Chapter 15 : War of Hearts
2452 Words
"I can't," I said slumping into my bed.
"You have to," Abby argued as she settled next to me. I grabbed a pillow hugging it close to my chest.
"But I can't even do magic," I whined as I stuck out my bottom lip into a pout. Abby rolled her eyes at my childish display.
"That's why you have to learn," she explained, tearing the pillow from my grip and tossing it at my headboard.
"Why are they making me do this?"
"The council believes that you'll be much safer if you are able to protect yourself. I think it's a good idea," it made sense, if I did have powers wouldn't it be better if I knew how to use them. However the prospects of using those abilities scared me. I was a tad bit afraid of magic, even my own.
"Well I think it's a bad one," I huffed as I laid on the bed.
"Would you rather be a sitting duck?" She asked and I shook my head. "Good, so you're starting your lessons tomorrow after school."
"Fine," I grumbled. "Can we do our homework now?" Not that I wanted to do homework, I just wanted to change the subject. We managed to focus on our work for five minutes before one of us derailed.
"Have you talked to Adrian?" Abby randomly asked twirling her pen between her fingers. It had been days since our last conversation and considering how badly that went, I doubted that there would be another one anytime soon.
"Nope," I said feigning nonchalance.
"You know he's really sorry, right?" She said dropping her pen onto the bed as she locked eyes with me.
"Yeah," I said dropping my gaze, my tone was regretful, "but I can't forgive him,"
"But you forgave me," she argued and I shrugged.
"It's different," she rose a brow but I just sighed exasperatedly picking up her pen for her, "let's just get back to work," I said handing it to.
"Okay," she sighed as she submitted to my request, "but you should know he really does likes you, he wasn't pretending. He wouldn't do that."
Oddly, I believed that, Adrian liked me, but was that enough? Could I trust him again. I forgave Abby for the same crime easily. Why was it so different for him? She could have very well told me about my mother, but she didn't. However I understood that she had a duty to uphold. The same duty as Adrian. Maybe I was being too stubborn.
It's just his secrecy felt more of a betrayal because he knew how much my mother meant to me and he still kept silent. Maybe I was being silly. Was my reluctancy justified or was I being petty?
Did I like him enough to forgive him?
If he really did like me, did that mean that I was hurting him by refusing to forgive him? I felt a pit in my stomach. I didn't want him to hurt. I didn't want to hurt him. I never did.
And it wasn't as if this whole situation wasn't hurting me too. I missed him. Just being around him, I missed that. It was so hard to be so close to him but having to keep my distance. Yeah, maybe this whole thing was silly. I wanted to put aside everything and just run to him. But I also knew I couldn't do that.
But why? Why was I holding onto the hurt so tightly? He didn't deserve this, and I needed to get that through my head.
I returned my focus to my book, "what did you get for question five?"
........................
After Abby left I laid sprawled on the bed staring at the ceiling. I missed Adrian, talking to him, sitting with him at lunch, watching him sketch. I missed his smile, his laugh, the glisten of his eyes when he was happy. I missed him kissing me, holding my hand, I just missed being around him. I hated this, this whole situation.
Sitting up straight, I scooched to the edge of the bed, getting onto my feet. I walked up to my dresser opening the top drawer. Inside was Adrian's shirt, the one I'd woken up in, on Saturday morning. I inhaled the pine and cinnamon scent, that miraculously still lingered on, even after I had cleaned the shirt. I thought of returning it to him but I couldn't bare to part with it. It was all I had left.
In that moment, I was done. Done being angry, resentful, holding grudges. This was Adrian, my heart was breaking being away from him. I needed to forgive him. I was about to shut the drawer when something glistened inside. Reaching inside my fingers brushed a thin metallic chain. I took it out, placing the poppy pendent in my palm, letting my thumb brush over the intricate design.
The necklace belonged to my mother, it was one of the last things I had of her. I clutched it for a second before returning it into the drawer, as well as the shirt. I grabbed my phone off the bedside table, dialing Adrian's number.
Thirty minutes later I sat on the patio as Adrian pulled up. I rose to my feet and sighed heavily as I approached him.
"Marcus—"
"Let's take a walk," I said, cutting into his sentence. I started towards the woods, heading down a path I was growing rather accustomed to. He followed silently behind me.
The night breeze blew against my face, and the chill bit into my cheeks but I hardly noticed. My focus was on the boy behind me. I'd gone through what I was going to say to him over and over again in my head. But the closer we got to the spot the more I started losing traces of it. My mind was going blank. My thoughts were being slowly erased by nerves.
I plopped onto the ground the moment we arrived at our intended destination. He sat next to me. The nights were colder as we neared winter. I stuffed my hands into pockets trying to keep them from freezing off. We sat in uncomfortable silence as I worked up the courage to speak. The chirping crickets filled the night's air as I took a deep breath.
"You hurt me—"
"I'm sorry, I—"
"Let me finish," I requested and he nodded, "you hurt me. I hate it when people make choices for me. Don't you ever do that again. I know you probably thought it was better for me but I'm the only one who decides what's better for me. I need you to promise you'll never keep something like this from me."
"Mark, I promise. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just wanted to protect you," he said taking my hand in his.
"I believe you," I told him and a smile adorned his face. He scooched closer to me.
"I missed you," he said as his hands grazed my skin, leaving goosebumps forming beneath his touch. He leaned in further, closing the remaining distance between us. When his lips met mine I felt the same ecstatic mind blowing implosion from the first night we'd kissed. I moaned into the kiss as my lips moved with his.
When his tongue slipped into my mouth I submitted as he plundered my mouth. I melted into him. Riding the high that his lips sired. This was bliss on overdrive and I never wanted it to end.
He pulled me onto his lap, my knees on either side of him as I straddled him. My hands wandered to the hem of his shirt and I explored beneath it, feeling his soft skin and the rippling muscles under that.
I melted against him. I was full on making out with Adrian and I loved every heat searing blissful moment of it. His fingers tangled up in my hair as we both sighed into the kiss.
When we finally broke apart we were both panting for air. I buried my face into his shoulder as my cheeks heated up, "I missed you too."
........................
It was a sunny day, the first one in weeks. My mom had the brilliant idea that we'd spend this beautiful day having a picnic. She packed a picnic basket with all my favorites snacks.
I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. This would be the first time in weeks I'd be allowed to leave my room. I was growing awfully depressed staying in there. I hadn't even been really sick these last few weeks. My parents where just been super cautious after my last episode, that landed me in the hospital. But I was feeling so much better by the time I left the hospital. It had been a brief stay, only a week long.
It was also my seventh birthday, which made this day that more exciting. I wasn't getting a party or anything like that, I'd never had a birthday party. Instead on my birthday my mom would make this huge cake and my parents would buy me whatever I wanted. I just really hoped I didn't get sick like on my last birthday. That was really bad. I couldn't even have cake.
My mother set everything up in the garden. It was a lovely set up. My father even joined us. I'm pretty sure this was one of the only times I'd ever seen him enjoying himself. We laughed and talked, and I got to run around like normal kids did. I hadn't felt this carefree in years.
It was all fun and games until I started feeling dizzy, and then I started coughing. My mom was at my side in a matter of seconds, ushering me back inside the house. My father followed behind us as she took me to my room.
"But I wanna play," I whined when my mom told me it was time to go to bed.
"You can play when you feel better," she explained, tucking me into the bed. I huffed, folding my arms over my chest as I pouted.
"I hate being sick."
"I know, but don't worry, you won't always be," she said stroking my hair soothingly.
"I will," I said a little louder than I had meant, "I'm dying. I won't ever get better." A tear made it's way down my cheek.
"Don't say that," my father cut in, he placed a hand over my mother's shoulder, "you're not dying. You're going to be fine."
I didn't believe him, I didn't think he believed himself but the pained expression on my mother's face had me biting my tongue. I didn't like upsetting her. I just nodded, slumping back into my bed.
..............................
"We talked," I explained to Abby as we walked to class together.
"Just talked," she winked suggestively and chuckled when my cheeks heated up. I mentally faced palmed myself for my transparency.
"So you forgave him?" She asked sobering up.
"Yeah," I said nervously rubbing the back of my neck.
She pulled me into a hug, "that's good. I'm happy. He was turning into a complete mess." She chuckled as she swung open the door to our biology class.
The lesson was over sooner than I had expected. We had a pop quiz that I was confident I did well in. Abby and I split ways as she headed for her next class and I headed for the library seeing that I had a free period.
I settled in my usual corner, where I normally could read in peace. But today that was interrupted, Lilian Russo pulled out a chair in front of me.
"You should have told me," were the first words out of her mouth. I set my book down as she gained my attention. I looked at her with a puzzled expression. "That you liked Adrian," she elaborated, "I would have backed off."
That's the last thing I expected to hear. "How do you know I like him?"
"The way you acted on Friday," she pointed out and my cheeks tinted red.
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said bashfully.
"What are you sorry about?" She said with a little chuckle, "he likes you, he went after you. And I'm okay with that. It's not like I was in love him or anything. It stings but I'm okay."
"You're not mad at me?" I furrowed my brows. I honestly thought she would be.
"No, of course not," she chuckled again. I actually relieved to hear that. Lily was really nice, I would have been upset if she hated me. She stuck around a little while, just talking to me. She was so nice, but I already knew that. I really hoped we could be friends. After the free period we split ways as I headed to my next class and I she headed to hers.
For the first time that week I headed over to the cafeteria for lunch that day. Abby had understood my need to eat my lunch in the library, seeing as I was avoiding Adrian. But since we'd made up I could finally rejoin the two of them. I took my seat across from Abby.
"Hi," Adrian greeted as he came to a halt at our table. He placed a kiss on my cheek and I blushed ferociously as he took a seat next to me.
"H—Hi," my voice hitched as I struggled to recover from his display. I wasn't opposed to public displays of affection but he'd caught me off guard. Added onto the fact that I had never had a boyfriend before to show me such affection. I wasn't used to it. Not saying that Adrian was my boyfriend, was he?
Adrian just smiled smugly at my awkwardness. He loved flustering me, didn't he? Not fair. I broke into a pout and he chuckled.
"You guys are so cute," Abby gushed reminding me that we weren't alone. My cheeks heated up even more at my embarrassment.
"So, Mark are you ready for your first magic lesson?" Adrian asked, sparing me from any further embarrassment.
I popped a chip into my mouth before I shrugged. I was obviously nervous but I tried to seem nonchalant about it. I didn't want them to know how terrified I was. Something bad was going to happen, I knew it. This was me for Pete's sake, a walking disaster.
"Yeah," I lied unconvincingly.
"It's okay to be nervous," Abby said.
"Yeah, but you shouldn't be worried. You'll do great." Adrian chirped in rubbing my shoulder.
"I hope so," I said, worrying my bottom lip.
- Writer
