Whispers Of Fate

14| His Jacket

That night I lay on my bed, clutching my pillow tight, my emotions twisting and tumbling inside me like a storm. I’d hurt him, and I deserved every bit of the pain I was feeling. How could I have been so reckless? So careless? The memory of his expression, hurt and raw, replayed over and over in my mind, mingling with the echo of his voice.

Then I remembered the night we met. The night before the party.
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It was 8 pm when I received a text from Tyler.

"Come out, there's somewhere I want to take you.

I glared at my phone, hesitating. Tyler was the last person I wanted to spend my night with. Or, well, that’s what I kept telling myself. He was cocky, infuriating, and always managed to get under my skin. But somehow, there was this unspoken pull between us—a strange thrill that neither of us would admit out loud.

"Where?" I typed back, keeping it simple. My heart thudded a little faster as I waited for his reply.

"Just come. Or are you too scared?"

I could practically feel his smirk through the message. A mixture of annoyance and excitement bubbled up inside me, and I threw on my hoodie, slipping out of the house before I could think better of it. My feet moved quickly, my mind racing. I told myself this was just another one of his stupid dares, another game in the ongoing battle of wills between us. But as I turned the corner and saw him leaning against his car, hands in his pockets and that maddeningly casual smirk in place, my stomach flipped.

“About time,” he called out, his voice laced with amusement.

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe I didn’t want to come.”

He straightened, looking at me with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “Yeah, sure. You’re here, aren’t you?”

I opened my mouth to fire back a retort, but he cut me off, gesturing to the passenger side. “Get in. We’re going on an adventure.”

“An adventure?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me we’re going to a horror house or something. Knowing you, that’s probably your idea of fun.”

“Just trust me for once, will you?” he said, his voice softer this time, though there was a hint of his usual teasing.

Reluctantly, I slid into the passenger seat, the smell of leather and his faint cologne filling the car. I glanced out the window, trying to ignore how close he was, how aware I was of his every move. The silence between us was different tonight. It wasn’t our usual banter or snarky comebacks. It was heavier, as if something unspoken lingered in the air.

The car ride felt both short and eternal, and before I knew it, Tyler pulled up at the edge of a winding dirt path, illuminated only by the headlights. He turned to me, a rare serious expression on his face. “Come on. It’s just up ahead.”

I hesitated, but his gaze held mine, and something in his eyes softened. Against my better judgment, I followed him into the dark, my heart pounding with every step.

The path was surrounded by towering trees, their branches reaching out like shadowy fingers, casting eerie shapes across the ground. I shivered, but Tyler’s hand brushed mine as he walked beside me, his touch a steadying anchor.

We walked in silence, our footsteps crunching on the narrow dirt path. The towering trees around us seemed to close in, their shadows stretching across the ground like something from a horror movie. I shivered, trying to ignore the strange, comforting warmth of his hand brushing against mine.