyes and saw past all the hurt and pain and was still able to see the girl he fell in love with, she would never understand it. But she was grateful for it, and glad that he was here for her. Reyanna finally turned off the faucet and stepped out of the shower. Michael had given her some clothes that she had left at his apartment before the break up, so she dried off and put them on, along with his sweatshirt. She loved the way his sweatshirt felt on her, his scent still trapped within the fabric. She held it up to her nose and breathed in the scent, and for a slight second she was okay.

Reyanna stepped out the shower and saw Michael sitting at his desk working on something on his laptop. He was wearing a pair of black Nike basketball shorts, and of course, no shirt. He never wore a shirt when he was in his own space, and since he was the only one here she kind of was surprised that he was even wearing pants. “I put them on when you were in the shower,” Michael said as he looked up from the computer at Reyanna, standing in the bathroom doorway. “I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable me just walking around in my underwear, so I put them on while you were in the shower before you noticed.” “Wait how did you know that’s what I was thinking about,” Reyanna asked? Michael just smiled and said, “I could feel you staring at me.” Reyanna blushed. She hadn’t realized that she had been staring at him, let alone so intently for him to feel it. “Oh, umm I’m sorry,” she said looking down at the floor. “Don’t worry about it,” said Michael as he set the laptop on the desk and moved over onto the bed. He patted the empty space next to him on the bed, motioning for Reyanna to come sit next to him. “Come here Rey,” he said, and Reyanna obliged and walked over to the bed to sit next to him. “So talk to me Rey, what’s going on? What is it that had you so upset and crying like that?”

Reyanna just looked at Michael for a minute. She remembered the wonderful timess they had had together, the promise ring that he had given her along with the promise he had made upon giving her the ring. She remembered how he had promised to be her best friend for life. To always care for her, make her feel better when she was feeling sad, always have her back even when nobody else does, and promise to be there for her even when she didn’t want him to be. After everything she had put him through, after she basically gave up on the essence of them, Michael was still keeping his promise to her. He still loved her and still wanted to be with her, and she would be a fool to say that she didn’t feel the same way. “Michael,” Reyanna said looking him in the eyes. “I am so sorry for all the pain that I have caused you these past weeks. I’ve been going through a lot, and I thought I was protecting all of you by distancing myself from everyone. I thought I was doing the right thing by breaking up with you, but I can see that Randall isn’t going to let this go.” “Randall? What does he have to do with any of this,” he asked?

Reyanna decided right there at that moment that she was going to come clean to Michael about everything that had transpired over the past couple of months. About her almost not being able to run anymore with the complications going on with her knee, the prescribed steroids she had gotten from one of the girls on the team to help with the pain in her leg, and how Randall had caught her using them during a track meet and had been blackmailing her ever since. She told him how Randall had set Michael up with the drugs because she wouldn’t break up with him the first time, and that was why she broke up with him two weeks later, and how she felt someone else was in cahoots with Randall after he was forcing her to pay him some money. She told him all the secrets that she had been holding on to that had been eating away at her and it felt great to finally let it all out. Like she had built a damn and had finally tore it down, allowing all the secrets and hurt and lies to gush out like a waterfall, freeing her conscious. Michael listened intently, allowing her to say everything she needed to say, and saving all of his questions until after she was finished. He saw the tears rolling down her cheeks, but he knew they weren’t tears of sadness, but of relief. When she finally finished speaking, Michael wiped her tears with the back of his hand and gave a soft smile. He told her about how he understood now why things had happened the way that they did with Coach, and how he was on a two-week probation because of those drugs. “For weeks now I had been trying to figure out how the marijuana got in my room, but I guess I had drunk so much that night that the whole evening was kind of hazy. I’ve been getting parts of my memory back, but not enough to tell the police the whole story of what happened. What you’re saying now makes perfect sense, because if I don’t remember anything else, I remember locking my door, because people kept coming in and out of my room, and I just didn’t feel like being bothered,” Michael said. “I appreciate you telling me the truth Rey, but I still feel like that wasn’t the reason why you broke down like that. I understand it hurt you but I know you, and I know that this whole situation wouldn’t have caused you to just lose it the way you did.”
Once again Michael was right, and Reyanna went on to tell him about everything that was going on with her parents. She told him about the conversation she had had with her dad, and how basically her mom had been lying to her this whole time and trying to play the victim. “Damn, Rey I am so sorry,” Michael said. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing and what Mrs. Carter had done. Mrs. Carter was always like a second mother to him, and in his eyes she could do no wrong, so the fact that she had an affair and an abortion was a lot to take in. But he could only imagine that if this is how he felt, then Reyanna must be feeling ten times worse. He didn’t know what to say, or if there was anything that he could say, so he just grabbed Reyanna up in his arms and held her as they lay down. He kissed the temple of her head and ran his fingers through her hair, as she lay down next to him, crying softly.