Mycah reached over just then and put his fingers over the lock. It glowed just before I heard it click, and he opened the door, letting me walk through first. I think I was going to have to get used to this. “Thank you,” I murmured like the superhuman act was no big deal. At least I pretended I could get used to it.
I walked into my room, still feeling completely exhausted. Mycah stayed standing in the hallway, obviously not knowing what to do with himself.
“I’m just going to get changed real quick. One second.” I closed the door behind me and quickly looked for something decent to wear. I shimmied out of my jeans and navy blue cotton top and grabbed my best looking comfortable clothes. Black soft sweatpants and grey tank top would have to do.
I opened my door again and peeked my head out. Mycah leaned against the wall still in the hallway, head down and hands in his pockets. He looked up under his lashes, head turned to the side toward me. I sighed, knowing there was nothing about Mycah I could ever get used to.
“I’ll stay on the sofa,” he stated softly. The hallway was dark so I couldn’t make out his expression. The thought of being alone in my room scared me, and I knew I was just being silly, but I couldn’t help it. It was too soon.
“Actually, could you stay in here with me? I just don’t want to be alone yet. But if you don’t want to, I mean I’m sure you want your privacy—” I made myself shut up when he started walking toward me. My heart pounded in my ears; surely he could hear it too. I tried to take a deep breath to calm my nerves.
“As you wish,” he breathed, looking down at me as he walked past. I let out the air I unconsciously held and slowly closed the door, locking it behind me.
Nothing was going to happen, I kept telling myself. This was nothing. I just wanted to feel safe. I closed my eyes and walked toward my bed, determined to calm down before I got to it. Mycah walked to the window and stared outside, not saying a word.
I lay down, realizing my anxiety was silly. Of course nothing was going to happen. Mycah wouldn’t do that. I just got back from something unimaginable, learned a whole bunch of even more unimaginable things, and hurt my best friend for the first time ever. I was in no state of mind to even consider something serious with Mycah. My emotions were all over the place; I couldn’t even tell what was real anymore.
“Shhhhh, it’s alright, Nariella. Sleep,” Mycah whispered softly from the window, not turning around. How did he…? Darn heightened senses. I was in no mood to ask. I did as he said, slowly exhaling, and settled down deeper into my fluffy pillow. I was surprised to find how much Mycah’s presence affected me. He was alluringly comforting when near, like a warm blanket wrapped around my cold soul, and I wasn’t exactly sure I liked how happy that made me—how much my soul relished in this newfound comfort. In fact, it downright worried me.
I walked through a forest. It was extremely dense and crowded with vegetation. There was no breeze, and the air was warm, making me overly hot. I looked up and saw huge trees surrounding me on every side. I couldn’t see the sky or the sun through the leaves that blocked out any other sight, and I didn’t know where I was or if I’d been here before.
I continued walking, taking in my surroundings and vaguely wondered if I was lost. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to see a pretty red bird looking at me. All of a sudden it lifted its head and started screeching.
I jumped back at the ear-piercing sound and woke to my alarm going off. I was grateful for not having an actual nightmare but couldn’t decide if this was any better.
I was warm. Too warm. I sat up in bed, wanting nothing more than to throw that dang clock against the wall, as an arm fell from my stomach, reminding me that I was not alone.
Oh yeah.
Mycah.
Chapter Twenty-One
~Naminé~
I didn’t concern myself with trying to reach toward him. I knew that I could not. I saw him in the distance looking my way. He looked confused, angry, hurt. I would give anything to close the space between us and settle in his arms; letting the both of us consume ourselves in each other’s embrace and temporarily escape the doom around us.
I settled myself in the grass and gingerly plucked the petals of a lote. The blue, purple, and green petals floated through the air and onto the ground as I let the wind carry them away.
It was peaceful here. The only time we had together. He could never seem to understand me, but I knew that he liked to come here too. I did not know what life was like for him, but the burdens he carried were hard to bear. This I could see by looking into his eyes—the window of his very soul.
He stood by a tree watching as I plucked the petals. His eyes begged for understanding. He did not know why he came here—why I summoned him here every night. A relationship between us had blossomed without a word ever being spoken or understood. We had tried many instances to bridge the gap that was always between us, but we failed every time as it disrupted our peace.
Chapter Twenty-Two
~Nari~
“Quiet down, quiet down. Take your seats, everyone,” Mr. James said loudly to be heard above all the students chattering. Everyone quickly went to their desks.
“Did everyone finish reading Frankenstein?” he said. The whole classroom grumbled—most said yes, some didn’t say anything.
I looked at Mycah; he was lightly smiling. I realized this morning I didn’t exactly think the whole Mycah-staying-the-night thing all the way through when I woke up. It was quite awkward—for me anyway. Mycah seemed completely cool, calm, and unbothered by it of course, per usual. I didn’t know what to say when I had to scramble out of his hold, so I ended up just running to the bathroom embarrassed. When I had walked out after getting ready, he acted like nothing happened at all.
Maybe he was used to being in bed with girls who were practically strangers, but I certainly was not used to waking up to a guy hanging all over me. Then we stopped by his room at the B&B so he could get ready for the day too, but I told him I would just wait in the car. He never seemed concerned by anything, so I guessed I shouldn’t be so worried about it either.
“Come on now, guys. This is a great book! I gave you two whole weeks to read it. Now, who can tell me a quick summary of the story?” Mr. James called out.
Everyone was looking around the room. Finally, a girl raised her hand.
“Okay, Lynn. Tell us.”
“It’s about a boy who goes to college and while there, creates a monster. The monster kills people and all of the Doctor’s family. The End,” she summarized in a rush.
“Okay. Those are the big things that happen, yes. Anyone want to discuss how the story made them feel? How do you compare it to how the monster is portrayed in Hollywood movies?” Mr. James asked, looking around the room.
“Yes, Ashton.”
“He’s a monster in the book, and he’s a monster in the movies. The movies are based off his character in the book. He deserved everything he got. He was extremely ugly and a murderer. The Doctor’s biggest regret was creating him. I would have hated him too.” Ashton snickered, turning his head toward some of the guys who also snickered while nodding their heads at him.
“Okay, that is one observation. Does anyone see it from the monster’s point of view?”
“Frankenstein is a love story. A tragedy,” Mycah didn’t wait to be called on before speaking. He stared down at his desk. His hands were put together, like when someone is praying. His chin rested on his thumbs, and the sides of his fingers were touching his lips. “Everything you see portrayed in movies is false. He wasn’t a slow, mumbling monster stumbling around with his arms straight out in front of him. The creature was beautiful, majestic, and graceful. He had tremendous speed and was highly intelligent. Okay, he was ugly and scary on the outside, but on the inside he was magnificent.”
Everyone in the room stayed silent as Mycah spoke, even Mr. James. I felt mesmerized watching him as he put his arms down. One arm lay in his lap, and the other across hi
s desk, both hands clenched into fists as he leaned forward.
His tone was tense and wild with passion, each syllable crisp and clicking with his accent. “Dr. Frankenstein created the creature. It was his responsibility to be there for him—to protect him, take care of him, love him. Show him how to live. The creature trusted him, loved him unconditionally.”
He looked at Mr. James, who seemed just as mesmerized as I did. Mycah’s face was so serious and pained as he said in a voice just above a whisper, “All the creature wanted was to be loved by his creator. By his father. He was brought to life only to then be abandoned by the one who created him?” He shook his head, sounding disgusted.
He looked down at his hands, which were now both in his lap, palms up, but fingers relaxed. “He was like an orphaned child. Every time the creature asked for love, he was rejected. Yes, he killed the Doctor’s family, but it was the Doctor’s fault.” He looked up again at Mr. James, voice strong, “His abuse and mistreatment towards the creature is what fueled his actions. Then, whilst he finally had the hopes of living his life with a mate, someone to care about and love and to be cared about and loved back, the Doctor took it away from him.” He whispered, “Forever sentenced to a life full of misery and loneliness. All the creature wanted was love.” He clenched his teeth and almost growled, “Dr. Frankenstein was the real monster of the story.”
I looked at Mr. James. He seemed to come to himself; his hazel eyes were wide and staring at Mycah. Did Mycah perform some type of mind manipulation on him?
“Very good. That was a really great depiction of the story. I can tell you’re passionate about this. Well done.”
I was amazed. Not only by Mycah and his book knowledge but also because I couldn’t help but ache for the monster as Mycah told his side of the story. It felt a little too close to home after the way he put it. I couldn’t stop glancing over in his direction, still taken aback by his perception of Frankenstein. He made it sound so beautiful and sad.
I again thought of Rydan and how much I needed to repair the damage that was caused between us. I secretly grabbed my cell to text him without Mr. James seeing.
‘Ry, I am so sorry. You’ll still be there tonight, right? I need you. Please talk to me.’
I read over the message before hitting send and decided to erase the last part. If he didn’t answer my question or said no to it, then I’d tell him how much I needed him. I didn’t want to sound totally desperate right off the bat. I could get to that later if I had to.
I caught Zaylie looking at me and knew she couldn’t wait to ask where I’d been, since this must be the tenth time this morning she had looked at me. I couldn’t wait to talk to her either; I really did miss her.
When the bell rang, she ran over to me, and I threw my arms around her right away. I didn’t care if it would bother her or if it would seem overdramatic and uncalled for. It felt so good to be around people I could trust and get back to normal. I definitely needed normal right now.
“Everything okay? Were you sick or something? You haven’t answered my calls or texts.” Her Australian accent was light, but still present. She pouted her lips for dramatic flare, however I could tell she was more worried than she let on.
“I’m sorry. Yes, I was really sick and my…dad…took my cell away so I couldn’t let you know what was going on. I’m so sorry!” I hated referring to Ray as my dad, but didn’t really have any other option. I also hated lying to Zaylie, but I could see Mycah giving me death stares from the corner of my eye. Sheesh, I knew the drill, give me a break. That’s what I tried to portray in a stare of my own. He seemed to take the hint by walking out of the room.
“Oh, that’s okay. I’m just glad you’re better now. Was it awful?” She squeezed my arm in an innocent friendly gesture, and it brought tears to my eyes thinking about just how awful the ordeal really was. I looked down, not wanting her to notice and shook my head to dispel the emotions. I wasn’t used to all of this crying; it was driving me crazy. I grabbed my things and started walking with Zaylie.
“It was. Stomach flu. Not fun at all. But like you said, I’m better now and anxious for things to be normal again.” I forced a smile, realizing it could never be normal again if I couldn’t tell Rydan the truth. This lie, whatever lie I would be telling him tonight, would always be there between us. Would he even believe me? He knew me better than I knew myself. He was going to know I was lying. I cringed at the thought of never actually being able to fill the canyon that now separated us for the first time in all our days of friendship. If it ruined anything between us, I would be a miserable wreck. Maybe I could at least build a bridge across…it was a start.
“Yuck, that sounds horrible. I’m sorry.” She pouted her lips. “You have your cell back now, though?”
“That’s okay. And yes, I have it back. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be around you again finally.” I really couldn’t express that enough.
“I’m happy too. It was boring without you, that’s for sure. We’ll have to catch up later during lunch.” She gave me a quick hug as we got to the door. “Hey, I have to go to my locker before class. I’m so glad you’re feeling better! I’ll see you at lunch, okay?”
I nodded in return just before she walked away. I looked up from just exiting the classroom and right into the tantalizing aqua eyes of Mycah’s. He leaned back against the lockers, lips pulled up into a half smile. I silently cursed my heart for betraying my "no guys" resolve every time it raced at the sight of him. He waited for me, and for some reason the idea of it left me breathless.
I already had what I needed for my next class since it was just around the corner, so I kept walking toward it. I couldn’t let him get to me like that. I just couldn’t.
Mycah followed close behind me. I stopped short before reaching the door, wondering if he was coming to my Algebra class too, even though yesterday he said he would only attend Literature. I turned to look at him, his expression bewildering to me.
I lost all train of thought as he reached out and slowly tucked my long brown hair behind my ear, his thumb just grazing my jawline as he pulled away.
“I’ll be back to fetch you,” was all he said, but the way he said those few little words made my heart skip a beat.
“Okay.” I stared wide-eyed at him, not really sure what else to do. He meant after school, right?
I didn’t get the chance to ask him before he turned around and started walking away. I stared after him, finding it hard to believe why someone so beautiful and amazing was even paying any attention to me. Granted, I still recognized he was dangerous. Very dangerous. But there was something so safe about him at the same time. And every time I gleaned new information about him, like his insight on just a simple book, I found myself feeling less and less of that danger. I watched as he gracefully walked away, making every girl he passed turn their heads and stare after him. Then, of course Sabrina, who was quickly becoming my worst nightmare, floated up to him and linked her arm with his. Oh, wonderful.
Who was I kidding? He was only paying me attention because I was the only one with bad men in my life. There was no way I could compete with girls like Sabrina around—perfect, tall, and gorgeous. And I didn’t want to compete. I didn’t care, I had more than enough men in my life as it was. I didn’t need another one. As soon as I no longer felt scared to be alone, Mycah could leave.
And I would keep telling myself all those things over and over until I actually believed them.
An hour later, when I walked out of Algebra, my heart seemed to have already forgotten that new mantra I had been chanting. It swelled two sizes bigger in my chest at the sight of Mycah in his usual stance across the hall, gazing intently at me. He had such a foreign way about him—a sly air that no other guy I’d come across possessed. And his smooth English accent didn’t help either. But he only had to stand there in that slick way of his, dark jeans hanging loosely from his hips, sleeves of his shirt pushed up to his elbows, straight black hair falling over his eyes,
and I could feel my resolve come undone just a tiny bit more. This was getting ridiculous. I couldn’t keep letting my emotions get away from me. Why did I let him do this to me?
Every guy that walked out of the room said “hi” or “hey” to Mycah, but he only acknowledged them with a polite nod of his head. All the girls giggled and whispered to each other as they passed, and I resented the fact I might have any similar reaction to him. I had to put a stop to this. I would get my emotions in check.
“Mycah, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but really, you don’t have to be around me all the time.” I refused to let him think I was some weak spirited damsel in distress. Or that I expected him to treat me like a princess and he was now my appointed White Knight in charge of protecting me. Plus, I had to talk to Rydan tonight, and there was no way he was going with me. If I had any hope of resolving things between us, then Mycah had to stay far far away from Rydan.
“Don’t I?” He sounded so collected like he usually did, I had a hard time knowing if he was joking or being serious.
“No. I mean, at night, at my house and I’m alone, that’s one thing. But not here at school and even after school. That’s when I see Rydan. You can’t be there for that. I’m seeing him tonight.” That reminded me to check my cell to see if that was actually true. I really hoped he responded and would be there.
My hands were shaking as I dug for my cell out of my bag. I didn’t know if it was from the upcoming confrontation with Rydan or from the way Mycah was looking intensely at me. I tried to ignore him, wishing I didn’t have such a strong reaction to everything he did. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one bit.
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