A Silent Hope

Chapter Twenty One

Mackenzie

I slowly drove towards town, not in any rush. A huge weight had been lifted since I spoke to Bella and I felt free.

I'd visited my parents while I was there and spent some time with them. My Ma was going on about how I never called and my Pops was silently enjoying the show. I did my job as an older sister and tormented Kezia before running away this morning when they were all still in bed. I had to, or I would've been emotionally blackmailed into staying another day.

I crossed over the border and continued to the gym. Thalia would be getting off of work soon and I hadn't bothered her yesterday. I parked my bike and sat on the pavement, legs spread out in front of me. I was tired and in need of sleep, a little hungry too.

The half an hour passed by with my body drained and stomach growling, but my heart kept thumping away in my chest. I knocked my boots together as I watched people walk by, mindlessly twirling a piece of my hair in my fingers.

"You look a little lost there."

I bent my head backwards to see Thalia looking down at me with a blank face. "Hi. Just waiting on you."

Her eyes rolled and she walked off.

"Wait up." I scrambled to my feet and jogged after her. "Got any plans?"

"Yes."

I frowned at the blunt, dry answer. "Okay. Mind if I walk you? I'm doing it anyway."

Thalia gazed forward and gave me no reply.

My eyes stayed on her while I tried to figure out what was wrong. "Bad day?"

"No."

"Tired?"

"No."

"Something happened at work?"

"No."

I gripped her arm to stop her brisk walking. "Hey, what's wrong?"

The woman looked up at me, eyes hard and jaw clenched. She seemed to be thinking about saying something as her lips parted slightly before closing again. I waited a few seconds while Thalia contemplated on speaking or not. A couple of people walked past us, ignoring the two individuals just standing and staring at each other.

The brunette gently tugged her arm out of my hold. "I tried calling you yesterday." Was all she said before walking off again.

I quickly thought back to my phone I ignored since dropping her off the night before. "I'm sorry." I rushed out when I caught up to her. "I went to the city because I had something to do and then I went home to visit my family. My mom hates it when we're on our phone and I just got back. Came right to you and waited."

We reached her building and the woman unlocked the door, entering and turning to me. "I'm gonna go take a nap. I'll see you around."

"Thalia," I placed my palm on the door to stop it from shutting. "It's the truth."

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm clueless about people being mad at me. So if you're mad, you need to tell me you're mad."

"Why?" She frowned.

I bent my head down to see her eyes better. "So I can fix it."

The woman sighed as she bit into plump lips, and my eyes zeroed in on the action. "I'm not. It was just...I don't know."

"You were disappointed I didn't answer?" I questioned carefully.

Brown eyes, with green coating the irises, looked up at me. "I guess so."