Echolocation (Enoch O'Connor / mphfpc fanfic)

Chapter 8 - Under an Elm Tree

Shortly after leaving the library, I decided that I should attempt to talk to Enoch about what happened, although I saw no reason for him to have acted the way he did.

I finished getting ready for dinner, and made my way across the hall to Enoch's room, the door was cracked open, and inside Emma and Enoch seemed to be having a heated argument.

Against my better judgment, I pressed myself against the wall and lowered my breathing so I could hear what they were saying.

"You had no right to do that, Enoch!" She stated, anger clear in her voice.

"No right to do what? Interrupt their love fest, ha! And to think I trusted her! She was probably lying to me the whole time!" He angrily hissed.

I felt my cheeks get hot, and I suddenly felt as though I'd been betrayed. I left where I was standing and locked myself in my room. I didn't even want to hear what else he would accuse me of. Nor attend dinner.

•//////•

• Enoch's P.O.V. •

Emma stood there, her arms crossed, and her face growing redder by the second.

"How could you say that about Rosemary!?" She shouted. "If you had been there about ten minutes prior, you would know that she and Hugh are not involved. If you hadn't been so pigheaded, you would have listened to what she had to say! They're friends, Enoch!" She became angrier.

"Just friends?" I hissed. "Give me one good reason that could convince me that those two are just friends," I demanded, crossing my arms.

Emma crossed over to the door, closed it, and turned to me.

"Hugh is in love with Fiona, not Rosemary." She said coldly.

I felt all heat escape my cheeks. 'She was right, I should have listened,' I thought to myself.

"Just leave my room, Emma," I said coldly.

"And to think, I was starting to believe you weren't such an arse, Enoch. I was really starting to believe you had changed. Clearly, I was wrong," she said, leaving my room.

I slammed my fist down on my desk, causing all of the jars to rattle on my shelves. I had gotten myself in deep. I had single-handedly managed to make the one person who didn't hate me, despise me.

Good going, Enoch, now she'll never listen to you. Little did I know that it was much worse than I could have imagined.

•//////•

Rosemary didn't show for dinner that night, I didn't blame her. It made for an awkward silence that rested throughout the air. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Claire decided she would break the tension, wide open.

"Hey, Enoch, where's Rosemary?" Claire nonchalantly asked.

Everyone turned to face me. Miss Peregrine gave me a stern look.

'Shit.'

"Uh, I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders. Before anyone could question me, Emma chimed in,

"Rosemary's not feeling well, she decided to get some rest," she said informatively.

Everyone nodded their heads in acceptance.

I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

•//////•

After dinner, I walked up the stairs and stood in front of Rosemary's bedroom door. I was sweating bullets.