Forgotten Fates

Chapter Eighteen

Alice

First period has barley started, when I get a call to go to the front office. I look at Paige who just shrugs her shoulders, apparently just as confused as I am. I begin to worry that something might have happened to my dad. Or Eli and Cole.

I start to run down the hallway in a panic, and when I turn to the corner a hand grabs me and pulls me into the stairwell.

"Finn? What are you doing?"

"I wanted to talk to you and I didn't know how else to get you alone so I could," he says.

"You're the one who had me paged? Are you serious right now!?" I shriek. "I was freaking out that something terrible had happened to my dad or something."

Annoyed, I start to head back to class, but he grabs my arm stopping me. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would scare you. Please just talk to me," he pleads.

"I don't have anything to say to you, Finn. You can't keep doing this to me."

"Me do this to you? That's some bullshit, Alice." I cross my arms over my chest as he continues in on me. "You slept with me and then took off only to come back with a new guy. You can't just tell me to get over it and expect to get your way."

"Why does it even matter? You act like you haven't had one night stands before."

"That's not what we had and you know it."

"Still, you walk around like you are so hurt over our break up, but you are dating someone else, too," I remind him.

"How long after you met that Eli guy did you get with him?"

"I don't know. How long after I left did you wait before screwing Callie?" I counter.

"I said get with. Are you screwing that douche?" he asks, his voice on the edge of hysteria.

"I really don't see how it's your business. Especially when you didn't deny it just now about Callie."

"I know you two looked very comfortable last night, so I don't know why I'm surprised. How long until you hang him out to dry and move on to the next one," he spits.

His implication that I am some kind of a slut is my last straw and I pull my hand back and punch him right in the jaw. "You are an ass," I say, holding back the tears. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much his words hurt.

"I deserved that," he says softly. "I'm sorry, Alice." He takes his hand and moves his jaw around. "Where the hell did you learn to throw a right hook like that anyway?" he asks.

I'm honestly not sure where that came from but I was regretting it now that my hand hurt. I'm just glad I didn't put any air behind it though or I could have really hurt him. I be pissed, but I would never want that.

"I really am sorry, Alice. I shouldn't have said that to you." He cups my cheek in his hand and although I know he didn't really mean what he said, it also doesn't excuse him from saying it. But when he looks at me with his honey-gold eyes full of regret and sadness, my anger falls away.

"Do you forgive me?" he asks, and I nod yes.

He asks why I came over to check on him yesterday and I tell him that watching him fall had terrified me and I didn't really think about it and ran to him. "I didn't even knock, just ran right into your house and up the stairs."

"But why Alice? Why were you worried?"

"Well, I guess- I'm not-" I stumble over my words trying to answer and then he is grabbing my face with both hands, and starts to kiss me.