𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑻 𝑾𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑺 | 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐧

Chapter Thirty

Evelyn Banks

A week passes and still, nothing from Rafe. To ease my own mind I try to make excuses as to why he hasn't replied. Maybe his number has changed or he miraculously dropped his phone and broke it. Anything, beside the fact that he just wasn't interested anymore. Perhaps our last conversation was too much for him and he realised that he didn't want to deal with this any more than I did.

Either way, as the days pass it grows harder to ignore the fear that maybe we were done for good. I tried my best and reached out, there isn't much more I can do. Still I check my phone daily and refresh my messages just in case he's responded.

It's Monday and I've decided to go back to school but I'm overly anxious on the short drive there. I skipped almost three weeks of classes so the amount of work I need to catch up on is undoubtedly endless. Plus it'll be the first time I'll see my friends since that night at the Chateau, to say I'm terrified is an understatement.

It's seemingly normal when I step back into the main school building, but I make a beeline to my locker and avoid making eye contact with the people surrounding me. I've arrived early so as soon as I finish collecting my books from my locker, I make sure to stop into my classes to get a run down of the work I've missed.

"I was really sick" I cough, trying to sell it to my History teacher who, understandably, doesn't buy it.

By the time I've made all my rounds, the bell rings for first period. My plan on making it in early to claim a seat at the back is ruined when I enter and see the class is already half full. I see him look up from his phone, almost dropping it when he makes eye contact with me and the urge to leave the class grows more tempting. Instead I move closer and take a seat on the only few available spots, conveniently placed on both sides of his desk.

The moment I sit next to Pope, I feel him shift. I haven't even placed my bag down before he's already packing up his books and hauling his bag onto his shoulder. I huff, watching him and feeling slightly humiliated by how obvious this rift is.

"Hey, man. Can we swap seats?" He taps the guy a few desks forward and I just turn away to pull my things out. I couldn't stand watching any longer so I set up my books and ignore the twist in my gut at the thought of him completely icing me out again.

By the first break, I'm already on edge. I had planned on somehow apologising to all of them but I couldn't even muster up the courage after my brief interaction with Pope in first period. I felt lost, dragging myself out of the library to make it to my next classes.

Kiara is the next person I see. Unfortunately for her we have assigned desks so she can't shift away from me when I sit down. Still, it's awkward when she senses I'm beside her and I tense up being so close to her. When the class ends, she's already up and out of her seat, striding out of the class before I've even packed up my bag.

By the end of the school day, I've realised I've made no progress with any of them. Besides making eye contact with John B and Pope, I was no closer to mending this friendship like I had intended. So I leave school the moment the last bell rings and drive home feeling defeated.

The sun eventually sets and it's almost nine pm when I hear a knock on the door. My dad was still at his friend's playing cards so it couldn't be him. I'm cautious when I pull the door open, only sighing in relief when I catch Barry nudging one of our garden gnomes with the tip of his sneaker.