Empty Promises | MC - sequel to The Promise

Chapter 20

Michael's POV

       I walk back into the hotel we stayed in for Boy Band. It's primarily the same, just a couple of different pieces of furniture here and there. I'm staying here for the length of the trial. They even let me have my old room.

     The lobby is like a ghost town. The only person there is the lady behind the desk. I was really lucky that people had no idea I was coming to LA. I was able to get out of the airport so much quicker than usual.

     "Mr. Conor, we're happy you're back. This guy named John already payed and signed in for you online, so here are your keys," she drops two rooms keys in my hand, one a spare just in case I loose the first one.

     "Thank you," I smile before heading over to the elevator. It's so strange to be back here. Usually when we are in LA, we stay in a house. I haven't been back here since the week the top 5 was announced.

     I walk back to the same room I stayed in for months. It's the same, but different at the same time. It's not visually different, but it just feels different. It's probably just because I don't have everything sprawled out everywhere yet.

---

     "Michael!" Brynn hugs me as soon as I close the door. I laugh and wrap my arms around her.

     "Brynn!" I say the same way she did.

     "I have happy meals," she tells me proudly, cuddling into the fluffy sweater she's wearing.

     "Did you ask them for no apples?" I question. She nods before crossing her arms.

     "They still gave them to me! I swear they want to poison me," she frowns before grabbing onto my hand.

     "Maybe they do. That guy from Disneyland wants his revenge, and the only place that would hire him is probably McDonalds," I shrug. She hits my shoulder.

     "Stop that was one of the scariest moments of my life," she lightly shoves me. "The guy drugged you. How is that not scary?"

     "It is, but it's more scary why it happened," I answer honestly. The color slowly drains out of her face.

     "Lets talk about something else," she suggests, sitting down on a blanket she laid out. She pats the spot next to her, and I sit down.

     "Have you talked to Brayden yet?" I ask her, and she shakes her head.

     "I just feel like it'd be really awkward. His mom is married to my dad, and we still share he same dad, who I'm trying to get thrown in jail. It'd be really bad. Plus we weren't as close after I found out he was lying to me about having the same mom as me. I thought she was dead at the time. It hurt, really bad. It's the thing we bonded over in the first place. I don't know. It just felt like betrayal. This probably sounds stupid," she sadly laughs at the end to try to cover it up.

     "It doesn't sound stupid," I wrap my arms around her. "It's like being in kindergarten and being the only kid who likes basketball. Then, a kid comes over and tells you that they like basketball too. The two of you become best friends over your love for basketball. In high school, you find out the kid doesn't like basketball and never did, but your situation is at least 20 times worse." She starts hysterically laughing.

     "I'm sorry. You said that so seriously when you were talking about kindergarteners loving basketball," she keeps laughing, resting her head on my chest.

     "Imagine if you were a little kid with dreams of being a basketball all star and having no one to practice with. How would you feel?" I ask her. She thinks about it for a while.