Severing Ties (Book 2. Ties)

19. Control

It had been five days since Christmas at my grandparents' house in France, which meant that someone was a year older. Someone was twenty-one years old. And that someone happened to be... Levi.

Should I say happy birthday or ignore the fact? Does he have the same phone number? Will he answer? Does he hate me? Questions of that sort ran around my head with the purpose of confusing me and sending me on a guilt trip. I had not spoken to him in years. No interaction had happened between us, since I left Texas in June of 2009. Against my better judgement, I texted him.

He replied five minutes later, saying thank you, but nothing else. I did not know why I was expecting more; I had behaved wrongly with him in the end when all he had done was love me. Maybe people weren't meant to love me; I mean, Dad knew that and never loved me, so he could avoid the curse that I brought.

I hated days like that; things from my past caught up with me in the confines of my mind. I felt depressed, but a normal depressed. I had stopped taking medication for my depression a few months ago, and I had been okay. I was still fine, but it was part of human nature to have bad days. And, Levi's birthday was my bad day that week, but I would get over it the next day.

The next day would be New Year's Eve, so the day was meant to be busy with preparations. My mom and I were back from France, which meant that we had to celebrate the coming of a new year in New York. However, we could not do that because my dad was still in town with his sister.

So, our plans were to go to a New Year's ball at the Lord's family residence, since my mother and I preferred not to see my father. Raven's parents hosted a ball to receive a new year for the past few years, and the most elite who liked to party till the sun rose went to the event. But before I even considered to get ready for the party, I was woken up abruptly.

It had been eight in the morning when my phone started ringing loudly and persistently. Eight in the morning might not have been super early for some people, but for a Saturday it was early for me. Begrudgingly and mindlessly I answered the phone with a "hmph?" My eyes were still closed, and my chest remained attached to the mattress and pillow.

"Why would you do that," a male voice asked assertively.

My mind was muddled with exhaustion, so my responses were not very good. "What," I mumbled the question, not even bothering to open my eyes yet.

"After all this time, why would you talk to me? Are you that cruel?" His voice was filled with anger as he spoke, sending chills up my arms.

The question sent my eyes flying open. I quickly turned and sat up in bed. My throat closed up and my eyes burned. "Levi," I asked incredulously.

There was a beat of silence before he spoke up again. "Answer me."

"I just... I wanted to wish you a happy birthday, because you turned twenty-one... And twenty-one is a special number..." And I miss you.

Levi sighed on the other side of the line. "I would have rather you said nothing at all, Mackenzie."

His words wounded my heart. "I'm sorry," I said without my voice quivering with the emotion I was feeling inside.

"Are you going to Texas anytime soon?"

I was left a bit baffled regarding his question. "No."

Silence remained for a few seconds. "Please don't contact me anymore... This is a waste of time. Goodbye—" the line went dead.

I stayed frozen for a minute with my phone held to my ear. I slowly brought it down and put it on the nightstand. I leaned against the bed's headboard and almost cried, but I did not want to. Instead, I laid back down and pulled up the covers all the way to my chin, while resisting the urge to ululate in pain. Somehow I fell asleep, but that did not last too long. At least it had felt like it had not been too long.