This is Book 1 of the Arcelia Series.* Book 2 is in the works!
*Can be read as a stand-alone
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Malik Jackson needed help. After being exiled from the ocean, he washed up on the beach covered in injuries and missi...
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~ ~ Malik ~ ~
I felt really bad. Awfully bad. Extremely bad. I lied to Xander about what I was feeling, and he didn't bat an eyelid. Meanwhile, I'm second guessing everything he's telling me, trying to find a lie or an inconsistency. He doesn't deserve for my trust to be broken like this, does he? I should just come clean.
At the same time, he's the one keeping something from me. Did that mean he didn't trust me enough to talk to me about it? Or does it mean I don't trust him enough to handle it?
...Maybe both.
I needed to know if something was wrong, so I took matters into my own hands. I started waking up in the early hours of the morning, waiting for Xander to leave to see the member of staff like before, who I found out to be a man named Connor. I'd follow Xander to the staff's quarters and to Connor's room, and then watch him from around the corner. He always stayed for only ten minutes, then emerged like nothing happened.
This happened two mornings in a row, then on the third time, Xander came out fixing his hair and buttoning up his disheveled shirt, sending further pain and confusion through me.
He cheated on me with Connor, he had to have been. How else do you explain all this sneaking around, and his disheveled clothes? I marched up to him as he closed Connor's door behind him. He turned around to see me glaring at him, which startled him so much, he physically recoiled.
"Oh, Malik! What are you doing awake? Are you alright?" That's the first thing he says? Not apologizing for cheating, or begging for my forgiveness?
I've been cheated on before, by Dexter. Now thinking about it, it makes sense since he was really only using me. But every time it happened, he begged for me not to leave him and told me it wouldn't happen again. I really hoped Xander wouldn't be like that, and so far he's proven to be a lot better than Dexter, but how much can I trust that?
"What am I doing?" I scowled at him. "What are you doing? You know Connor has a boyfriend, right? Oh, and so do you!" I yelled.
"Malik, I'm not cheating," he was quick to deny it, but I knew better.
"I'm not stupid! How long has this been going on for?" I started pacing, words leaving my mouth faster than my brain could comprehend. "Has it been happening since we met? Maybe even before then! Do you love him? Do you even love me?!"
"Slow down," Xander reached for me, but I slapped his hand away. It made an audible noise and echoed down the hallway, along with my raised voice.
"Don't touch me!" I took a few steps away from him.
"Malik, I do love you, not Connor. Nothing is going on between us, I was just talking to him."
I wouldn't listen to reason. I just needed to leave, to remove myself from the situation. I mustered up all the courage I had and looked him in the eye as I said, "I'm going to pack my clothes back into the bag and move to a guest room. You're not going to follow me, and you're going to stay the fuck away from me," I spat. Then I turned on my heel and marched away, my head held high.
