Promises - Joel Pimentel

Chapter 21

A/N: Hello my lovelies, I just wanted to say I appreciate you guys so much and the feedback I get with this story. I am so sorry I don't get to personally reply to your comments but just know that I love you guys and your support so much. Y'all are so sweet and your feedback inspires me to write more so I just wanted to personally say thank you my angels xx

"Sweetie are you sure about this?" my mum runs her hands through my hair again.

"Yes mum, I'm positive" I grabbed her arm and gently rubbed it.

"How about you go rest right now and we will talk about it in the morning" my dad suggests.

What was the point of me coming down here in the first place if this conversation was going to drag onto tomorrow morning?

9:32 am

My eyes fluttered open as the scent of delicious breakfast was filling my nostrils. I was contemplating whether to sleep in a little longer or go downstairs to eat, since I was starving. After freshening up, I headed downstairs to the kitchen to see my mum filling my dad's plate with one toast after another.

"Morning kiddo. I see you're finally awake" my dad says without even looking up at me while reading the newspaper.

"Yeah well, it's sort of hard to ignore the smell of mum's delicious breakfast" I take a seat on the kitchen stool and grab myself a plate.

After I had filled my plate, I walked over to where my dad was sitting and took a seat next to him.

"So dad, have you given any thought about last night? Because I couldn't wait so I ended up booking the earliest flight which would be tonight. I mean I totally understand if you said no" I started blurting out words non-stop.

"Actually, your mother and I had already discussed it, and our answer is yes"

"But dad I-" I was about to start begging my dad until I heard him again. "Wait what? Is that a yes?" I ask.

"Of course, you're a responsible adult now and we're always willing to give you more freedom to make your own decisions. You've proven yourself Maya and that's why I'm so proud of you" my dad smiles.

"Really? You actually mean that? Yay!" I jump up and embrace my dad in a tight hug. "Thank you!" I squeal before sitting back down and eating my breakfast with a wide smile on my face.

As soon as I was done with breakfast, I washed my dishes and skipped upstairs in excitement.

"Ingrid, you have to come over. I have good news" I left Ingrid a voicemail.

Frantically taking out clothes to pack, I shove them inside my suitcase. This isn't just escaping and leaving all the drama behind; this is a ticket to freedom. It's like I can be a whole new person on campus since I literally know no one there. About half an hour had passed and that is when I heard the doorbell ring. I then heard footsteps coming up the stairs and into my room.

"Why do you even bother ringing the doorbell when you just walk in anyway?" I ask Ingrid as I was folding my clothes that I wasn't taking.

"I don't even know to be honest" she replies. "Where are you going?" she asks looking at my pile of folded clothes.

"Back to campus"

"Why?" she came closer standing right next to me.

I explained everything to her and she did not seem happy about it at all.

"So, you're ditching me because you're confused and want to get away from everything?" she asks.

"Ingrid please understand" I plead.

"No Maya I do understand. I can't believe you're leaving me behind. I thought we were meant to make the most of our holidays. We barely get to see each other and you decide to go back to campus three weeks early? All because some jerk broke your heart?"

Was she referring to Ryan or Joel? Because I'm thinking both.

"It's not like that" my voice was soft. "We had plenty of fun, didn't we? We had a sleep over. We had fun backstage. We had a fun shopping trip experience" I continue on.

"You see, that's where you're wrong. Think about all the events we had together; they all lead back to the same boy problems. That sleep over? Yeah, you spent most of the time complaining and crying about those two jerks. That shopping trip? We came home early because Ryan once again, abused you, and those nights backstage? They were used just so you could keep an eye on Joel. Don't think I don't notice that shit Maya" her voice was getting louder.

"You know, did you ever think about what I wanted? Did it ever occur to you what I wanted to do or what was on my mind? Did you ever think I maybe had problems that I wanted to talk about in my life?" she was now becoming teary and I've never seen her cry for so long.

As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. Thinking about it, when did she and I ever have the chance to have proper girl time? I had nothing left to say to her because I was ashamed.

"And now you're just sick and tired of it aren't you? So, you're leaving, not even caring about my feelings or how it would affect me. You know what Maya? We're done. I don't want to hear from a selfish bitch ever again. Have fun living your new life at college" and with that, she turned around and slammed the door shut on her way out.

I sat back down on my bed as my heart was shattering into a million pieces all over again. I felt nothing but guilt run through my body. She's right; how could I do this to her? I've been so busy worrying about boys and my own life that I forgot to be a real friend to Ingrid. I've officially lost every close person to me in my life. I deserved it.

8:26 pm

I was currently in the backseat of my car, on my way to the airport. My parents were in the front seat, with my dad driving. I didn't have much luggage so it all fit perfectly with me in the backseat next to me.

"And we're here" my dad parks the car as my parents get out.

"I got it" I grabbed my bags while my dad carried the rest.

Our whole family made our way inside the airport, just to drop me off. The wheels of my luggage were dragging across the polished marble floors. My dad had checked in for me and now I just had to wait for my flight number to be called out.

"Now, do you need any extra cash? You know, in case you get hungry or for emergencies" my dad pulls out his wallet.

"Dad, it's fine. Mum packed me a sandwich and the flight is barely an hour long".

"Attention all, passengers for flight number EB263, please make your way to gate B" a lady says over the P.A system.

"Well, I guess that's me" I say looking at my flight ticket.

I hugged both my parents as my dad kissed my head. We said our goodbyes before I watched them both walk away. Turning into the opposite direction, I made my way to gate B. I was showing the lady in uniform my ticket and that is when I heard my name being called.

"Maya!"

I turned around to see someone I'd never expected to see tonight.

"Maya wait!" the voice was getting closer.

That is when I saw Joel running towards me, running out of breath.

"What do you want?" I ask, moving aside letting other's pass the gate.

"What the hell is this? How long have you kept this a secret from me?" he huffs, still catching his breath.

He lifted up our shared diary and showed me the page where I had written down every single detail about what had been going on. Including Amber's threat.

"I have to go. Keep the stupid diary or burn it. I don't care what you do with it." I ignored him and turned around to walk through the gates before I missed my flight.

"No!" he grabbed my wrist and forcefully pulled me back to face him. "What the hell is this Maya!?" he lifted up the opened diary right at my face.