Thanatophobia (Manthony)

Chapter 11

     Mitchel

     The next few days were quiet. And awkward. And kind of suffocating. 

When word got out that Christian was yelling at me for cheating on him, more people came outside to witness the argument. 

"God, you gotta be fucking kidding me, Mitchel!" Christian yells, laughing as tears fell down his face. Seeing him so upset broke my heart. "Please, can we talk about this at home?" I beg.

Christian shakes his head.

 "What's going on?" I hear somewhere close by.

 "The fuck are you doing here?" Christian grimaces at Travis. "Have you not destroyed enough?"  

"This is not the place to start a fight," Travis states calmly but firmly. I look around at the crowd of people that were circled around us. 

I should be embarrassed by my actions, but I wasn't. I was embarrassed by Christian's behavior.

      Xavier was looking at me with confusion in his eyes. I wanted to shrug it off and act like I had no idea what was happening. 

"You're a fucking cheater!" Christian yells, making me turn my attention back to him. "You're just drunk. We should just get you home." Travis chimes in. 

"Who the fuck are you anyway? You only got famous cause' you dated Mitchel." Christian was holding a beer in his hand. I wonder how many drinks we had. 

"Do us all a fucking favour, and shut the fuck up." Christian says. He attempts to open the car door but has no luck. Clinton had locked it, and none of us knew where he was. 

Christian sighs heavily. 

"You know, I've been nothing but nice to you," Travis says. Christian turns around swiftly. 

"Bullshit," Christian spits.

"Mitchel doesn't deserve you, and we all fucking know it." 

"Says the guy who was charged with statutory rape at nineteen." Christain retorts. Gasps were heard from everyone who was watching the petty exchange. My jaw drops. 

People were whispering. They were staring at Travis and then turning their attention to me.

"What? " Christian scoffs. "You thought no one would know? You thought no one does fucking background checks? It's 2021. Get a fucking grip."  Christian laughs. He waits for Travis's response, but he knew there wouldn't be one. 

"I-Is that true?" I stutter. I look into Travis's eyes for confirmation. "I'm sorry," He mouths to me. I back away from him.

I wanted to throw up. This life couldn't be mine. It had to be a sick joke.

For a moment, I hated myself. Not Travis.

"You know how old she was?" Christian cocks his head to the side, taking a swig of his beer. "Fifteen," Christian says. 

"The age of consent in California," Christian takes a deep breath before continuing. "Is eighteen." Travis's hands curl into fists. He was looking at Christian with hatred, but I understood why. No one liked when someone aired their dirty laundry.