Sebastian

Chapter 12 - The Book of Gabriel

I wake up early on Saturday morning and hear Gabriel snoring in the other bed. Ha. I guess he's not so perfect, after all. I get my stuff, then go shower and get dressed. When I come back, he's sitting on his bed and getting his own things together to go shower.

He doesn't say anything, just ignores me and leaves the cabin. I've been sitting for a couple of minutes when I realize that his little diary is still lying on his side table from last night. I know that I shouldn't look in it, so I resist the temptation.

I grab my phone and think about calling my mom, but instead of doing it, I put my phone down and walk over to Gabriel's side of our cabin.

"Don't do this, Sebastian," I say out loud to myself. "This is a bad idea."

I'm so curious, though. Could it really hurt to have a tiny peek inside? He'll never know. I look outside the cabin window to make sure nobody is coming and then I lean down and knock it off the table, onto the floor.

"Whoops!" I say. "It just fell and I should pick it up for him."

I feel guilty, even while I'm preparing my alibi, but I stoop to pick up the book. It's flipped open to a page with lots of writing on it. Some stuff is scribbled out and different words are written in their place.

They're song lyrics, I realize. I'm fascinated by what I'm reading. These lyrics are great, I mean, I knew that what he'd written for the song we're writing together was really good but it's like he's got a whole book full of ones that are just that good.

I begin to flip through the pages, amazed at his ability to come up with shit like this. My guilt has gone, even though it feels like I'm looking inside Gabriel Knight's brain while I'm reading it. I'm seeing his point of view on life and the world around him.

The book is only half-full and I'm disappointed that there's not any more to read. I flick back to one of the earlier pages to read it again and begin humming a melody for the lyrics.

My blood runs cold when I hear his voice from behind me.

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

I spin around and his gaze is icy as he glares at me from where he's standing in the doorway. I'm frozen in place, holding his book open and staring back at him. There's no excuse for this. No bullshit about 'it just fell' is going to cut it.

"I'm sorry."

Except, I'm not. This shit is amazing and I'm glad I read it. Probably not a good idea to say that, though.

"Put. It. Down." is his cold reply.

"Shit. Yeah, of course," I say as I place the book of song lyrics back down on his table where I found it.

I walk back to my bed and sit down on it, watching while Gabriel walks over, grabs the book, and shoves it into his suitcase which he locks with the combination lock. Yeah, I probably can't blame him for that.

If I thought that it was tense in our cabin before, the silence now is deafening. I can tell that he's absolutely furious and I'm wondering if he's going to hit me or something. His entire body seems as though it's coiled like a spring and he might snap at any moment.

"I shouldn't have gone through it," I say.

Shut up, Sebastian. You're probably just going to make shit worse.

"Just fuck off and leave me alone, Sebastian."

"I really am sorry," I cringe as I say it.

"Sorry that you did it, or sorry that you got caught?" He's glaring at me, again.