Journey Back to Me

Chapter 11

(TW: SUICIDE)

Eighteen missed calls and fourteen text messages, all from Dylan.

Shit.

I quickly wrap my hair up in towel before going through all the texts.

*How could you do this to me?*

*I'm gonna kill myself, and it's all your fault!!!*

*What the fuck did you tell Lena?*

I knew he'd be upset, but not like this. I immediately call him, and it rings twice before he picks up.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" He's screaming at me. I glance at the clock that reads 6:15 AM. I should be getting ready for school, not getting screamed at by my soon-to-be ex-boyfriend again.

"Dylan, please, listen to me—" I'm pleading with him. I've always been able to calm him down when he gets in his moods, but something about this seems different.

"NO, MICHELLE. I'M DONE LISTENING. YOU TOOK AWAY THE ONLY THING I EVER LOVED. LENA MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME, AND YOU DESTROYED THAT."

"What? I thought you were over Lena. You told me you two were done." I can't seem to gather enough air in my shrinking lungs.

"WELL I FUCKING LIED TO YOU. I'VE BEEN FUCKING HER THE ENTIRE TIME YOU THOUGHT WE WERE TOGETHER. BUT YOU KNOW THAT, DON'T YOU? YOU JUST HAD TO GO AND TELL HER THAT WE WERE DATING, AND NOW SHE WON'T SPEAK TO ME. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT." His voice is getting hoarse from screaming at me and for whatever reason, I find myself concerned for him instead of pissed off like I should be. Even though his words shouldn't make sense, I find myself apologizing to him.

"Dylan, I'm so sorry, I love you. Please, just let me come by your house before school, and we can talk about this."

Why is breathing so hard?

"YOU WERE NOTHING TO ME. YOU WON'T EVEN FUCK ME. SHE WAS MY EVERYTHING. NOW I'M GOING TO TAKE ALL THE OXY IN THIS HOUSE, AND IT'S YOUR FAULT."

Suddenly I'm screaming back to him, not out of anger, but out of fear. I just need to scream so he can hear what I'm saying.

"DYLAN, PLEASE. DYLAN!"

My screaming obviously didn't matter since the line almost immediately goes dead.

I throw on the nearest pair of jeans and a baggy t shirt. Luckily, I have a pair of flip-flops by the door. I can throw those on. I pull the towel off of my head and sprint down the stairs. My keys aren't hanging up where they normally are. In my frantic state, I hadn't noticed my mom standing in the kitchen until she was shouting at me.

"MICHELLE! What are you doing?"

"Mom, I can't...Dylan is...where are my keys? I need my keys, okay?" I'm snapping at her even though I know it's not her fault. But I have to get to him before anything happens. I can't live with myself if something happens to him.

"Your dad borrowed your car to bring Jamie to school because his car was having issues. Michelle, what's wrong?" She reached for my arm as I walked past her, but I was moving too fast and she missed.

Almost as if on cue, my dad walked through the door. "What's going on in here?" He's angry. And I know it's not at me. "What did he do? What did that little asshole say to you?"

"Dad, it's okay, I can handle it, it's fine. Just a small fight, I'm fine, can I just have my k—" I'm stopped in my tracks when I see Dylan's name and picture light up my phone. Thank god, he's alive.