My Personal Stalker

Chapter 19: Pushing away

"Chloe, I'm sorry but I'm in no position to tell you that. You have to ask him yourself..."

"How? Every time I bring it up in a message, he just tells me that I can never find out. And now he's at the police station being questioned for something he did to protect me." I covered my face with both hands. Everything that happened to him was my fault and I couldn't even help him.

Joe removed my hands from my face. "Hey... I know him well enough to be absolutely sure that he will get out of there without any harm, okay? He can take care of himself."

"How can you be so sure?"

Joe blinked down to his side. Then he picked something up and handed it over to me. "Have you checked your messages yet?"

I unlocked my phone and smiled at the message I had received.

Un: Are you worried about me? There's no need to. I'm great. Of course I can't say the same thing about Mrs. Gregory...

"I should go and let you two figure things out by yourself.", Joe said as he stood up and turned to leave.

"Joe... I forgive you and I'm sorry for being so hard on you today." He just smiled in response.

Me: I wasn't worried... I was just wondering how you were since you obviously did all of this for me

Un: Woah, woah, woah. I wouldn't put it that way. I just tried to do what was right

Me: Of course, you did. Anyway how did you do it? What did you do with Mrs. Gregory?

Un: Jealous? Nothing really happened. I just asked Mrs. Gregory if I could come over during third period to talk about my grades. Then I told her that I knew what Mark had done with her and she didn't seem too averse to the idea. It was disgusting and I was just hoping you would get the principal there before anything could happen. And it was pretty much perfect timing...

Me: Oh gawd. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if I had waited another two minutes. And what did you tell the police?

Un: That she forced herself on me...

We texted back and forth for the rest of the day. Still, I was no closer to finding out who he was.

-

The next day was the first good day in months. Mrs. Gregory was finally behind bars, I had made up with Joe, and him and I were closer than ever. Nothing could bring me down.

In maths class I could finally concentrate again and even Mr. Samuel seemed to notice. Afterwards, I made my way to the cafeteria where Joe was probably waiting for me. But someone stepped in my way.

"Are you out of your right mind?!" I would never get used to Mark's screaming. He always managed to make me feel like I was an idiot who had done everything wrong.

"Mark, maybe we shouldn't discuss this here in front of everyone." I tried to stay as calm as possible.

"Why not? Everyone can hear how you betrayed me. Miranda has done nothing wrong." I had never heard Mrs. Gregory's first name coming out of his mouth. "I don't know how you did it but you somehow tricked her and now the police thinks she's a rapist. What the hell, Chloe? We love each other and we could have been happy if you didn't always feel the need to interfere."

"Mark, that's not you talking..." My voice broke before I could finish.

"Not me? You don't know shit about me! All of this is your fault!"

"That's enough!" Someone shouted from beside me. "You don't get to talk to her like this. If you're looking for someone to blame just look in the mirror."

Mark snorted. "Noah, of course, always here to protect the pretty girls." He shifted his gaze back towards me. "Where is your other protector Joe? Or have you already found another one of my 'friends' to do your dirty work?"

Noah lifted his clenched fists into the air. "Watch your tongue! And leave her the hell alone!"

"Alright, I will leave. But remember, Chloe, I will get my revenge one way or another." Mark smirked one last time before leaving us alone.

Noah's gaze was still fixated on my ex as Mark strolled down the hallway. I cleared my throat forcing him to look at me. "Thanks, but I can take care of myself." Noah was the last person I wanted to help me. Those last few weeks he had ignored me completely and now he just showed up and acted like we were friends.

"I'm sure you can but you don't have to. A little help from time to time doesn't hurt either, does it?" His mouth formed into a smile.

"Are you referring to the night Mark left me alone at Joe's party? You got into a fight with him, I get it. But I never asked you to do that. Violence doesn't solve a thing. So please just... stay away from me." Maybe I was being a little bit harsh but it was true. I never wanted Noah's help.

"That's not what I... Look, I'm sorry if anything I ever did made you feel uncomfortable. I never meant to interfere. But when I saw what Mark was... You know what? Just forget it. You won't have to bother with me anymore." As much as I hated to admit it, Noah looked heartbroken. His lips were pressed into a thin line, his eyes were glassy and his head was lowered.

Seconds later, he was gone and I was frozen in place. Maybe I should have run after him, told him that I was sorry but I didn't.

I couldn't let go of my guilt for the rest of the day. Noah had meant well, he was just trying to help. And what did I do? I pushed him away...

—

Author's Note:
Hey loves, I'm in a real writing-flow right now. I feel like I'm only stopping to eat and sleep. And I promise you're going to love the next chapter.

What do you guys think about Chloe and her 'stalker's' relationship?
Does Mark really love Mrs. Gregory?
And was Noah right to interfere during their fight?
Should Chloe have reacted differently?

If you like this story so far please vote, comment, add it to a reading list or share it with your friends. It would mean a lot to me ♥️