A Fractured Lover (Student/Teacher)

Chapter 46

"Come on, Alex. It was your idea to go in the first place!" Ben whined behind me as he trudged through my room and Mia collapsed on the floor in the corner of my room, bored of listening to Ben and I bicker back and forth about the trip.

"That was before," I argued back, sitting with my legs folded underneath me on my bed.

"I'm with Ben on this one," Rachel's voice flooded through the hallway and into my bedroom as she invited herself in, walking herself over to sit next to me on my bed.

"I think this trip could be a really good thing for you. It will get your mind off of everything and you can just leave it all behind for a weekend."

Rachel looked at me expectantly as I mulled over her words in my mind.

Did I want to go on this museum trip that I had signed up for almost a month ago when everything in my life hadn't taken a dramatic plunge for the worst?

No.

But as Rachel kept on and her words of wisdom crept into my brain, I knew she had a point.

I needed this. I deserved this, in fact. Some time away from the media, surrounded by my friends and art would be just the weekend of therapy I desperately needed.

The only downside would be the one person's absence that I craved the most.

Nathan.

After I had my 'Come to Jesus' talk with Mrs. Smith, I had tried to call Nathan only to be sent straight to voicemail.

And that was all the rejection I needed to know where he stood in regards to our issue driven relationship.

She was wrong and I was heartbreakingly correct, but I understood.

I couldn't hold anything against him for not wanting to have any further contact with me. I had flipped his life upside down within the time span of a few months. His career was at stake, his entire person was being judged by the whole state of Florida and most likely further, and when he needed me to trust him the most, I denied him; shut him out in fact and broke his heart.

Who in their right mind would be interested in continuing a relationship with me after all of that?

Certainly not Nathan McCoy.

This weekend would be a breath of fresh air and hopefully the perfect escape to attempt to mend together my shattered, unhinged mind.

"Fine," I answered in a mumble, playing with the frayed pieces of material at the end the blanket surrounding me aimlessly.

"So the trips back on?" Mia perked up from her spot on the floor to ask with wide, excited eyes.

Nodding my head and rolling my eyes playfully at Mia's enthusiasm, I replied, "Trips back on."

The drive down south was around four hours long and with every mile we passed on the highway, my heart sank a bit deeper. I tried to focus my mind on the car games that Mia insisted that we played to pass the time. I even took part in car karaoke for a few rounds but even the people in the vehicle next to us could hear the halfhearted effort I was putting into 'My Heart Will Go On'.

Tip for the future, Celine Dion is a definite NO to listening to after having your heart ripped from your chest cavity.

Once we finally arrived at the museum and I was able to get out of that car and inside the building filled with art for as far as the eye could see, I began to feel at bit more at ease.

The creative buzz and passion that the artists put into their pieces around me calmed my soul and put my mind on a tranquil setting that carried me through the halls of the museum.