To Love a Monster

|| Chapter Twenty-Three ||

|| Chapter Twenty – Three ||

“Rose, dear, you haven’t eaten anything in days.”

My mum said as I placed the plate she had given me on the bedside table. I didn’t feel like eating. Since that wretched day that I found out the whole world was practically against me, my stomach had shut down and refrained from digesting anything I try to eat.

“Rose.”

“Mum, I’m not hungry,” I grumbled as I pushed my head further into my pillow.

“Honey, you have to tell me what’s wrong.” She placed her hand onto my shoulder. “I know I may be old but I’m still your mother and I have the right to know what is going on in your life.”

I had promised myself that I would never tell anyone about my mate after the events that happened with Kayla. I continued, for the next few days, to ignore her and come up with frequent excuses as why I couldn’t hang out with her. Did I feel bad? No, not really. She had it coming after she practically abandoned me.

It hurt to know that people could go against you for something that wasn’t your fault to start with. 

“Rose, please answer me.”

 “I’m fine.”

“I’m pretty sure I can tell when my own daughter is not fine.” I felt an added weight on the side of the bed and guessed that my mum must have taken a seat.

I sighed while bringing my head away from the pillow to face her. With one cheek lying comfortably on the soft material, I looked up into my mother’s brown eyes. “Mum, I’m just really not feeling well and have an enormous headache.”

“Okay, Rose. When you’re ready to tell me the real reason, you know where to find me.” She gave me a chaste kiss on my forehead then headed towards the door.

Great, even my lying skills were deteriorating.

My phone was resting on the table next to my bed and I immediately remembered that Diana had added her number to my contacts. Perhaps it was only necessary that I called her to see how she was doing. I mean, just because I hated her brother doesn't mean I have to have the same feelings towards her. She was different to him.

She actually had a heart.

Plus, I needed someone cheery to make me smile after my life had practically fallen downhill.

Grabbing the phone, I scrolled through my contacts and looked for Diana's name. When I reached it, I noticed an unnamed contact above. My eyebrows furrowed as I continued to stare at the number. Had I forgot to name one of my contacts?

I tried to rake my brain for any memories of asking someone for their phone number but nothing came to mind.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed the ‘call’ button in hope of figuring out who this was.

After three rings, the person on the other side answered. "Hello?"

Frozen to the spot, I took a deep breath to calm myself down. It was to no avail as I felt my heartbeat increase with each passing second. The last person I wanted to speak to was on the other side. Fuck, this was more frightening than the spider on the other side of the room. 

“Diana?” His voice asked.

Hanging up seemed like the best thing right now but no matter how much I willed my fingers to press the button, they were frozen – just like my mind. Taking another breath, I whispered, "Hi..."

My voice sounded forced and out of breath. My fingers were shaking as they held the phone closely to my ear and I felt like a person who was about to faint.