Chapter 12.
The following Monday I was in the library studying, my fun weekend put behind me as I tried to catch up with schoolwork.
I had been at the library for a good twenty minutes, my nose buried in a literature book as I tried to memorise the content when I felt two hands clamp down onto my shoulders, making me just about jump out of my skin.
"Maisie!" I spun around in my chair to see Natasha glaring down at me. She stood behind me, her arms folded across her chest and a hip cocked to the side.
"Natasha? What's up?" I asked, frowning up at her expression.
"Why haven't you been answering my calls?" she demanded, pulling up a chair and sitting besides me.
I looked at her, confused, until I realized that my phone had been off for most of the day.
"I'm sorry, my phones been off," I apologized.
"Have you been having flashbacks again?" she suddenly demanded quietly and my heart stopped beating.
"What?" I whispered, staring into my sisters angered face blankly. How could she have known about what happened in art?
"I was speaking to Ingrid yesterday and she mentioned that her friend in Art was talking about a girl called Maisie and what happened to her one lesson," Natasha explained, her eyebrow raised expectantly at me.
"Care to share?" she asked.
My mind whirled and I suddenly didn't feel well.
"It was only one thing," I whispered, avoiding her gaze.
"You know that if you have them again you're meant to go back to see the doctor," she chastised.
"Please don't tell mum!" I pleaded, "She's already worried enough about me being away at college. She doesn't need this added on."
I looked at Natasha pleadingly. She frowned at me for a minute before sighing.
"Promise it's only happened once?" she asked.
"I swear," I said and she sighed once more. She grabbed her bag and stood from the table.
"If I hear that it happens again I won't hesitate to call mum," she warned sternly before leaning down to hug me. "Remember that I'm always here if you want to talk," she whispered in my ear and I nodded, hugging her back.
"I'm ok, I promise," I tried to convince her.
"Well I have a practical to get to so we'll talk later," she smiled, ruffled my hair and strode off.
I sighed and looked down at my literature book, suddenly feeling like doing anything but studying. Pulling out my phone I called Eleanor.
She picked up on the second ring.
"Maisie!" she greeted happily.
"Hey, are you busy right now?" I asked her.
"Yeah I'm just about to go into a lecture. Why? What's up?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter," I tried to say brightly.
"Ok well, I'll see you later ok?" she said, "sorry I have to go now." I sighed as the line went dead. I decided to just head back to the apartment, suddenly feeling very alone.
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I had been studying at home for about two hours before anyone interrupted me. And by studying I mean scrolling through my phone with my textbook lying open on the bed beside me.
A knock at my door sounded and I called out 'come in.' thinking that it was probably Jamie wanting to know where the remote control for the TV was again.
The door opened and Will came in. he smiled at me and I sat up on my bed.
"Hey what's up?" I asked him.
"Um, could we maybe continue talking? You know from yesterday?" he asked.
"Sure," I motioned to my desk chair again as I waited for him to sit down and start talking. I watched as he sat down and spun around in the chair once, looking around my room.
"So I was just wondering if you told anyone about the whole Hailey incident," he began and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"You call kissing a girl an 'incident'?" I asked incredulously.
"I do when it's a girl like Hailey," Will muttered.
"I haven't told anyone," I promised him. "Its none of my business who you kiss," I told him, smiling.
"Ok, thank you," he breathed a sigh of relief and I wondered why he didn't want anyone to know, "so I just wanted to-, hey who's this?" he asked suddenly, holding up a photo that was on my desk.
I peered at the photo and my heart stopped.
He was holding up a photo of Dylan.
I leapt up from the bed and ripped the photo from his hands.
"No one," I rushed, putting the photo in my desk draw quickly. Will sat there in shock before smiling.
"Do you have a secret boyfriend Maisie?" he teased.
"Its no one," I said, sharper this time and Will's smile fell.
"Maisie are you ok?" Will suddenly asked, reaching out the steady me as I swayed. My head felt suddenly very heavy and disoriented. My heart was racing and I was breathing faster, as if not enough air could get into my lungs.
"Maisie!" I heard Will exclaim just as everything went black and I was falling.
It was a warm, sunny day and I was currently sat on the hood of Dylan's car as he sat beside me. The sun was setting over the hills and we had decided to sit outside to watch the sun go down.
His hand was intertwined with mine as we talked about the future. We had been together for nearly 6 months now and I was completely and utterly happy.
"I was thinking of Brown," Dylan told me.
"Hmm," I mused, looking down at our intertwined hands and smiling. We were currently discussing colleges and what we were going to do after high school.
"But my dad wants me to apply to Columbia, where he went," Dylan said and I looked up to study his expression.
"Do you want to go to Columbia?" I asked him.
"Well, I wouldn't mind going there but I think Brown will be better for me," he explained.
"Have you told your dad about Brown?" I asked and he shook his head.
"I think if I didn't go to Columbia it would break his heart. He's already started giving me all of his old college stuff," he sighed, running a hand through his hair and messing it up.
"Well I think, that if you really want to go to Brown you should do it. You don't want to spend your whole life regretting making a decision for someone else and not yourself," I encouraged.
Dylan twisted around to face me and smiled. He reached out with the hand that wasn't intertwined with mine and brushed away a stray curl from my face. I loved how sweet Dylan was. I looked down at our intertwined hands, his larger lighter one wrapped around my smaller darker one tightly.
"You know, I'm gonna love you forever girl," he breathed, leaning in to place a soft kiss on my lips before pulling me closer and tucking me into his side.
"I'm gonna love you forever too Dylan," I breathed back as we sat and watched the sun go down. The future was forever but for now I was happy and content with the boy I loved.
"Maisie!" my eyes fluttered open to see Will leaning over me. His brow was furrowed in concern and he looked panicked.
"Maisie? Are you ok? What happened?" his hands fluttered over me, checking for injuries. He threaded his hands through my hair and lifted my head slightly, feeling the back of my head for a bump probably.
"Will," I breathed, my thoughts coming back to me as I realized that it was just a memory. I was currently lying down on my bedroom floor, with Will leaning beside me. I must have fainted.
I groaned as my head began to hurt.
"Maisie what the hell just happened?" Will demanded.
My heart started to race faster. If my sister found out that I had another flashback she would tell our mum.
And my mum would make me go back to see a doctor. I didn't want to go through that whole process again.
And they were just memories. Really, really good memories.
"Will," I said seriously, "you cant tell anyone about this." I stared into his eyes seriously as he shook his head in confusion.
"Maisie you just fainted, why can't I tell anyone? What just happened?" he asked, still looking panicked and confused.
"Will, promise me you wont tell anyone that this happened," I demanded and his eyes widened in surprise.
"I promise," he shook his head, reaching down to grab my hand and hold it just as Dylan had, "I swear I wont tell anyone Maisie."
AN: Shorter chapter? IDK but I tried. Let me know what you think! Comment and vote! :) x
Picture of Dylan to the side --->