Runaway Man

Chapter 28: The Burden of the Past

Chapter 28: The Burden of the Past

Joey combed his hair with his fingers, part of him unsure whether or not it was safe to approach us. Since I had last properly seen him, his appearance had changed slightly but noticeably. Instead of his usual gelled back in some shape or form hair, it now sloppily rested above his eyes. Moving onto his eyes, there were faint bruised rings under them, which suggested that he had problems sleeping recently.

Basically, he looked drained. I wondered what happened to him. He'd gone from such a cheerful character to a ghost, as if I never even knew him at all.

"Hello ladies," he choked, a lot less unconfident than he had been, "Have you seen Jessica anywhere?" I raised my eyebrows, curious to know why he wanted to know her whereabouts. 

"Why?" Diana laughed. I tugged at my collar, refusing to speak up or say anything.

"Her mum wanted this," Joey sighed and he reached into his pocket to pull out a mobile, "She forgot to take it with her this morning."

Amused, Diana raised her eyebrows, "And you want us to give it to her?" 

"If you know where she is."

He wasn't paying attention to us though, he was just staring into the distance. I probably would have been too but I couldn't help but watch him even if it was from the corner of my eye.

"Sure, I'll give it to her," I spoke up, our hands touching as I took it from his palm. Anything to get him to go away and leave me alone. The more cooperation I made, maybe the sooner I could forget about him and move on with my life. I'd wasted time I didn't need to waste on him and this entire thing was just stupid. His mouth was ajar and he blinked twice blankly, frozen in the position he was when I touched him, "Bye." I grabbed Diana by the wrist and tried pulling her away.

"Don't you want to talk to him?" She asked, shocked. I shook my head. I wanted to be done with him but... but there was something that was pulling me slowly towards him as if he were a magnet. He was the South Pole and I was the north, two opposites and one pulled the other. The longer I stayed, the worse it would be.

"I want to go before I change my mind." I gritted my teeth angrily. I didn't want to regret this and if I were to, I wanted to at least do the wise move.

"But, he's still there where we left him," Diana shrugged innocently. My head flicked back in his direction and he was with that stupid dumbstruck face of his. It was weird seeing him again after so long properly and part of me actually missed the small amount of memories that we shared together. Bizarrely, it was weird and I hated thinking about it but I couldn't help myself. I shifted closer to him but forced myself to continue walking away. 

It was for the best, right?

"I think he's here for more than one reason," Diana explained, glancing behind us, "I think he wants to talk about something important to you. See you tomorrow!" I waved my hand off at her, ignoring her comment, getting closer to the school building. I was going to give Jessica her phone back then go home and forget about all the chaos.

And the next thing I knew - Diana had snatched the phone out of my hand and darted away. I sighed, shoving my hands in my pockets. I guessed that Diana was going to be the one who went to see Jessica and I would just look like an idiot if I tried to follow her. Should I wait for her? I started my route home, part of me wishing that I back to him. Just before I shifted around the corner, I heard footsteps behind me and his voice.

"Florence... wait," he said weakly. I ignored him. This was just pathetic now. The weak and innocent approach wasn't going to work on me, and if it was not without a fight, "I said wait!" His voice was louder and higher pitched. Angrily, I spun around on my heels and snorted.

"What?"

"Can you hear me out?" He begged. Rolling my eyes, I tapped my foot waiting for him to continue.

Angrily, he pinched his nose bridge as if he were in deep thought. I coughed, regaining his attention and he looked up me with a distressed expression. “I'm a man. I make mistakes, I get dragged into things I shouldn't get dragged into and I admit that. You don’t even know the whole story and if you did, you’d understand that I'm working the best I can with what I've got. I know I'm a sinner, I know I did wrong but you know what, at least I try. Unlike some people, I put effort and passion into things and try make the wrong things work. I really thought that there was something special between us, you know, and I can tell that you believed that too because there was. I screwed up and if I could turn back time, I would. I've been constantly messaging you last weekend, since you left the game early, and I was certain that you were dead because you weren't reading anything I was sending you. I don't understand why you hate me so much because Florence.... I try, I really do and only if you knew that.” He peered at the floor again, admiring the gum that was spread across it. I stared at him, trying to act as serious as I could, but I couldn't help but smile briefly.

"Well you fucking know what," I growled, "There was something but you threw it away. You chucked it by dating my antagonist and the person who makes my life hell. You know what I say, I say go away Joey. I am done wasting my time with you and your pathetic trying."

It was like he didn't hear the beginning bit of my statement, instead he only countered the last sentence. He swung his arms in the air and yelled, "I haven't been trying, then who else is trying to get Mason to own up to what he did the entire time?" My heart pounded, froze then exploded. What was he on about this time?

"Excuse me. Don't bring Mason into things that don't need to be brought into. Now if you excuse me, I'm going." I complained and slowly strolled away from him. Although I wouldn't admit it, I was curious to know what he meant about Mason. I was aware that they seemed to be good friends but I didn't really know any more depth about it. I hoped that Mason hadn't been seeing anyone behind my back. We weren't officially dating but we were very close to it, much closer than anything I had been with Joey. 

A pair of hands wrapped around my waist, preventing me from walking any further and a some soft lips made contact with my mouth. Electricity shot through my body and the owner pulled away, leaving my lips tingling. 

"Now will you listen?" He whispered calmly. With goose bumps rising on my back, I forced myself to look at him. We'd both calmed down and I stroked my damp bottom lip with my finger, wondering why he did what he did.

"Uhm..." I spluttered.

"But first, follow me," Joey motioned with his index finger, "I need to tell you this privately, where I can guarantee no one will be able to hear us." For some reason, I followed him. It was like I was a battery and he had charged me up slightly, making me work but not leaving me content. I had a sudden urge wanting to hear his voice and I couldn't resist what he said.

We ended up in some woods that I had never been in before, he sat down on a tree log, detangling his hair with his fingers. He gestured for me to sit beside him and I did. I absorbed the strong scent of his cologne and he smirked, knowing that I was sniffing him.

 "I want you not to interrupt me and only ask questions at the end." He explained as if I was a little child that didn't understand what manners were. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to physically acknowledge what he just said. I nodded, my thirst growing for his explanation. I was fully aware that what I was doing went against what my brain was screaming at me to do, but it was human instinct. When your heart takes over, you forget that you even have a brain and it makes you do stupid things that you'll only regret later on. The heart was a complicated organ and I wondered whether or not it was just used for pumping blood around our bodies.

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OMG! Isn't this just full of romance? Cringiest thing I have ever written, I think? ;)

THEY F*CKING KISSED. IT JUST TOOK 28 CHAPTERS TO HAPPEN. Diana's fault because she left her to give Jessica her phone. 

My German speaking went so badly that I had to ask the teacher to restart it and it was just so bad, I can't express it into words.

BUT WHAT DID MASON DO?!?!?!?!??!?!

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