I knock lightly at my dorm, not sure if Chrissy is asleep or not.
I glance at my phone it's almost one am. I try the door handle and to my surprise the door is open. The room is dark and my eyes haven't yet adjusted.
"Chrissy?" I say into the darkness, looking over at her bed. I spot a tall figure sitting there—too tall to be Chrissy. My heart starts to race at the thought of it being Hayden.
"No." Miles's voice sounds through the room and the rush of anxiety in my body calms down. I step into the room, slowly approaching him.
"What are you doing here? I ask and he turns on the small lamp on Chrissy's desk.
"I was about to leave actually." He says, standing up from the bed. He's much taller than me and especially when he's so close.
"How is Chrissy?" I ask, swallowing the lump in my throat that is threatening to overtake me.
"She's great." He simply says, approaching closer. He looks right into my eyes and I feel a little intimidated by the gaze.
His hazel eyes almost look darker with the small light in the corner. As he stands there, towering over me, the memories of us together come rushing back and my emotions betray me. My eyes fill with tears and before I know it my arms are wrapped around him.
"What are you doing?" he asks harshly, taking my arms off him.
"Oh, I thought we—" I say, taking a few steps back.
"We what?" he says even harsher and I don't want to answer him.
"We'd be together?!" he says loudly with an almost disgusted face, making even more tears stream down my face.
"I don't know," I say, my voice much lower than I expected.
"Being with you . . . was a mistake." He says, his words cutting into my chest like a knife. My lips part to say something but I can't, my eyes betray me like never before. I look at him, my eyes unable to hold any tears back but he turns away and leaves me alone in the barely lit room.
I WAKE UP AND glance at my phone only to see that it's five am and I should be sleeping until at least seven am.
I look across from me only to see that Chrissy still isn't there. Her back bag isn't beside her bed it like it always is. I stare at my phone, re-reading 'Monday' five times before finally turning the screen off with a loud sigh.
I hear the door handle being pushed down and before I know it the door opens to reveal Chrissy. She looks at me with a small smile before stepping into the room and closing the door behind her.
"I didn't think you'd be back yet." She says but I don't know what to say.
"Chrissy—" I look down at my hands.
"Madison—" We laugh before I stand up from the bed.
"I'm sorry," I say in an almost whisper.
"Madison, it's okay." She says and I shake my head.
"What?" I ask, not knowing if my mind is playing tricks on me or not.
"I forgive you." She says, looking at me with a smile. I scan her face for any sign of sadness but she looks like she always does—happy.
"No, Chrissy I—"
"it's okay, It is. I forgive you and that's my choice." She says, looking me right into the eyes.
"I'm sorry too, you're my friend and I should have been there for you when . . . Miles brought you back to the cabin." She explains but I shake my head, parting my lips to say something but she stops me;
"I have to go."
"Oh." Is all that comes out.
"I'm late for class." She explains with a rushed smile, I nod even though no class starts at five-thirty am. She closes the door behind her and I'm left alone again.
I shake my head, who was I kidding? Miles and I don't belong together and we never will, Chrissy on the other hand does belong to him, she seems to be the only thing keeping him even a little human and he's the only one who seems to make her happy even with all of his flaws.
I look through the few nail polishes I own before choosing a milky white color. I paint my nails before looking through my closet and grabbing a light top to go with my light jeans. I brush through my brown hair before cleaning off yesterday's makeup and applying a fresh coat of mascara. My hoop earrings are small and the necklace Jace got me hangs high enough for me to see.
I take my time to walk towards the library and to my surprise it's open. I push the glass door that leads me into my only escape.
"One caramel frappuccino." I smile and a young woman nods. I pay her before grabbing my cold coffee and bringing it with me to the same table I always seem to choose. I lay my books and pens onto the table. I tap the pen onto the table lightly as I read through a few assignments. I need to catch up and this is the perfect time.
I take notes on my new laptop, everything is so organized. After finishing a few short assignments and retuning them I realize that class has already started and I'm fifteen minutes late. I attempt to grab all of my books, in hopes of making it to class as soon as I can but his voice stops me.
"I thought I'd find you here." The raspiness of the voice travels up my neck and into my ears. Before I can turn around he sits down right in front of me. He looks down at my drink but doesn't say anything.
"What?" I ask even though I heard him perfectly well.
"You're late to class." He says but I shake my head.
"Well . . . I'm not going to class," I state, determined. I
had planned on going but now that he's here, reminding me that I'll be with him in class, I don't want to go. I can afford to skip a few classes here and there especially if I'll be able to get ahead a few weeks.
"Oh yeah?" he asks, his smirk hiding in his lips.
"Yes," I say.
"In that case, I'll skip too, it's no fun without my Maddie." He says and the words rush through me like lightning.
"W-what?"
"You heard me--I'm skipping." He says, giving me that Miles smile.
"Miles I—"
"You have a problem with me being here? It's a public library Madison." He says with a fake frown and I can't help but smile.
"Then I'm leaving," I say before standing up and gathering all of my books.
"Great, where are we going?" he smiles, resting his legs on the table. I look at him in disbelief before sighing;
"We're not going anywhere, I'm going back to my dorm," I say, shaking my head slightly.
"Oh come on Madison, you're not leaving me here all alone are you?"
"No, you can ask your girlfriend to join you," I say before attempting to walk away but his hand familiarly grabs mine, bringing back memories of our hands holding so intimately. I quickly flick my hand away at the memory.
"All I'm asking for is breakfast, aren't you hungry?" he asks and my stomach answers with a grumble which only makes him smile.
"See, I know your body better than you do." He says and I bite at my lips at the rush of butterflies traveling through me.
"You do that when you feel good." He smirks and I part my lips but don't know what to say. I shake my head before asking; "Why do you want to have breakfast together?" I ask confused.
"We have an assignment together and it's due tomorrow morning, and . . . I'm starving." He says with a smile.
"Okay," I say with a small smile.
WE FINALLY ARRIVE at a small diner. The diner is separated into three areas, the middle has old looking chairs and wooden tables while each side separates the main room with glass windows and blue chairs.
"Are you sure this is a breakfast place?" I ask as we walk towards a table in one of the more closed spaces.
"Yeah, this is the best place in town," he says and I give him a small smile. An older woman with curly black hair hands us two menus and glasses of water.
My eyes scan the thick pages and Miles seems to be doing the same. I glance at his hands, only to see that black ring again, his nails are cut short and his fingers are thicker than mine. His wrist peeks out of his black sleeve and I smile when I see his name in thin lettering.
"staring at my tattoos again?" he says, his eyes steady on the menu.
"How did you—"
"It's all you do." He smirks, putting the menu down and looking right into my eyes. My heart starts to race and I feel slightly uncomfortable from the strong gaze his eyes give me.
"No, it's not." I lie but he continues to smile.
"Right." He winks and the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter their wings little by little.
"I like that small circle of brown in your eyes." He says, I look at him for a few seconds before desperately trying to change the subject;
"Shouldn't we get started on the assignment?" He looks away with a clenched jaw before finally looking back at me with that Miles smile—his white teeth showing through his lips and his perfectly pink tongue on his canine tooth.
"Nah, not yet." He says with a small shake of his head. He lifts up two fingers in revealing his 'Miles' tattoo once again.
"Some waffles and uh . . ." he says to the woman before looking at me with raised brows.
"Pancakes!" I say in a rush with a small giggle. The woman nods with a smile before writing it down on a piece of paper.
"You two are adorable." She says before leaving and my eyes are wide in surprise. I bite my lip in disbelief.
"Would that be so bad?" he asks and my expression fades.
"I—" I start but the same waitress stops me by bringing us pink lemonade with a large lemon slice floating in the drink.
"It's from Barry."
"Thanks, Barry!" Miles yells across the empty diner and an old man sitting near the counter raises his head towards our direction.
"Barry?" I ask confused and he gives me a small smile.
"Valentina's husband."
"Oh, right." Is all I manage to say. The same curly-haired waitress hurries back to our table, bringing us the food.
"Good right?" he asks with a mouthful and I nod.
"Yeah, this is amazing," I say before tasting the even better lemonade.
"This is the best place in town so keep it between us for now," he says and I nod. We eat our food and Miles pays the cashier before we leave.
The small door we entered through waits for us, Miles holds the door for me but before I can leave the diner a blonde girl walks into my shoulder.
"Sorry." She says, her brown eyes looking at me.
"it's okay." I smile politely but Miles stays quiet, gazing at her in an almost sinister fashion.
"Hey Miles." She says and he clenches his jaw before looking right at me.
"Get in the car." He says seriously, unlocking the car with a click of his key.
"No," I say and he looks at me a little surprised.
"I like this girl, is she your girlfriend?" The girl asks.
"Madison," Miles says, ignoring her.
"Madison, huh?" she smiles.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Stephanie." She adds, extending her hand, but before I can extend mine, Miles walks in between us.
"Bye, bye." He says sarcastically before pulling me by my slightly extended hand.