Page 54 of Fall
My legs throb as I walk up to Emily Hall to get ready for dinner. Taylor offered a dinner night out for Celeste and me at The Brewery, and I could really use the time off campus. Walking through the front door, I put my earbuds back in so I can avoid the whispered silence and stares from the girls in the common room and head to the elevator.
“One day,” I promise myself, knowing that today won’t be that day to put these bitches in their place.
I’m lost in “Allure” by Fifth Dawn playing in my ear when the elevator doors open to let me out on my floor, and I’m wrapped in the smell of coconut and cinnamon. A gasp escapes my lips when I see a body slouched, sitting on the floor near my door down the hall.
Are they dead?
I take a single step forward before I realize the curls on their head belong to Micah and lose my breath. For the briefest moment, deja vu hits me hard. The last time he was in this hallway, he was in the exact same position before we went for coffee, and he got shot. So much time has passed since that day, and yet, I feel it like it happened only hours ago.
I peer closer, searching for signs of breath, and finally see the slight movement from his chest before my nerves calm down.
Seriously, Evelyn, get a fucking grip. You know he recovered.
I continue quietly moving forward, hoping that I can sneak into my room without waking him up. Despite the pain in my chest and my need to make sure he’s okay, I’m not ready to actually face him. Regardless of what my heart feels, he’s not who he was, and neither am I.
But I only get as far as touching the doorknob when he stirs.
“Angel.” He says my nickname like it’s a prayer, and I freeze.
“Micah,” I whisper back. It’s the only word that leaves my lips, and it feels like we’re both suspended in time.
After an eternity of what I’m sure is only a few seconds, he finally moves. I watch as he slides up the wall and looms over me, softly brushing a strand of hair out of my face.
“I’ve been waiting for you. It’s good to see that you’re okay.”
I push his hand away and take a step back.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because I almost died,” he says with a half shoulder shrug and a smirk.
I roll my eyes. “Again, why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You really gonna try to tell me that you weren’t worried? That you didn’t do everything you could to check up on me?”
“I wasn’t,” I lie.
His chuckle is deep and smooth, like fine chocolate. “Sure. Let’s keep pretending you don’t care.”
“I don’t,” I say too quickly. “I mean, I’m glad you’re not dead, but that’s natural for anyone. It doesn’t make us friends.”
He moves closer, effectively trapping me against the wall, and I hold my breath. My body stiffens while he leans down and brushes his lips against my cheek.
“No. We aren’t friends. We’re so much more than that.” His words are soft in my ear.
I push against his chest, desperate to get some space. “No. We’re not. I meant what I told you that morning. We were only going for coffee and then you’d leave me alone. That was the deal. Regardless of what happened, that fact hasn’t changed for me.”
Despite my pushing, he barely moves. “That isn’t going to happen, Evie. I know that isn’t what you want.”
“You don’t know anything about what I want,” I snap. “You don’t know me anymore. Please stop pretending like you do. Just go be with yourbrothersand leave us in the past where we belong.”
“You’re right,” he says, finally taking a step back to give me some space. “I don’t know the woman you’ve become. So let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? Me leaving isn’t what I want.”
I shake my head. “I bet they don’t even know you’re here, do they?”
And that’s the problem, my head reminds my heart—I will always be a secret with him. They will always come first.
I move around him to get farther away as he continues.