Runaway

Chapter 05

11.11.2019

Cold winter winds had wrapped the city around in an embrace. The loud splattering of rain could be heard reverberating through the classroom walls. Walking back to the dorm proved to be an utter nightmare and even with an umbrella, I returned to my room soaked from head to toe.

"Oof, what happened to you?" Emma asks as I enter.

I drop my useless umbrella on the floor and groan in response.

"Stupid wind wouldn't let me use my stupid umbrella," I roll my eyes and search for my towel.

Once I have dried off and changed into comfier clothing, I notice Emma staring out the window. It's unlike her to be so quiet. Especially for such a long time.

"Is something wrong?" My voice brings her back from her thoughts and she turns to face me, tears brimming her eyes.

"Em, what's going on?" My heart leaps into my throat in worry.

When I left this morning, everything was normal. And now here she is, sitting in her bed, sobbing. It is unlike Emma to cry. And it is probably one of the few times I have ever seen her do it which makes me worry even more because it means something is seriously wrong.

I sit next to her, rubbing my hand across her back, while she cries her eyes out. I know she will tell me once she is ready. And she speaks up once she has controlled some of her crying.

"Connor's cancer is back," she sniffles through tears.

My eyes widen as the depth of her words sink in and my stomach rolls around in my abdomen.

Emma doesn't talk about it much but once or twice she has mentioned how her little brother had fought cancer when he was young. It was something in his bones and after multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, he had finally survived. At barely six years of age. He must be almost twelve or thirteen now and I can't even imagine feeling her pain.

"I'm so sorry, Em," I hug her, engulfing her in my arms until her eyes finally dry out.

•••

Thanksgiving break is just a week away and everyone is excited. Emma is looking forwards to seeing her brother. Ever since the news of his cancer coming back, she had been down. I know it is a huge thing and even the small attempts I had made to cheer her up every now and then had been futile.

Tonight, there is a party and Kevin and I have somehow convinced her to go to get her mind off of things for a while.

The incessant raining has finally come to a stop but has left behind a bone-chilling cold. Even though Kevin wasted a good thirty minutes trying to convince me to dress up, I decided to go with a warm grey sweater, a pair of jeans and boots. Emma didn't dress up either and the three of us reach there when the party is already in full swing. Loud music is blasting, a girl is already throwing up in the bushes, and people are busy dancing and playing games.

Kevin pulls Emma away towards the dance floor the moment we step inside despite her reluctance. After years of trying, he has finally accepted that I don't dance and has stopped wasting his breath on attempting to convince me to go with him.

After a few songs, the two make their way over to where I sit. After almost a week, Emma is finally smiling. She is holding two drinks and hands me one as she plops down next to me.

"Let's head outside," Kevin announces after he has downed his drink. Before we can protest, he grabs my arm and pulls me along.

People hang out around the pool but no one is inside the water owing to the cold. Clouds of smoke from joints and cigarettes waft into the air making fascinating patterns. The music is dim out here but still clearly audible. The rain cleared away all the dust, leaving behind a brilliant, twinkling sky.

"I'm gonna go for a smoke," Kevin rushes over to meet some of his friends.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Emma informs before disappearing back inside.

I watch the stars in silence, a sense of peace wafting around me. It doesn't exist for long as it is soon interrupted by some noisy people walking out from inside. My eyes wander towards the source of the noise only to find Nick with a girl in each arm. I resist the urge to roll my eyes and watch as the too-drunk girl gets distracted by some students smoking weed a few yards away and runs off in their direction.

The other girl with the skirt so short it makes me feel cold, uses this opportunity to push Nick against the wall and start making out with him. I know I should look away but my body refuses to move. Nick's hands slide inside the girl's shirt, trailing across her back. And as much as I hate that girl in that moment, I also wish I was her.

That's the moment when I finally decide to look away. Thoughts like that are not healthy. The last thing I would want is to be one of the bimbos he goes out with.

Someone else walks out of the door and since Nick and his girlfriend are standing too close to the exit, his drunkenly gait causes him to bump into them. The boy excuses himself and walks away, disrupting the two's hot make-out session.

Unfortunately, in that moment, Nick spots me standing not too far away. The girl doesn't seem much bothered by anything and pushes back, returning to sucking his mouth. But instead of meeting her lips, Nick turns his face towards me. I watch in confusion as he moves out of the girl's grasp, her lips barely brushing against his face, as he walks away. She frowns and gasps in disbelief, her jaw slacked open.

I turn to get out out of there, not wanting to run into him. But before I can get far, I can already hear his voice calling for me.

"Melody!" He switches to a slight jog to catch up.

I groan inwardly, before plastering a smile on my face and turning around.

"Oh, hey," I mumble.

"Were you running away from me?" He asks with a light chuckle.

"What? No, of course not. I didn't see you there," I lie. He was too busy making out to catch me staring so he believes me.

"Did you hear? We're all celebrating thanksgiving together this year." He sounds excited for some reason.

"I got a text from Harry mentioning something of the sort," I say, trying to remain calm. Not that I wasn't happy to spend thanksgiving with his family. I can never say no to hanging out with Oliver. But it didn't make sense for Nick to be excited since he prefers ditching us all to hang out with God-knows-who.

"Well, I'm driving back on Thursday morning. Since we're both going to Long Island, I thought we could go together."

The offer startles me, to say the least. Nick and I are not the kind of friends that take road-trips together. In fact, we're not friends at all. So why is he here offering to drive me back?

"Oh, no. It's okay. I can take the bus," I mumble, trying to come up with an excuse to get out of what is going to be a very awkward drive.

"I'm already going. Why go through all the mess of traveling on the bus?"

"It's not that bad. Besides, I need to pick some stuff up from home." I know it's a terrible excuse but it's the only one that popped into my head at such short notice.

"Ask your aunt to bring it. I'll pick you up Thursday morning, okay? See you!"

Before I can protest, he's already on his way back.

He has got to stop doing that.