Three Years On

Chapter Sixteen

Soooo I just finished writing the chapter after this one, and I'm not gonna lie, I love it! You'll have to wait till at least friday, probably not till sunday, till I upload again though, sorry :S I will attempt to tomorrow, but it's highly unlikely.

Anyways, I hope you like this one :) the song on the side is Speeding Cars by Imogen Heap and is beautiful.

Happy reading :D

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     ‘Hey, where’s Beth?’ Michael asked, as Debby opened the door to the Jones’ house. Beth had been behind them when they’d left the beach, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen now. He’d been so absorbed in their conversation that he hadn’t even noticed that she was gone.

     ‘Dunno,’ Debby said, shrugging. ‘Must have stopped to do something.’ She didn’t sound convinced that this was true. They both knew that really it was part of Beth’s master plan to get them alone together, but Michael was panicking.

     You can’t do this, he told himself. She’s fourteen. ‘That’s really weird,’ he muttered, trying to sound believable. ‘I think I’ll go look for her.’

     ‘God, I can’t be that bad!’ Debby burst out before he’d even turned around.

     ‘What?’ he asked, moving into the sitting room. He watched as she flung herself down on the sofa and pushed her hair backwards, frustrated.

     ‘You can’t even stand to be alone with me for a second, that’s how much you hate me!’ she exclaimed, big wet sobs escaping from her eyes with record speed.

     Michael wasn’t fazed by the crying, he just went to sit next to her. ‘Debby, please don’t be angry,’ he said, putting his hand on her bare shoulder. He knew she was angry, not upset- she’d told him already what tears meant to her.

     This was the first time he had touched her in an affectionate way, and the contact- skin on skin- felt so good. A small smile crept across her face. ‘You remembered the thing about me crying,’ she remarked.

     ‘Of course I did,’ he told her.

     She stopped crying just as quickly as she’d started- it was like a tap being turned off. She wiped her face dry with an edge of her loose t-shirt, then turned to look at him. ‘Michael, be straight with me. What’s going on? Why are you avoiding me? Do you hate me or love me?’ she asked, completely serious.

     He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. ‘Fine, I will be.’ But he didn’t want to admit how he felt, he couldn’t because of her age, it felt wrong. ‘Are you attracted to me?’ he asked instead.

     ‘Are you attracted to me?’ she retorted.

     ‘I asked first,’ he teased, playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

     She squeezed her eyes shut as hard as possible and kept them shut as she spat out her answer. ‘Yes.’ Michael’s heart leapt, but he didn’t let it show and after a couple of seconds her eyes fluttered open again. ‘Are you attracted to me?’ she repeated.

     ‘What do you think?’ he said, hoping it was obvious.

     ‘I don’t know!’ she cried. ‘That’s why I’m asking!’

     He smiled at her, loving her innocence. ‘I’ve never felt stronger about anyone in my life,’ he admitted. Neither of them did anything, staring at each other. ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ he asked.