An Artistic Duo

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Thursday, August 8

It's been four days since I last saw Kelsey. The morning after she found out about Eli and I, she, and most of her stuff, was gone. After that, I had no idea where she was. I knew she was still at the camp; a lot of her stuff was still at the cabin, plus I don't really think she would leave, but she was no where to be found. I had been trying to find her so I could apologize, but how could I do that when she had disappeared from the face of the Earth?

Making it worse was the fact that anytime I went out, everyone was staring at me. I saw a range of emotions on faces that I didn't know the name to, including disappointment, pity, and even some diluted hatred.

And I hated that.

People looking at me was one thing, but people knowing everything that happened was even worse. How people found out- I have no idea. I'm guessing there were a lot of people around when Kelsey ran out, because I know for a fact that Jaxon wouldn't tell out of pure fear alone.

Plus, I hadn't seen Eli in those four days either, but this was on purpose for obvious reasons. It was during these days that I really realized how attached I had became to Eli. I knew this to some extent before, but this was different. I felt like some part of me had been ripped away. I missed everything about him; the way he smelled like a mix of hardware store, mint, and paint, the way his smile lit up his whole face, and my whole world. 

I was jumpy without him, like I was having withdrawals from some drug I had become addicted to. And that's a pretty good analogy considering his lips gave you a high stronger than any illegal drug on the market.

I was completely and totally whipped.

But today was the last day of class, so I would have to see Eli. It would be torture having to sit next to him knowing that our worlds were falling apart and I couldn't do so much as touch him.

Probably ever. Not seeing Eli these past few days meant that we hadn't finished our project. I had begun to accept that we weren't going to see each other in college. Not happily.

I rolled off my bed, groaning about how terrible today was going to be. When I was sitting up on my bed, I saw Bianca and Alessa look at me with pity. They knew what had happened-like everyone else in the world- and they had been sort of quiet around me.

I would think maybe Alessa would have something to say, but she didn't. She had been the one to find me after all. I tried to push away the memories of that night, but no matter how hard I tried, it all came flooding back again.

"Lace did you know-" Alessa walked into the cabin, but cut off as soon as she saw me. "What's wrong?" She asked and rushed towards me.

I couldn't even speak, I was crying so hard. I tried to respond but all that came out was, "Me and Eli were... but Kelsey.. and now," before I burst into tears again.

How did things get screwed up so bad? I know it seems like I'm being overly dramatic but this was exactly what I had been trying to avoid all these weeks. 

But now it had happened.

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Alessa said as she tried to sooth me, wrapping her arms around me.

"It's that bad!" I yelled. I wasn't angry at her, obviously, I was angry at myself for letting this happen.

Before Alessa could say anything else, the door opened again. I didn't see who walked in, but I knew when I heard Bianca start talking.