Ghost

Chapter 11: Search

I felt like I was born to be a spy... or at least had the wardrobe for it. All my black clothes came in handy. I had to excuse Nick's comment on having way too many leggings, boys just don't understand.

We crept to the locker room wing, more like I crept and Nick took a stroll.

"Can you see if the room is empty?" I whispered.

Nick nodded before walking a distance from me then going through the wall. He walked out a few moments later.

"All clear."

He walked to the end of the hall before checking if there were any lingering students. "All clear here too. Let's go in."

I walked into the boy's locker room expecting sirens and alarms, but it was quiet.

"Stay close to me," Nick said as he walked to a locker. He put in the combination and it opened. He dug through a jacket and pulled out a phone. I watched him put in a password and unlock it.

He knew it like the back of his hand.

"Is that Trey's?" I asked, peering over his shoulder.

"Yeah."

He clicked his own name first in Trey's messages. Trey was right. He did text him the night he went missing and the next morning trying to reconcile things.

"He wasn't lying," I said. Nick let out a grunt.

I watched him click Amelia's name next. My stomach churned. Was he still not over her?

He kept scrolling down and down, way past the date he went missing.

"What are you looking for?" I asked, but he ignored.

He kept strolling down. I felt a little dirty, the things the two sent each other were not so PG.

Nick swore as he continued scrolling. "How fucking long has this been going on?"

I put a hand around his. "Nick stop. You're only hurting yourself."

"This guy called himself my brother. My relationship with Amelia was always superficial, but Trey... he was my friend. He was supposed to have my back. How do I forgive him for this?" He looked me in the eye. I could see his hurt clearly.

I cupped his cheeks and kissed his lips lightly. "Forgiveness is not for others, it's for ourselves. You forgive because you deserve peace. You deserve freedom from painful burden. Forgive him for yourself. Don't keep hurting yourself like this."

Nick's eyes were a mix of different emotion. He nodded with a tight jaw. "You should write inspirational quotes or something."

I let out a chuckle.

Nick left the conversation and then went back to it so it was back at the top. "See the date? This was today. He's still with Amelia, they're just hiding it from everyone."

"Okay, so he's still a cheating asshole. Nothing's changed. I never had feelings for him to begin with," I told Nick.

His lips tipped up in a smirk. "Because you were too smitten by me?"

I rolled my eyes. "I question my choices every day."

Nick chuckled before wrapping his arms and me and placed his chin on top of my head holding me for a small while. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For staying by my side. For forgiving me. For giving me a chance. For always saying the right thing. For taking all my bullshit and tantrums. For choosing me. For loving me. For everything."