Misreckon

Chapter 15 - Confrontation and Misplacement

Panic erupted within me. My hair was in a white towel, wrapped up as I had just showered. The cool breeze tortured my exposed skin as I frantically rushed around my room, wearing nothing but a damp towel. I had searched my entire room and to no avail, my phone was nowhere to be found. 

As Cora recalled the last time she had it, a bell rang in her head and she had a spike of excitement. She searched through her jeans within her wardrobe to retrieve the note Dean had once given her: rather than waiting for the next day, attempt to find him and then ask if she had left her phone in his car, she could find out now. Rushing to her mother and explaining the situation, she gave Cora her phone and proceeded to dial his number. Anxiousness and excitement. She couldn't exactly pinpoint whether she was feeling this way because of her lost phone or, Dean. 

"Hi is this Dean ?" I asked as soon as I saw that they had answered. 

"Yes, is this Cora calling to get her phone back that she left in my car ?" Dean sarcastically asked, a playful tone to his voice that caused a smirk to form on my face. 

As I stood in my mothers room, whilst organising her vanity, she began to look at me in a curious manner. Not only did I feel insanely cold but her stare made me feel uncomfortable. 

"Yes, that's the one." I sighed with a slight chuckle in my voice which made it clear that I was embarrassed. 

"Is there any chance you could bring it to me today, perhaps ?" I queried, feeling guilty for making him travel for my sake. 

"I can't today, after the gym I have some things to take care of. I'll find you at school tomorrow." He assured me. I felt disappointed somewhat. My smile fell but I made sure to keep my voice positive. 

"Okay, thank you. I'll let you go now, bye." I farewelled hastily, hoping to end this conversation as soon as possible. 

"I'll see you tomorrow." He stated and I hung up. 

My mother stared at me again, raising her brows at me when I gave back her phone. 

"So ?" She asked with a curious undertone. 

"It's not like that Mum, were not even friends really." I huffed, crossing my arms. Her looks were enough without questioning me. 

"Not that, your phone, does he have it ?" She sighed and I my mouth formed a small 'o'. 

"Oh right, yes he has it but he's busy so i'll get it tomorrow." I smiled before leaving my room to dry my hair. 

Tomorrow had come. Cora walked into the dining hall for break, the last of the group to join the table. The three were sat, appearing tired and bored as they casually talked. Anaya perched her head onto her palm which held it up. Wren scribbled onto his sheets in front of him, most likely his forgotten homework and lastly Ivan, he talked to Anaya with a yawn. Cora merged into the sullen group who greeted her with tiresome greetings. Before she could even sit down properly, a figure that was not 'meant' to be near them, neared them. 

His powerful demeanour oozed as he casually walked to our table. I had only glanced up momentarily but shot my eyes back at Wren to disguise my eagerness to talk to Dean, Wren could sense his approach and turned to look at the figure, not expecting it to be him. 

Wren turned back with widened eyes and I shot him a look as though to say 'be nice'. I sheepishly got up and walked towards him. 

He wore a tight fitted, black top with grey joggers and a pair of flashy trainers. His physique was large, he wasn't thin and muscular but instead he appeared strong and well built in all areas. I watched as his biceps enlarged, turning to grab my small phone from his backpack. 

"It was on the floor of my car." He announced, shaking his head slightly whilst passing me my phone. 

"Thank you." I took it from him gracefully. He appeared stunned for a moment, as though no one had thanked him before. 

"You might want to get yourself a screen protector." He commented as he returned back to his cool self, we both stared at my phone screen that was littered with scratches. It was fair to say I have had my fair share of careless moments. 

"I swear, trouble just finds me." I joked, shrugging. 

"I can confirm that." He stated sullenly. 

"Well, See you." He farewelled with haste. 

"Bye." I flashed him another smile and we both parted. I looked at the phone in my hands, smiling at my foolishness for forgetting. 

"You were in his car ?" Ivan chocked, his brows forming a somewhat angered look. I had barely sat down and yet he bombarded me with question. I turned to Ivan and raised my brows. 

"He drove me home, is that alright Dad ?" I asked in a light hearted manner, hoping to combat his seriousness. He continued to look displeased and played with the zipper of his black hoodie  

"Your Dad could have, I could have, Wren could have. You could've even got a taxi for christ sake, anything other than that shit." He scolded. Though it was clear that the stories of Dean's criminal history caused him to worry about me, his anger was simply unnecessary. 

"Ivan he's not like that." I admitted.

"What I think he's trying to say is that he's worried, I mean, what they say about him aren't even rumours. They're the truth." Anaya added with a caring tone. I looked at her, deep into her eyes and just sighed. 

"But you've never even talked to him so you can't tell me what he's like. He's never done anything like that to me." I confessed. Although this was a lie, he had threatened me with death, he had never physically hurt or put me in a dangerous position. 

"Not yet he hasn't. Regardless of what he's like with you, by simply being with him you're supporting every illegal, harmful thing he's done." Ivan seethed and my heart began to race. I thought of my father: i loved him regardless of what he had done, that didn't mean I supported him. Ivan was wrong. Entirely wrong. 

"That's just not right Ivan. You don't understand that everyone makes mistakes but that doesn't mean they're not worthy of friendship, a future, second -" Ivan began to chuckle with anger which cut me off. 

"Mistakes ? He hasn't apologised for the things he's done, he hasn't even stopped doing them. I don't know what he's told you but you're clearly messed up in the brain by being around that criminal lowlife." His voiced boomed and Wren furiously grabbed his shoulder in response to his outburst. 

"What the f**k is wrong with you? You're going too far." Wren scolded him, shooting me a sympathetic look. 

"It's fine Wren, let him finish." I sighed and kept my eyes on Ivan. 

"You want more ?" Ivan sneered his question, which implied I was correct: he wasn't finished. 

"Yes, I want to know why you're reacting this way." I emphasised. Arguments and confrontation where things I loathed as I had heard my fair share between my parents. It was as though the raised voice and the anger being directed at me was all too much. Yet in this moment, I felt more as though I had someone else to stand up for rather than myself. 

"Because you're spending time with a vile, dangerous criminal Cora. How are you this blind? He's a genuine criminal who hurts people and, he gets away with it. It's disgusting how casually you can just be friends with a person like that." Wren declared with venom in his words. His speech was hasty and passionate. 

"You don't know the truth. Have you actually asked him if the allegations are correct, if your parents knew the full story? You haven't, no one has. Everyone seems to treat him like he's the lowest of people, hitting him, spitting on him. They're bullying him and people like you enjoy -" Anaya put my hands on me, ushering me out of my seat as she stood. Her eyes looked concern, perhaps she didn't want this to finish because she feared it would end badly. 

We both got up hastily and before she could pull me away I had to speak my final thought. 

"By enjoying his suffering, how are you any better the actions he supposedly did ?" I shot at him before Anaya fled me away from him. 

Silent. The girls bathroom was empty and so Anaya and Cora could talk in peace. Anaya was the first to enter and Cora shut the door, her eyes slightly adjusting to the white tiles and bright pink accent colour, how stereotypical, she thought. They sat on the counter near the sink, their feet dangling in the air. 

"Do you like him ?" Anaya queried, a small smile on her face. The question caught me off guard and I almost laughed in surprise which, as a direct reaction, I placed my finger tips on my mouth. 

"As a person yes but other than that, definitely not." I replied with a slight chuckle and she smiled back. 

"So you're not infatuated with him, you just genuinely like him as a person ?" She continued questioning me and I began to nod in response. 

"Yeah. Yeah I do and in some weird way I see myself in him. Were just kind of similar, if that makes sense." I described vaguely, I couldn't possibly tell her about our bond over having a criminal father and how we loathed them. 

She began to look at her feet beneath her, swaying them in the air like a child and looked up from her moment of thought.

"I get that. Jace didn't have the best reputation before we got together so I understand. Dean's a different person in our eyes compared to yours so it's not fair for us to judge." She affirmed. Her statement caused me to smile and I was glad to see her take my side in this. 

The break bell rang and we both dropped from the counter, her trainers and my Chelsea boots slamming against the tiled floor. 

"Do you think Ivan will be alright with me ?" I pondered, a heavy heart and a sinking gut feeling overwhelmed me.

She nodded and sighed heavily. 

"He just needs to calm down and actually process what you've said, otherwise he'll just constantly believe his opinion is the only opinion." She gave me an apologetic smile and adjusted her brown, leather tote bag on her shoulder. 

I needed to process what he had said too. He was right, Dean continued such crimes but the circumstances made the difference. Maybe my sympathy blinded me from seeing that he had somewhat of a choice in the actions he made, but as he had previously shown me, his death would surely meet him if he were to disobey his father. He would find himself resting the the pit of the cliffside, amongst his mother, his victims and other unfortunate souls. 

A dark fate indeed.