Twin Entanglement [C]

Chapter 30 - The Rambling Boy

[This day sucks. Hospitals suck. Hopefully sharing this upload early will make it suck a little less, even if it makes someone else's day/night just a little bit more enjoyable, I think I can live with that.]

“Mia…?”

The sound of my name echoing down the empty hallway caused me to miss the last step and sent me stumbling forward, away from the staircase. Trying to catch my balance I grabbed hold of the pillar that stood next to the lockers. The sound of rushed footsteps headed my way and I looked up to see who it was, cursing under my breath as I realised I had been caught too deep in thought in a place I was supposed to be absent from.

Randy stopped a few feet from me, panic in his eyes as he scanned me from head to toe. His phone hung by his side, forgotten, as he watched me.

“Are you okay?”

I smiled sweetly at him, ignoring the stab of pain from my injuries. Looking behind him I didn’t see my brother or anyone else for that matter.

“I’m good… just a little lost in thought.” I answered softly.

Randy sighed in relief, “You nearly stopped my heart there for a sec…”

I shuffled my feet awkwardly as he turned his relieved smile my way. It was moments like this that I tried to avoid by not being alone with Randy. Looking around pointedly I directed his attention to the empty hallway.

“What are you still doing inside? No practice today?”

Randy looked around the hall in surprise and for a moment I thought maybe someone else had been with him.

“No… I was just with-” his phone buzzed, startling him as he remembered he still gripped it. Something seemed to click in his head as he looked to the mobile device and he stared for a moment at the blinking screen. Clicking it off suddenly, he shoved it into his pocket and looked up at me. The look in his eye was that of determination. An uneasy feeling entered my stomach as I watched him.

“Mia, can we talk?” he asked seriously. The look on his face told me that he was slightly nervous as he waited for my response. Recognising the pained look in his eyes I could more or less guess what it was that he wanted to say and it wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have.

“I was actually just leaving-” I began but was shut up as Randy took a step forward. His voice wavered slightly as he spoke.

“I know you’re sick and honestly, I don’t know what you’re even doing here, but I think it’s a sign. So can we please talk?”

My heart clenched as I heard the restrained emotion in his voice and I knew I couldn’t refuse. I nodded my head, resigning myself to this avoided conversation. I grit my teeth as I thought how unlucky this day was turning out to be.

Looking around the hallway, frowning slightly Randy tilted his head towards the end of the corridor; “This way…” he said and led the way, keeping a short distance between us.

I could hear his uneven breathing as his nerves wound up. Picturing how he tried to retrieve the words that he would use to finally confess to me, I began constructing my own refusal. Randy was a good friend and hurting him wasn’t something I wanted to do, especially when he was also such a good friend of Michael’s.

The silence grew heavy between us and I could feel the building tension as he inched closer with every step. I kept my eyes straight; ignoring the little peeks he sent my way. I cursed my luck again wondering why today had to be so complicated when all I had wanted was to get some medical attention. It was supposed to be so simple; all I had needed was Dr Ruby to check me out and on my way out confirm that Duke had sent in the pictures. Now here I was caught by Randy who seemed too eager to ‘talk’ to me.