Michelle Ryker

Chapter Thirteen: Back to Reality

I was still running on autopilot when my parents got home Sunday night. My mother questioned me on that but my father shrugged it off by telling her I'd just had a long week and I'd be back to normal in no time. Sometimes he really knew what to say.

Monday morning I was still freaking out a little bit but I knew it would just make my parents worry if they saw me acting weird still. I put on a smile and tried to act as normal as possible while I was with them but the second I got into the limo with Matthews I let the act drop. He asked what was wrong as well but I shrugged his question off and told him I was just tired. He didn't seem to buy it but he let the subject drop. I was silently thankful for that as I had no idea how to tell Matthews why I was freaking out without actually telling him why I was secretly freaking out.

Morning practice went by quickly and I somehow managed to escape before anybody could bring up Friday's party and what had happened. I knew I wouldn't be that lucky all days and I took this little victory while I could. 

I tried to pay attention during the first half of the day but found I couldn't really concentrate on the lessons while I was listening to the random conversations in class that happened to be about this weekend. A lot of those conversations ended up being about the party but thankfully no one brought up the subject I was trying to hide from. I wasn't ready to deal with reality yet.

As soon as it was time for lunch I got to the back room as quickly as I could so I could avoid a certain someone finding me in the hallway.

I dropped my bag beside my usual seat at the table a second before a hand was placed on my arm. I assumed it was Aaron so I sighed and turned around. "What?"

The word was out of my mouth before I realized it was Jace. "It's cool, I get it. You thought I was Aaron, right?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, sorry."

"Not a problem. Since he's not here today I was thinking you could come sit at our table instead. What do you think?"

I bit my lip as I thought about it. Bridget sat with the guys every Monday and Friday so it wouldn't be weird for me to join them if I was dating anyone at the table but I wasn't so there wasn't a reason for me to. On the other hand, it would allow me to get away from Celeste and her prying. At the same time I wanted to hear what she had to say on the matter and see if she'd found anything out since Friday.

"I don't know," I said glancing at the door.

"Nonsense," he said pulling me gently towards the varsity guys' table. "Aaron's apparently spending the day with his uncle at the company so you won't have to worry about him bugging you."

I hadn't been worried about Aaron because I knew that but it was sweet that he cared enough to say something. "What about Celeste?"

He chuckled. "Leave her to me. It's nice to get away from her some days."

Seeing no way out of following him I gave in and let him lead me to the table. I sat down where Aaron usually sat and Jace sat down beside me where James usually sat.

"So why'd you want me to sit with you guys today?" I asked as everyone else started showing up.

"It'll sound stupid so I'm not going to answer that."

I rolled my eyes and looked at him. "Seriously?'

He sighed. "Aaron told me to watch out for you today, okay? He said he didn't want anything to happen while he wasn't here even if you are mad at him."

Damn right I was mad at him, Amanda did not have to witness that little scene with him and Erin. She's always looked up to her brother and he goes and does something stupid like making out with one of her closest friends? Without even talking to her about the possibility of something like that happening? That's just not right.