Twenty:

A couple of days passed. There was no sign from Michael.

The school hallways seemed as quiet as ever. Everything appeared to be happening in slow motion, the never ending classes and the dullness of the new lessons drawing holes into my mind.

The last period came.

I trudged my feet toward the Literature class, the only one Michael and I had together.

I burst through the open door with hope rushing through my veins, expecting to see Michael standing in the chair beside me where he usually sat.

My heart sank.

Instead I was met with the disappointing sight of the empty seat next to mine.

I heaved a loud sigh and tried to ignore the painful feeling in me.

The teacher slowly walked inside the classroom and began his monotonous speech, occasionally opening one of his torn-covered books and reading some passages out loud.

My eyes constantly moved to the clock on my phone and prayed for the seconds to pass by faster.

But no such miracle occurred.

The bell eventually rang.

I gathered all of my belongings and raced across the hallways, my eyes stuck on the exit door at the end of the corridor.

"Hey!" A voice yelled beside me.

Pain rushed through my shoulder as I felt something hit it.

I lost my balance. Luckily, I propped myself on the wall next to me, my hands gripping onto the hard surface, and managed to regain my balance in time.

"Bree, are you okay?"

I lifted my eyes to the source of the sound. Chloe took a step closer to me and pressed her hand on my shoulder. Her expression showed concern. "Didn't you see me coming?"

I blinked. "Uh... no. And yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

I passed her a small smile. Her eyes scanned through my emotions, worry flashing across her face. "You don't look okay. You're face is pale. Paler than usual."

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Did you see Michael?"

She frowned. "Michael? No... I don't think I saw him today. If I think about it, I haven't seen him at school since Monday. Why?"

"Oh, nothing... It's just, I haven't talked to him since the party, and I haven't seen him at school either."

"Are you guys okay?"

"Well, I think so. I don't know... It's -"

"If you're gonna say complicated once again, I swear I will cut you to pieces and eat you like sushi."

I swallowed. "Um, thanks, Chloe." She flashed me a smile and I let out a chuckle at her antics. "So, anyway, gotta go. I'll see you around."

"Alright. Take care, B."

"Will do."

I turned around in my spot and headed toward the exit.

With only one thought in mind, I fished my phone from my pocket and opened my messages.

I kept my gaze glued to the screen as I tapped on Michael's name. Our conversations popped up.

My heart began to race almost instantly. I quickly typed my message and hit the send button.

Me: Hey... You ok? I haven't seen you at school today.

I re-read my text one two many times before placing my phone back into the pocket.

I kept my gaze to my feet as I travelled the streets alone. I hadn't brought my car with me today. It was a sunny day and I enjoyed an occasional walk home from school. It was a great way to clear my head.

Buzz.

A new text appeared on my phone. I smiled to myself as I checked it.

Michael: Leave me alone, Bree... I don't want to talk to you.

The smile died from my lips instantly. I frowned and did a double take at the text.

What? Why would he want me to leave him alone...?

What did I do wrong?

Me: what? Why, what happened? Why are you mad all of a sudden?

His text didn't hesitate to come the very next minute.

Michael: Are you serious? You don't know? Maybe you should ask Carly then...

Carly? What is he talking about? My inner voice inquired. Why would I ask -

Oh my God.

NO.

No. No. No.

This couldn't be happening.

She told him...

Another message came up.

Michael: Don't even bother explaining anything to me. I just don't wanna hear it.

A knot tied itself into my throat. I could feel the sweat pouring out of my palms, like it happened whenever I experienced a single emotion too strongly too suddenly.

I forced myself to write the response as fast as I could. My fingers flew over the keyboard as I could feel the guilt spreading within me like butter on bread.

Me: You have to listen to me... I'm so sorry, you have no idea... The whole blog/post thing was for Mr. Brunner to let me continue blogging on the site. You have to understand. I'm so sorry, I really am...

His text came faster this time. I dropped my gaze to the screen and almost hit a lamppost in the process.

Michael: I can't believe you're the one who posted that thing about me. You of all people... I trusted you, Bree. I never knew and I still don't know why, but I did.
But it doesn't matter now... Just do me one last favour, ok? Please don't talk to me again.

My eyes stung.

I tried to swallow down the knot from my throat, but it didn't seem to bulge. Just like the slow pain climbing its way inside me, it persisted, and persisted.

I felt awful.

I had imagined this conversation in my head so many times - but it didn't hurt half as much as it actually did in reality.

You sound like a tomato who just ate a bottle of ketchup, my inner voice chided. That certainly didn't make me feel better. Even more, I wondered how had I even thought about that comparison.

I cleared my throat and put my phone away.

With a guilt of the level one hundred, I continued my walk alone and aimed to ignore the small tear rolling down my flushed cheek.

_______

"Bree, are you ready yet?" My mom asked me for possibly the third time in the last five minutes.

"Mom, I told you, I really don't want to go to that reunion of yours."

She had told me a while ago she wanted to attend a reunion, celebrating twenty five years since she'd graduated highschool.

She'd also told me the other day she wanted me to join her too, because a highschool friend of hers was eager to see how her daughter looked like, since she'd never had the chance to meet me.

I'd accepted to go, after a string of arguments with my mom; but now, going to her reunion was the last thing I felt like doing.

All I really wanted to do was read a good book, with the sound of my favorite songs gently playing in the background, and hopefully get my mind off of Michael and our argument from a few hours before.

But that wasn't going to happen.

"Bree, I really need you to come with me. You know Karen wants to see you, right?"

"I know that," I sighed, "It's just that I'd rather stay home."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" She encouraged as she sat at the edge of my bed. "Karen has a boy who is about the same age as you. Maybe you can talk to him, eh?"

That didn't improve her offer with much, but I eventually nodded. "Alright..."

Maybe going somewhere for this evening was going to take my mind off things.

I still felt terrible. I couldn't quite wrap my mind around Carly's motive behind her actions.

Why would she do this to me? What  did I ever do to her to make her jump into my life and ruin everything?

Of course, I was the one who had created this mess. But why did she have to come and stir things up, just when everything started to go well?

I was afraid Michael wouldn't forgive me... And that thought alone was enough to make my skin crawl. I was terrified of losing him...

No. I couldn't let that happen.

"Come on, Bree," mom said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Put on your dress and let's go. We're going to be late if we don't leave now."

I reluctantly got out of my bed and headed toward the wardrobe. I chose the dress I wore at the party, a black lace-sleeved top sewed together with a short black skirt cascading down my legs. I figured it was pretty appropriate for the fancy restaurant in which the reunion would take place.

Even though I really liked that dress, wearing it after the party made me feel weird. A cold feeling grew into the pit of my stomach, but I shook it off.

"Okay, I'm ready," I told my mother as I headed toward her room where she went to finish the last touches on her own outfit.

She turned to look at me. Her lips tugged into a genuine smile. "You look great, Bree."

I smiled in return, but the cold feeling inside me only grew. "Thank you. Are you ready?"

"Yes. Let's go."

Her silvery earrings see-sawed as she walked toward the stairs. We travelled the living room, slipped into our pairs of shoes and went out the door into the cold night.

I slipped into the backseat of the car and slowly closed the door behind me. There was still only one thing that wandered through my mind, making it fall into a state of complete numbness and pain altogether.

Not quite the greatest combination.

Hopefully this reunion will be worth it.

______

Soo this was the chapter you've all been waiting for!

HE KNOWS ABOUT THE BLOG! 

What do you think will happen next? Will he forgive her? And how do you think the reunion will go?

I have something special planned for that, so keep an eye out for the next chapter!

I plan on making this book about 20-30 chapters in total, so there won't be too much left 🙂

Also thank you so much for 9K reads, I'm only less than 1K away from my goal woo hoo XD

If you guys can help me reach my goal, share this book to your friends, and keep being supportive, I will make sure to mention each and one of you when I reach 10K!

So thank you for reading and don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts about this :)

See ya to the next update!

Cheers✌