Written in Anger

~ 49

Chapter 49 |

Michael's Pov

The endless reminders in my own head were driving me insane. I couldn't shake the guilt that I was feeling, but, at the same time, I was highly confused. This whole situation didn't feel right at all, and it just didn't make any sense to me.

I remember feeling so refreshed, but groggy when I woke up that morning in that hotel room. Normally, I feel sick and exhausted after I've been drinking a lot, and I don't remember a thing from what happened that night. Usually, I can remember pieces of the night and put them together to make sense of how I got to where I am, but I just can't find those pieces. And it does not feel right to me at all.

I find myself ripping up the picture out of anger and burying it in the trash can to make sure no one else will find it, but I realize that I'm not the only one with this secret. After making sure that Kyela is deep in conversation with Marlon, I wanted to also make sure that her friend wouldn't make me hurt her by doing anything stupid.

I opened the door quietly and made sure no one was around to see and question what I was doing in here. The room was dark and silent other than the light pitter patter of the raindrops on the window.

I walked over to her while she slept in a chair and lightly tapped her shoulder to make her wake up. She jumped at my touch, so I quickly moved back. She looked pale, sick, and fragile. Maybe I'd go easy on her.

"Why are you waking me up? I could finally sleep, and you ruined it," she snapped.

"I'll let you go back in a second," I said.

She groaned, "Look, I told you that I didn't know anything else. I don't have anymore-"

"That's not what I wanted to talk to you about," I replied.

"Then, what?" she sighed.

"Well, I've been a little busy, and making my girlfriend upset hasn't been on my to-do list. If you want to stay here, I wouldn't suggest that you put it on your to-do list either," I said.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

"Whatever you think you saw in that picture, you didn't actually see, okay?" I said and began to walk away from her.

She scoffed, "You didn't tell her, did you?"

I froze where I was and let the guilt wash over me as I knew it would.

"Why wouldn't you? You claim you love her, and she thinks you do, but you don't. If you cared about her in the least way, you would've told her, but this waiting will just hurt her even more. Don't you see that?" she asked.

I gulped dryly and turned to face her. "Just stay out of it."

↭

Later, I had some thinking to do. I figured the best thing to do was to tell her. Now. I didn't want to wait anymore. I didn't want to break her heart again, but this would be hard, and I didn't know how to say it- or even explain it.

The back door opened, and I felt two arms wrap around my torso gently.

"Why are you out here all by yourself?" she asked me.

"I was just thinking," I answered.

"About how you're going to find Celeste?" she asked.

I pulled away from her a little to look at her face.

"How did you know about that? Did she tell you?" I questioned.

She rolled her eyes playfully before sitting down on one of the lawn chairs. "She didn't have to. I heard the conversation." I felt my heart beating so hard that I thought it would it jump out of my chest at my feet. "Why did you threaten her anyway? Why would you want to hide that from me? I thought we were, like, a team."