Set Free

Set Free Chapter Four

Chapter Four

  The next day after school, at the time when Nick and I were supposed to meet to decorate our classroom for Homecoming, I marched into the room with a determined look on my face. Nick was already working, standing on a ladder with a staple gun and hanging up a banner.

He turned around when he heard my footsteps in the room.

"Oh, you're here." he said.

I still couldn't read his face. I wished I knew what the heck he was thinking; this was driving my insane.

 "Yeah, so, anyway, before we start, or, I start, I guess, I need to ask you something." I said.

  "Well, can't you work while you talk? We're kinda on a tight schedule here." he said.

  That annoyed me. As if the school's stupid homecoming decorations were more important than figuring out what what this guy's problem was. Besides, homecoming wasn't for like two more freaking weeks! But I decided not to mention that.

  "Anyway...about how you were acting the other day..." I began.

"What about it?"

Nick had turned back to stapling up the banner, and I flinched at the loud sound of the staple gun. I shifted on my feet, feeling nervous all of a sudden. Why was I nervous, I didn't have any reason I should possibly be nervous! Grrrr...

"Well, I don't understand why you didn't react the way I was expecting. Shouldn't you have been angry about how I treated you?" I continued timidly

Nick turned around abruptly to face me, and I could see he looked troubled.

"Is that it? Is that why you're talking to me right now, asking me what's wrong? Because I didn't react the way you expected me to??? You know, I don't get you. First you act all rude to me and tell me you don't want friends, and now you're here and acting all...I don't know...different."

This was the second time he'd stunned me. I had not expected that from him. But I guess I should have. And he wasn't even finished yet.

  "I mean, you and I both know that you don't care about what anyone thinks, let alone me, and honestly, I don't wanna have to deal with your crap and your drama, so you can just go. Don't worry, I'll tell the Miss Harris we both did it. Go off somewhere and be friendless. I couldn't care less."

His sarcastic tone had been bitter and vicious, and my heart was pounding like what happens when you regret something so badly that you're almost physically hurting.

He sighed, before turning back to his work without another word, leaving me to spin around and run out the door, tears already blurring my vision.

  I was so upset that I didn't even know where to go. I just got in my car and drove for a while, eventually ending up at the beach. I grabbed my sunglasses out of the glovebox and headed down towards the water,  hiding my face from the sun's bright rays with my hands. My stupid sunglasses still didn't completely filter out the brightness of the sun since it was reflected with the ocean and was made even brighter.

It was almost sunset now,  know why it was so bright still. I wanted the darkness to appear and conceal me. I just wanted to disappear. I still didn't even understand why I was acting this way around Nick. I mean, obviously I still didn't want any friends, but for some reason it made me mad that he gave up on me so easily. Plus I felt extremely guilty and even more so, embarrassed,  because I knew everything he had said in that classroom was right.

  Whatever, I decided. It's not like he matters anyway. I mean, he was right afterall, I didn't care...not about him or anyone else. Only Justin.

Nor did anything else matter anymore. I knew what I wanted to do, what needed to happen so this coulld finally end. And so I looked out at the rushing waves, and found myself slowly walking towards them.