𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄́ ─ 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐞

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

tw: anxiety attack

AFTER THE BATTLE OF COYOTE CREEK, MARISSA FOUND IT IMPORTANT TO CLEAR THE AIR WITH MIGUEL. She didn't know exactly what to say. How does someone tell their best friend that you're also friends with their self-proclaimed arch enemy? It was safe to say there was no easy way to broach the subject but, the air needed to be cleared.

"Hey, Mig, wait up!" Marissa jogged up to him when they were dismissed from the dojo. "Can we talk? About what Hawk said?"

Miguel was never the kind of person to hold a grudge. He was sweet and kind and everything everyone wanted in a best friend. He was forgiving. "Sure, but what is there to talk about? You have some kind of... whatever with Robby and you didn't tell me."

"It's a lot more nuanced than that, okay? I met him before you. He used to live in my building and help my mother and I move in. We just became... friends, that's all." Marissa's explanation was the honest truth and that's all she could give.

Miguel sighed and slowed his walk, "So, you don't have 'the hots' for him?"

Marissa bit her tongue and shook her head meekly. There was a lot buried in Marissa that she didn't dare admit to herself and her conflicted attitude towards Robby was one of them. So, she did the one useful thing her father taught her: deny, deny, deny. "No. I don't have 'the hots' for Robby."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" He asked calmly, turning the corner.

"I don't know. I guess I just... didn't want to make things worse. It wouldn't have changed anything though. You're too stubborn for your own good."

Miguel laughed at her truthful statement. "You're right. Just be careful, okay? I don't want this guy to hurt you." He bumped her shoulder playfully before resting his arm around her and continuing their walk to her apartment.

***

MIGUEL WAITED UNTIL MARISSA WAS INSIDE HER GATE BEFORE TAKING OFF. It was only six o'clock so it wasn't too late into the night but that was something they always did: look out for each other. When Marissa reached her apartment door, she found it unlocked which was odd because she knew her mother was at home all the time now so, Rachel couldn't have done it.

She walked in, turning immediately towards the door and locking it, not bothering to call out for anyone. After today's surprise visit, she was taking no chances with safety. "A little paranoid there, RiRi."

There it was. The voice that came to her in her dreams and nightmares. It called to her from her memories, the ones she'd kept locked in a box in the pit of her mind. This voice consumed her whole in her old life and has been eating away at her in her new one.

She closed her eyes and saw the castle. The princess was looking down at her but Marissa couldn't see her face. All she saw was a shadow. She forced her eyes to stay shut because if they opened and she turned around, her world would fall apart. At his hands, once again.