Blameless ✔

Chapter 11: ❝No secrets❞

Chapter 11: ❝No secrets❞ 

♡Mark's POV♡

I had my black earphones plugged into my ears as I walked down the empty street, the sound of the occasional cars revving by becoming a mere background noise in the silence.

"Oh, my God - do you see that guy over there?"

But alas, my childhood tendency of not increasing the volume of my music to the max due to 'safety precautions', unfortunately, subjected me to hear the annoying, excited giggles from the two dark-haired females who froze in their tracks to not so subtly stare and whisper about me. Fortunately, it was something I was used to.

Ignoring them, I proceeded with my journey but it was when I heard, "hey, can I please talk to you for a minute?" that I felt my calm demeanour dissolve into chagrin.

Increasing the volume on my phone while saying 'fuck you' to the ten-year-old me, I frantically increased the speed of my gait.

"Excuse me!"

Their shadows evident from the tall porch light above revealed to me that they weren't going to give up without a fight so I relentlessly doubled my walking pace, my head becoming jumbly as unpleasant scenarios ran through my head at the thought of what they might say, ask or do to obtain my undivided attention.

Leave me alone, I thought, desperate to lose them.

There was a crossing up ahead so I jogged towards that, uncaring of whether the girls had finally figured out that I was running away from them. I didn't have time to deal with this right now albeit my general mindset was more fight than flight. It was when I set my foot on the darker concrete of the road that I saw a blinding white light powerful enough to take away one of my most appreciated senses. Falling backwards onto the sidewalk, I clutched onto its edge as I stared at nothing in particular with wide, blown out eyes. My heart hammered almost painfully in my chest as I tried to pull myself together.

"Are you insane?!"

The voice was very muffled due to the strong vibrations emitting from my earphones as my music forced its sound through my pounding eardrums. It was dangerous, it was loud, and it was suffocating, but I could still recognize the angry voice from a mile away.

It was Luke's.

Or maybe someone that looked like him because the Luke I knew didn't own a Mercedes Benz nor does he wear fancy clothing such as that flamboyant Luis Vuitton suit which looked almost ugly without the famous brand backing it up. However, it was when his face softened and was wiped clean with his comprehension that I knew it was indeed Luke and not someone that just resembled him.

It was him - my supposed best friend.

He opened his mouth to speak the same time I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, the beating of my heart becoming cold and still.

"Mark," he spoke. "W-Why-I-I... Don't plug your earphones in while crossing the road - you could hurt yourself."

Staring at him, I didn't respond.

The emotion taking over my body left me confused as I gave him a decelerating once over, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the unfamiliar sight.

Chuckling, I removed my earphones which had coincidentally stopped playing their music when he spoke. "Christmas present?" I questioned, my voice deliberately taking a humorous tilt to hopefully lighten the atmosphere constantly getting weighed down by the passing wind.

Yes, there was no way he would lie to me.

His eyes saddened and there was some knowledge in the way he spoke. "Christmas was last year, Mark."