Secrets | Watty Awards Winner 2013

Chapter 20

The first thing I notice when I wake up is something cold and metallic pressing against the left side of my body. The second thing I note is someone’s arms wrapped around my torso and a warm body pressed against my back.

“Good morning.”

My eyes open a crack and when they see Ollie, they fly open. He has his arms crossed across his chest and the expression on his face makes my heart sink into the pit of my stomach. I glance down at Will’s arms still holding me close and I feel a guilty flush creep up from the base of my neck and fill up my cheeks. Will chooses to stir at this moment and I take the opportunity to pull away from him and slide off the hood of the car.

Running a hand through my tangled hair, I swallow in disbelief.

I can’t believe we’d fallen asleep on the car.

“Please. Don’t let me interrupt anything,” Ollie says coldly and there’s an edge to his voice that makes me wince. I’m still bleary from sleep but I know how bad this looks.

“Ollie, stop it. It’s too early in the morning,” I say calmly, sliding my hands into the ridiculously large jumper that Will had handed me.

For a few moments, all Ollie does is stare at me. The expression on his face is one of pain and betrayal and it stabs me straight through the heart. Then, it morphs into anger and accusation.

“Fuck you,” he says and it’s so quiet that I almost don’t hear him. When his eyes meet mine, they are glittering with such fury and hurt that I feel like bursting into tears.

I don’t know when it got so messed up but it has and I don’t know what to do.

Brushing past me, Ollie storms away and I start following him.

“No.” Someone grabs my hand and tugs me backwards. I whirl around and glare at Will. I can feel tears pricking at the back of my eyes.

“Let go of me." My voice is dangerously low.

“Don’t go. He needs his space,” Will says, nodding in the direction Ollie had gone.

“No. He’s my best friend,” I say stubbornly. Pulling my hand away, I run after Ollie and catch him just as he is entering into the motel lobby.

“Ollie.” I grab his arm and he flings me away.

“Go away,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Ollie!” I yell in exasperation and plant myself right in front of him so that he can’t move. Forcing myself to look up into his face, I touch his arm gently. “Please. Stop.”

“You’re fucked up, you know that?” Ollie says, running a hand through his hair and jerking away from my touch. “I thought we were good. Clearly, I thought wrong.” Ollie gestures outside.  He’s so angry that the muscles in his jaw twitch as he talks.

I wince as if he's slapped me across the face. “I’m so sorry, Ollie.”

His hazel eyes widen in surprise and then a slow smile spreads across his face.

“Did I hear that right or did Ariel Chambers just apologise?”

“You heard right,” I say, shaking his head. “You’re right. I am completely messed up. But I swear, nothing happened last night between us. Nothing.”

I stare at the dirty carpet underneath my shoes. It has an ugly criss-cross pattern that spans the entire room and it is the only thing that is saving me from having to look into Ollie’s eyes again. I can feel my over-heated cheeks going into overdrive and if my heart beats any harder, it might break my ribs and end up in a foul mess on the floor between us.