Dangerous [A BAD BOY ROMANCE]

21

Gray drives me home as soon as the apple pie comes out of the oven. Whatever that phone call was about seemed to have put Gray in a terrible mood, and I mutter a quick goodbye to him before all but running out of his car when we arrive at my house. I can tell there's something Gray isn't telling me, and that only reassures me that staying away from him is the best option. There's already something going on that could be potentially bad news for Gray and I, and I know that it's best to leave it alone before it spirals out of control. The issue is that now I'm not only attracted to Gray, but I'm curious about him. Who's Chief? What does he want Grayson to do? And why is there some large amount of money involved? I search my mind for a plausible explanation but nothing seems to fit, and now I'm never going to stop thinking about it, meaning I'm not going to stop thinking about Gray either. Great.

I walk into the kitchen and set the plate of pie I took from Gray's house on the counter, where it will probably stay for the rest of the night. I suddenly have no desire to eat it, or anything for that matter, so instead I grab a glass of water and sit at the counter taking small sips of it. The whole situation is making me feel sick to my stomach and I feel ancy just sitting still. I need to distract myself.

I start by cleaning the kitchen and living room, and when I still don't feel satisfied I move on to the bathrooms, my bedroom, and essentially all of the other rooms in the house. I find myself organizing things that really don't need to be organized, a nervous habit of mine, and soon enough the house is spotless. Nevertheless, I feel like I need to do something with myself, so I throw on some tennisshoes, shorts, and a t-shirt and just start running. I don't know how long I run for, but I run until my legs are aching and my head is pounding from the activity. My hands and knees feel weak when I finally slow down and start walking back toward my house. The sun falls behind the horizon, leaving streaks of pink and orange painting the sky, and I stop at an overlook just to take it all in. I've been living in Creston Beach for some time now, but I don't think I've ever really stopped to see the view or go to the beach just to have some alone time with the beauty of it all. It feels good to just be in this moment, but I'm quickly yanked out of that feeling.

Someone is watching me. I'm not quite sure how I know, but the eery feeling is enough to make the hair on the back of neck stand up, so I start running again, faster this time, wanting to be home before the sun is completely gone. The feeling doesn't go away when I get into my house. I lock all of the windows and doors, close all of the blinds, but I still can't help but feeling as though something bad is near.

"You're fine Teagan. It was probably just some random dude on the street. There's nothing to be worried about. You're in your house. The doors are locked. It's seven o'clock. It's October. Everything is okay." This is a common ritual I use to ground myself when I start to get anxious. Today it's not helping much, but I at least leave my perch by the front window and hop in the shower and then into bed. As I lay in the pitch darkness I can feel the shadows around me moving. There's no possible way someone is in my house right now, but the idea of it still gives me the creeps. My room feels dark and lonely and void of life, and I wish that there were someone here to make it better. No, I wish that Gray were here to make it better, because I know that if he were, he'd have his arms around me right now and everything would be fine. I would be fine, and as much as I want to pick up my phone and call him, I don't. I can't. Because relying on him this way is way scarier than the dark.

School Monday morning is like a hard slap to the face. I show up in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, for some reason unable to feel warm, and when I arrive at my first period, I can't bring myself to walk inside. There's a very high chance that Maddie is in the classroom, but I mentally reason with myself that I can't let her control me, that's exactly what she wants, so I walk in quietly. I'm a couple minutes early, but most of the students are already here. My eyes go directly to Maddie, whose sitting in her regular spot, the only difference is that my spot is taken. By none other than Whitney. You've got to be joking.