Thanatophobia (Manthony)

Chapter 21

Christian

I went to open Mitchel's door, but I could hear he was talking to someone on the phone. I wanted to walk away, but something was telling me not to.

I look around, making sure no one can see me eavesdropping. Once the coast was clear, I turn my attention back to Mitchel's door. I press my ear against the cold white wood.

"Just open the text." I hear. I knew it was Jordan, but I didn't know what she was talking about. Mitchel doesn't respond, making me wonder if he wasn't answering her or if he was whispering.

"What the fuck?" He finally says. My heart rate begins to speed up. Had Jordan told him I had slept with her?

No, he would've come to find me. "Who would do this?" He adds.

My eyes widen. "The car." I whisper to myself. Panic strikes me. I had completely forgotten I had partaken in committing a crime.

Jordan couldn't possibly know it was me. As far as my "friends" and I were concerned, the cameras at Jordan's apartment complex weren't working.

At least, not while we were busy destroying the car.

I regain focus when I hear Mitchel ask Jordan if she has called the police. "Yes. They said they couldn't really do anything without evidence of who did it. This is gonna cost me a fortune."

I can't help but roll my eyes. I had a feeling Jordan would only be concerned with how much the damage would cost her.

She wasn't as financially stable as Mitchel and I were, but it wasn't like she couldn't afford to buy a new car, let alone get hers fixed. Maybe she couldn't afford a mansion, but she could afford things even middle-class people couldn't.

"I can help you." Mitchel tells Jordan. I frown at his comment. He had to be kidding? At this point, Jordan made a point of saying she didn't know how she was going to pay for the damage. He was falling for her trap, per usual.

"Where was Christian last night?" Jordan asks, her voice sounding a little different through the phone.

I knew there was going to be something to incriminate me. Luckily, I hadn't been gone too long, but it was long enough to drive to Jordan's apartment, find her car, and wreck it.

Mitchel tells her I was with her, leaving out the part that I had left the house for a while.

He was on my side, which made me smile.

"He's been acting strange since he got back from Australia. You said so yourself, Mitchel. Don't be fucking naive." I hear.

I had been acting strange, but Jordan knew why. All she was doing was lying to Mitchel. She was gaslighting him, trying to make him believe I was the bad guy when she was too.

"You're so fucking convinced he's perfect. It's embarrassing."

I place my hand on the doorknob, tired of hearing this stupid conversation and wanting Mitchel to hang up the phone. "At least I didn't date a rapist." Jordan says with hatred in her voice. "Fuck you." Mitchel tells her.

I no longer heard either of them talking, so I assumed he had hung up on her.

I take a breath and walk into his room, acting as if I had no idea what was going on. Mitchel turns to look to see who has come in. I force myself to give him a half-smile.