Behind Your Walls

42 | within your walls

five months later:

"Shit! I'm so nervous."

Stephen taps his feet, annoying the hell out of me as we stand outside Growth Rehabilitation Center.

"Why are you so nervous?" I query, blowing air over my newly painted red nails.

To speak the truth, I am nervous too. Extremely, completely and ridiculously nervous. Today is the day Carter will be released from here and after five months of not being able to stay connected with him, I am losing my mind over how much he must have changed in the past months. He was allowed to talk on the phone once or twice but only with Melody and all that she told me was that he was recovering well.

"It's Carter Bell, Sommers," Stephen replies, throwing me an obvious look.

I should tell him that he looks absolutely stupid with that blue cap on since he has paired it with a red shirt and white pants. He has put no effort to look good today. I, on the other hand, have put in a little too much effort. I am wearing a black T-shirt with a denim jacket and ripped black jeans. I highlighted a few strands of my hair blonde recently in preparation for this day and they are falling perfectly on my shoulder. I never put on make-up but today I did because I want Carter to notice me.

And because I am scared of meeting him

"Yeah, it's Carter Bell. Not Kyle Dickson's dad."

Stephen narrows his eyes at me, throwing me a dirty look once he hears his boyfriend's name being included in the statement. They have been together for a month now and it has been a secret kept from the entire school.

"Cut him some slack, Amaya," Melody interferes from beside me as her eyes stay fixed on the large wooden doors of the institution.

Her blonde hair has grown over the months and she has it in a ponytail now. She is wearing a black dress and looks very professional for reasons I will never understand. Ever since she started to work as a real nurse at the Hill Hospital with her nursing degree, she has started to put herself neatly everywhere she goes.

I do admire this quality of hers and now that she and Mom have bought apartments opposite one another, she has been my constant companion, along with Stephen, of course.

I roll my eyes. According to them, I have turned into a mean bitch over the past few months and every time he reminds me of the fact, I shrug my shoulders to let him know that I don't care about what people think of me.

There is no Amaya without Carter. So, if they want her back, they will have to wait till I have 'the talk' with my still supposed boyfriend.

Shaun kept his promise. Carter was acquitted of Panther's death after I testified about how Panther blasted the door open and kept me tied up in the basement. Shaun produced gunpowder remains which he found near the door and that added to the proof that what Carter (aka me) did was an act of self-defence.

But the hearings led to Carter's past with the fight club being revealed. Mark was captured and sent to prison for being Panther's partner while Carter was given two choices — rehab or detention centre. He chose the former much to my relief. He continued his schooling from the centre and today he will be released.

I cross my legs and take a look at my watch.

It's been an hour, where is he?

Just then, Melody hisses a breath and I look at her, following her line of vision. I drop my hands, pulling myself from where I have been leaning on Melody's car as my eyes fall on the subject who has my heart racing out of its cages.