Burned By The Pages

Chapter ten: Megan

For the past few days, Megan had been feeling under the pressure of her own self’s expectations. She needed time to recollect her true self, especially when no one would dare be friends with her, even Danielle. A sense of sadness and sympathy had been inevitably flowing through her conscience. It was guilt. She never bought time for herself nor tried to understand what was going on. It was three years ago since she decided to break up with Jake who was then being too unrealistic and unreasonable.

Yes. Before Tracy, there was Megan. Megan was trying to forget Jake for the sake of realizing her own self-worth until one year ago, when the incident that devastated everyone in the Creative Writing organization as well as half of the whole campus.

It was then that Megan found out about Tracy’s death. Fear overwhelmed her when the news exploded. The first thing that popped up in her mind was Jake.

Maybe it was Jake who did it.

Megan thought although a few days later, she found out it was a suicide.

Months had passed since then and Megan became too conscious of the days that were swinging by. She was afraid of the time that she might be seeing Jake again around the campus, albeit she was not sure of the reason herself. For a year, it didn’t happen. But when she found out that Jake was back, the fear that had once kept her tormented made a U-turn as well, the reason why she would have had rather stayed unpredictable and usually out of sight of anyone in the campus for the past days.

It started raining when Megan reached the campus. She decided to talk to Danielle and tell her what she knows about Jake as she was noticing Danielle being so distracted lately. She made her way towards the residence halls where Danielle could probably be at the time of that night. It was 9 P.M. already.

The silent coldness of the rain had seemed to be finding its way to creep through her sweater. She wrapped both her arms around herself to pat off the cold.

"Glad I don’t have my bag."
She mumbled to herself before running her way near the Residence Halls.

A familiar stature standing outside the Mauller Halls caught her attention. At first, Megan thought it was Tristan. She kept her sight on that person as she slowed down her paces when the coldness that was creeping through her clothes finally pierced her skin.

Her steps came to a stop when she recognized the thin scar on the man’s face. The same old fear that was disquieting her peaceful mind hit her. Her whole body froze. It was as if the rain that was soaking her wet was pouring down with ice.

“J…Jake?”
Megan stuttered before finally making herself feel at ease. For just this once, she had to remind the promise she had kept for herself.

Jake looked at her. The light that was coming from the building was dimly illuminating the thin scar on his tanned skin. He still looked the same except the scar. He still seemed to be unpredictable and partly aggressive.

His brown eyes were showing a sense of doubt, anguish, and astonishment. It was difficult for Megan to clinch what Jake could be thinking at that moment.

“Megan... it’s been a while.”
Jake gave a faint smile. He looked so innocent that Megan was starting to feel sympathetic.

“What are you doing here?”
She asked with a firm voice.

“Don’t worry. I’m not here for you.”

The coldness that was suffocating Megan seemed to have started colliding with the surge of heat flowing all over her.

She sensed anger building up in her.

“But I want to ask you for one favor.” He continued. He was still glued to the dry ground under the ceiling of the building. It was like asking an old friend for him. It was that easy.

“I’ve already done you a favor once.”
Megan replied but her voice sounded hoarse.

She realized she was soaking wet under the rain so she strode past him towards the main entrance to ignore the tension.

A sudden familiar tad seemed to have gripped her left arm making her lose a little bit of balance.

“That telephone number was nothing, Megan. It was no big deal but you still gave it to me while not knowing my intention.”
Jake said, and then released Megan’s hand to reach for a worn out notebook from a bag rested on the floor on the side. Megan didn’t look at his face.

“For the last time, please give this to Danielle and I’ll disappear from your sight, okay?”
He reached out to her already shaking cold hands and handed her the notebook.

Megan turned her head. For the first time, she saw sincerity blooming in his brown eyes. It lasted for seconds until Jake turned away towards the fountain that was bathed under the misty cold of the rain.

Before he set foot on the wet ground, he uttered the words he had spoken three years ago when Megan broke off from their relationship;

“I’ll never get in your way again.”
He finally said then ran off.

Megan felt numb for a moment but when those words started to sink in her head, she felt thin strands of heat flowing from her bleary eyes down her cheeks. She didn’t know if those tears meant to let her know that she had finally proven that she really had kept the promise for herself or to let her sympathize with him.

Unconsciously, she clutched the notebook in her hand and walked up the stairs until she reached their dorm room. She hesitated to knock and had no strength to grip the door handle. It was as if coldness was devouring her conscious soul. She felt sick and when the door opened, seeing Danielle in front of her brought her back to her senses.

She could not speak to her yet as her feet were already making their way into the room, ignoring Danielle who was saying something that had seemed inaudible for her. After a transient state of silence, she finally took the courage to look at Danielle straight in the eye, trying to wake up from delusion, and watched her disappear from sight as she gently closed the door.

*******

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I feel terrible for not posting an update for more than a year (outrageous!). Things were a mess and a horrible long-term writer's block had kept me off the story. But it's still not a valid excuse so from now on, I'll be posting an update once a week, 'cause that's how it should be right? Or even better.
So hang in there! More are on the way!

P.S. I'll be needing a spirit of motivation to keep my mind on the track, so kindly tell me what you think in the comment section and votes are much appreciated! ❤

(to someone out there who still patiently waits for my updates. Thank you. ❤)