Caught in the Middle

Chapter 28

I shouldn't be cracking up in hysteria, right now. I should be out of my seat reassuring my friend that I wasn't in love with some deranged person hell bent on messing up my life.

But these emotions swirling inside of me, it felt like being on a rollercoaster. The fear, the excitement, the wildness, the worrying.

I was like a shell of myself before meeting Dane.

And now, I needed him like my lungs needed air because these emotions I was feeling, I loved feeling them.

I burst out from my seat, almost shocking the daylights out of Harlan.

"Can I use the bathroom to refresh myself?" I asked Irene. She dumbly nodded her head, her face still in disbelief.

I rushed to the bathroom, remembering where she kept her things. Then, I beelined into her room to gather an extra pair of clothes. She didn't stop me while I was running all over the place. Once in the bathroom, I closed the door and stared at the image of me in the mirror. How hadn't I notice it before?

'I'm in love with Dane,' I thought to myself.

The signs had been there from beginning. It was more than the kissing, than the thrill of having Dane's hands and mouth all over me. For the longest since I could remember, I felt alive.

I turned on the hot water, shed my dirty clothing, letting the fabrics fall a heap on the floor and I immersed myself in the shower.

I sighed and then a big smile displayed on my face. I was going back to Dane and we would finish this deadly game that Nathan started.

And perhaps, Dane and I could begin a new relationship, possibly a normal one.

A laugh startled me again, and I was wondering if I really went bonkers. I hadn't taken my meds in a while.

I should tell Dane about the meds and the paintings, reveal to him all my secrets so that Nathan had nothing to use against us. Besides, Dane was my biggest ally in this game against Nathan. And as an ally, the first step formed between them was trust.

I soaped my skin with one of the body gels and squirted some of it in my hair. I lathered myself until the dirtiness of the jail cell washed off my skin.

Taking the shower off, I reached for the towel and patted myself dry. Quickly, I donned on the clothes I could find in Irene's draws. Her bra didn't fit me right, with her being bustier than me, but I didn't care. I opened her medicine cabinet, recalling she kept new toothbrushes and tore the package to use one to brush my teeth. After, refreshing myself, I emerged from the bathroom, bending down quickly to retrieve my dirty clothes. I strolled into her bedroom and deposited them into her hamper.

"I'll pay you back for cleaning my clothes."

"You don't need to," she replied.

She eyed me weirdly. I couldn't blame her. I didn't know myself at the moment and honestly, I didn't care.

"Can I also borrow one of your coats?" I asked, making my way to her closet.

Immediately, she blocked me. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Doesn't it look obvious? I'm leaving."

"And you will go where?"

I smiled at her. "I'm going to meet a friend."

"Oh no!" She shook her head and started waving her finger in the air. "You're not going to see Nathan or try anything with him."

"No, I'm not!" I protested but I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle my hysteria.