HIS FROST BITE (A MICHAL MRÁZIK FAN FICTION)

Chapter 3: Tight as a knot

Tara

The day flew away quicker than it came, almost as of it were a warning of the things that were to come later that evening. Nitra and I went to the mall and we watched the latest Spider-Man movie. Nothing had prepared me for the ending, Peter Parker was now all alone and no one close to him remembered who he was. Right about now I needed the type of science he used on my father so he would forget all about me and my academics. Later that night,Mr. And Mrs. Duncan invited me to dinner and we sat outside near the pool nibbling away into Mrs. Duncan's famous pasta primavera. The cutlery steered the conversation for most of the dinner and i sensed Mr. Duncan was still angry.

"So, Michal. I hear you'll be doing your third year this year," Mr. Duncan started and I looked over at Michal. He shifted in his chair, he appeared rather pale suddenly. His hair had dried off from last night and he had managed to tug it away from his face.

"Yeah," he stiffened in the chair. Mr. Duncan was obviously making a jab at her daughter.

"At least she's not running around marking her entire body with the devil's ink," Mrs. Duncan said and I knew it was aimed at Nitra's new tattoos.

"I'm going to eat in my room," Stassie said and I was so uncomfortable. I loved this house and the times I spent here but not when they fought like this. The worst part was that they used their guests to attack each other. Not that I was not grateful of their hospitality but it was rather distasteful what they did. I suddenly preferred being at the mercy of father than being here all of a sudden.

I reached Nitra's bedroom after dinner and told her I had to go home because father knew. I had no idea he did but it was actually just so I could escape the hostility of her parents.  I felt uncomfortable in their home lately. As soon as I packed my bag, Stassie suddenly walked into the room, she had her cellphone with her and she looked rather hostile as well. I honestly did not blame her, parents were rather unfair at times or eilling to hear us out.

"You're leaving too?" She asked as soon as she saw my bags.

"Who else is leaving?" I asked.

"Michal. He said something to do with early hockey stuff,"-"Could you ask him to drop me off at home?" I asked and she threw herself on Nitra's bed, taking refuge on her sister's lap.

"He's outside already, I'd hurry if I were you," she said and I ran out of the room after kissing Nitra on the cheek goodbye. I found him already starting up his engine in his jeep wrangler. I knocked on his window and that was when he finally took note of me. He drew his windows down but opened the door for me when he saw my bag.

I quickly got into the car and he drove off.

"Direct me?" He said and I nodded. He speeded out of the yard and we made it into the high way. Something inside of me made me feel like he was just avoiding the family drama like I were but that was just me.

The car ride was quiet but less awkward than the pool incident.

As soon as we made it to the highway the car ride suddenly came to a halt and i realised we were stuck in a traffic jam.

"This is not happening," he said and opened the window. It wasn't rare to have a traffic jam on Friday night but I was not mad about it, it gave me more time to think of what to say to father.

"I thought you would rather be under a bridge?" He said and I was shocked he even remembered that.

"I still haven't changed my mind but I have to face the devil in the face," I said and he sighed.

"Yeah, me too," he said , tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. An hour later we were still seated.

"Is this little Michal?" I asked and he tried grabbing the photo and I raised my hand so he wouldn't reach it but he did and grazed my waist while at it. A part of me stirred when he did that and that was when i suddenly felt him grazing my cheek. He pulled away from me and sat back on his seat and i wished he would not do that. I did not want Michal to pull away from me.

That thought made me feel dirty and impure. Like I was a little child reaching for the cookie jar I was not allowed to touch. No one told me not to touch it but Stassie was kind of like my own sister.  She would comb my hair and do my nails and hell she would even give me advice on boy drama and here I was wanting what was hers. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Traffic cleared and I directed him to my house.

"Are you okay?" Michal suddenly asked and I nodded but he opened the window for me, in all honesty I needed that. I needed the air because my own guilt was begining to chocke me.

The car suddenly reached a halt and pulled off in my driveway, I got out as quick as possible to leave this situation behind. To escape from my own problems before I did something I knew I would regret, that was until I realised Michal had also got out from the car to help me out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride," I said as I unzipped my bag to make sure I had my cellphone, avoiding eye contact with him. I just knew I had to or else one more look at his lips or I would start to wonder how it would feel to kiss them or have him push me against the car.

"It's no problem really," I said and felt his breath against my skin, I knew he probably was not doing it on purpose but I froze underneath that. There was a certain charge in the air and now I knew what it was , it was an electrical charge that made me even more attracted to him, the front door suddenly opened and I looked up only to find father standing at the front door.

"It's not wise for a young lady to be out here this late," he said, his entire voice filling the whole street so I said my goodbyes to Michal and made it towards father.  As soon as I walked uo the steps he walked back into the house and I walked up the stairs to my bedroom but he called me into the dining room. I just knew he knew. When I made my way in there, I dound him watching hockey like always. Like usual he was siting on his solo couch, it had sunk in along the years due to his weight gain. It was not that much weight gain, his height and his belly just happened to weigh him down.

I took a seat across from him and he switched off the TV. Father loved hockey, the man paid more attention to it than he did with the news. I would not be surprised if he knew all the hockey players from the past twenty years. 

"Everyone has been accepted into a university by now, but how come is my daughter quiet all of a sudden. Did you really think spending two weeks at the Duncan's house would,"-"I was going to tell you dad, I was just....scared," I said and he laughed derisively.

"Because you know that this is important. I heard Nitra will be leaving next month. Where are the emails? I want to see where it went wrong?" He said and I shook my head slowly.

"I didn't apply anywhere," I mumbled but loud enough to be heard and his eyes widened.

"Excuse me?" He said and I knew I was in for a hearing.

"How could you be so irresponsible,  what did you think would happen? This is important for you or else you're going to struggle for the rest of your life,"-"I don't know what I want yet, I want to take a gap year," when I said that he opened his mouth to say something but he said nothing. Almost like he felt defeat and then he sat back on his chair.

"Go upstairs," he said and I did not want to be told twice. I made it into my bedroom and locked the door. I threw my bag on the floor and changed into my pyjamas then threw myself into bed. I expected him to shout at me all night or something but I still felt like I had disappointed him as always, I still felt like whatever I did was below average as always even thought I tried my best. He never even asked why I never applied, all he spoke about was what he wanted and never what I wanted.

I switched on my nightlight and felt tears going down my face. Crying was pointless, I hated crying but at times the tears just slipped right out.

The light turned pink and made it seem like I was underwater. It always made me feel calm whenever I felt horrible but today it just made me feel sleepy and tired.