promise // matthew espinosa

Chapter 29

~ Brianna

There I was, sitting on the couch with my arms folded. Hayes was still staring at me.

"Eat."

I took a small bit of the sandwich and chewed slowly. The familiar taste of food made me feel sick. I shoved it under my tongue and acted like I swallowed it.

"Brianna..? Lift your tongue, c'mon."

I sighed and actually swallowed the food. It sat in stomach, like it didn't belong there.

"Don't you feel better?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"I want you to eat as much as you can," he said.

I took a few more smaller bites and swallowed before I really started to feel sick.

"Brianna, you're pale," he spoke, concerned.

I couldn't hold it down. I ran into the bathroom upstairs, closing the door behind me. I sat myself by the toilet and puked. I could hear Hayes sitting against the other side of the door. When I finished, I let him in. He sat down next to me, and sighed.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, hanging his head down.

"No, it's okay. It's not your fault. You were just trying to help."

"Thanks."

"Hey, do you know when everyone's gonna be back?"

"Umm, in an hour I think?"

"Alright."

"Wanna go to the beach?"

"Sure!"

I got up and walked into my room. I put on my swimsuit and t-shirt, then threw my hair into a ponytail. Before leaving, I wrapped my wrists, since the cuts were still relatively deep.

"C'mon, let's go!" He called.

I sighed and left my phone behind.

"HASSSSSS!" I yelled, reaching the sand, "MY CINNAMON APPLE!"

I spent the remainder of the day with him. Although he's younger, he's fun to be around. We were building a little sand castle. We stopped when I heard the perkiest girly voice.

"OMG! IS THAT HAYES GRIER?!"

Oh my God. Fans. These two 13 year old girls in skimpy bikinis. I looked down at my wrists to avoid eye-contact. The sand had caused some of the bandage to peel off and the cuts to bleed. Just great.

"Uhmm, are you Hayes Grier?" one of them asked.

"Why yes I am," he said standing up.

The other one walked over to me.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Is that any of your business?" I said.

She sat down in front of me and lifted my head.

"OMG! You're Matt Espinosa's girlfriend!"

"Yup."

She looked down at my wrists and chuckled.

"What are you? Some kind of suicidal freak?"

Hayes turned his head and shook it. He picked the girl off the ground and spun her around.

"Hey! You don't ever talk to anyone like that! Understand?"

"Yea. I-I'm sorry."

He hugged the girl and turned to talk to both of them. Is he bipolar or something. Ugh. I hate this. I got up and dusted the sand off. I trudged up the trail, hot tears stinging my eyes. I could see the sunset in the distance. Wait. Sunset? The guys must be back! I ran up as quickly as I could, not turning back.