Rejected ✓

Mecah's Journal

I shut my eyes tightly as a stream of light escaped the grey curtains that covered Connell's bedroom windows.

The night had been rough, with my dreams constantly muddled with my parents rage. I wasn't entirely sure how angry they would be, but I didn't really want to know.

Connell let me sleep in his bed, and to my request, he slept with me. It was a surprisingly bland PG-13 experience.

At the shift of the bed, I peaked open my eye to look at Connell. He was shirtless, which was a nice sight, with low hanging sweatpants. In attempt to save some small section of my damaged moral compass, I just focused on his eyes.

"You took the covers half way through the night," Connell said gruffly.

I pulled the covers, that were all on my side, up to my cheeks.

"Sorry.." I mumbled into the cover, blinking a few times.

Connell lifted an eyebrow.

"You were awake during that," Connell reminded, reaffirming his disposition.

I didn't answer him, but a smile came to my face. Turning away from him, I covered my head with the blanket, wrapping my arms around my legs.

Connell said nothing more as he went into the bathroom. I lifted my head when I heard the lock of the door, and shortly after, the crank of the shower.

Kicking the blankets off of me, I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I could only imagine it was midmorning, considering the bright sunlight streaming through the window.

My parents hadn't come after me, probably brooding in their room as they mulled over the fact that their daughter was mates to their much-older neighbor. Add substitute teacher to that, and wrap it in a pretty bow, and you have pretty much the worst gift ever.

I had unfortunately left my phone in my room, so there was no way for me to contact them. Unless, of course, I was to walk across the street and into my house. That wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Climbing out of Connell's bed, I stretched. Connells room was simple, with grey walls, and light grey accents.

I didn't dwell on looking around, knowing most of what there was to be seen. Curiosity still flowed through my veins though, so I left the room, looking for something else to get into.

I looked into the first room I could find, which I realized was just a small library. The books captured my attention, but I only looked at them briefly before I turned to something else.

As I shut that door, a familiar door caught my eye.

For some reason, Mecah's room had never caught my attention before. Perhaps it's just the thoughts I shoved deep into my memories, the things I wanted to forget. The things that made me sad.

I opened her door slowly, my stomach turning at the familiar creak as it slid open. For the most part, the room was empty.

There was an empty bedframe, which Mecah's parents had left. A small desk that Mecah used to use was still in the corner. The pastel pink walls I was accustomed to, were now a muted gray.

I took a few steps forward, doing a turn so I could look at everything. The horrible attempt we had made when we were kids for height markings, were still etched into the doorframe.

My hand lingered on the carved markings, remembering how much trouble we got in when her parents found them. They weren't even accurate, since I couldn't reach Mecah at that age, and so I just estimated to make the marking.