Next Chapter 3
Date: 6/17/2016,
Categories:
Fiction
Author: Michael.F
... Alan and Amanda. And they had each other. Life would go on… If I was going to Heaven or Hell, would I be there right away? Pull the trigger and boom, roasting in hellfire or floating on a heavenly cloud? Wonder what that would be like… I was actually starting to notice the pain when there was a knock on the door, taking me out of my head. I pulled my finger away, the spot where I had been pressing still screaming in protest. I caught my own eyes in the mirror again and the entirety of thoughts that had been passing through my mind in the last few seconds hit me like a sledgehammer. Holy shit…my hand went to my mouth as my stomach lurched. What the fuck had I been thinking… The door knock came again and I opened it to find Amanda and…Kayla. “You okay?” Amanda asked, looking at my wet face. “Uhh…” I grabbed the hand towel and wiped away the wetness. “Yeah, fine. Hey Kayla.” “Hey Jack,” she replied with a small smile. Amanda, sensing awkwardness in the way only she could, glanced down the stairs. “I think I hear a thing down there. I’m just gonna go do…thing…” With one last odd look at us, she went downstairs to go do ‘thing’. Kayla looked at me in the eyes for a second before saying, “Jack, I—” I glanced quickly at Tara’s room and cut in: “Hang on.” I took her hand and led her down to my room, making sure to close the door behind me. I turned back to her, fully intent on saying everything that was on my mind, but looking into her eyes took away my ability to speak. Usually, ...
... this was a good thing; swooning over her beauty and all that. But now…all I could remember was the look she gave me when I was snapping at her this morning. The hurt and anger that had been directed at me for the first time that I could remember. It wasn’t there now but…you don’t forget that look. Kayla frowned slightly before recovering and holding out something to me. “You left these this morning.” The books she got me for Christmas. Of course. I’d completely forgotten about those. “Thanks,” I said, taking them, “I promise I’ll start reading them right away.” “Awesome.” Another awkward pause. Kayla’s arms were folded and she was glancing around the room, occasionally catching my eye as we both waited for the other to speak. The last time I’d been this stuck for words around here was when we first met…and then for completely different reasons. Finally, Kayla cleared her throat slightly and said, “Jack…I’m sorry I kept what happened with Jeff from you. You did deserve to know. But…well, I still don’t think it was…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “What you said still really hurt and…being completely honest, I’m still mad at you about it. But—” “I’m sorry,” I cut in. She looked up. “I wasn’t—” “Kayla…when I was in the bathroom, I was thinking about what it would be like to blow my brains out.” Her face turned pale. “Jack, don’t you dare—” “I’m not going to!” I said quickly, “And I’m not really sure I was thinking about doing it…I don’t think. I think…it was more of a ...