But Only In Red Ink || #Wattys2017

Chapter Fourteen

I learned a lot about Michael that weekend.

He was a Harvard Law drop out. He made it though his sophomore year then quit because he had a family to take care of. He had no plan of becoming a lawyer anyways and it was taking up too much of his time.

Instead he wanted to be an architect, but he waited until Becky was ten years of age to start over and enroll at West Georgia University. It was more comfortable for the three of them to stay close to Scarlett's family rather than living so far away. They depended on the Wilsons for a while until Mrs. Wilson passed away and Mr. Wilson followed shortly after. Then the Fassbenders moved into our neighborhood.

Something I didn't realize until this weekend, I didn't even know Michael's age. He was hesitant to tell me.

"I would lie to you but I know you're smart enough to do the math," he chopped up slices of cheese to put with crackers and sausages for a something to nibble on throughout the day.

It was Sunday morning and we were supposed to be packing to leave. We just didn't want to. We wanted to stay and embrace each other as much as we could.

"You're right. I could do it in my head now." I shrugged and stole a cracker from the tray.

"Do it then."

I sat and thought. "You said Beck was born your sophomore year of college. I'm guessing you went straight from high school to college so you would have been twenty. She's seventeen now. So you're thirty seven!"

"Thirty-six. Like Rebecca, I graduated at seventeen," He said. "I was nineteen when she was born. I'm thirty-six."

I nodded. "Oh?"

Now listen, I didn't expect him to be like twenty-three or something, but I've spent this whole weekend making love to a thirty-six year old man. When that settles in your mind, it's kind of unsettling.

We shouldn't have done the things that we did, not even for just the fact of his age but also the fact of how we even knew each other or met. Mind you, I was fourteen when we met. Fourteen. To think maybe the things he thought when I was eighteen were the same thoughts as when I was fourteen made me uncomfortable.

I had to hide it though.  Whenever I thought about it, I had to let it go and get back into the dreamland of "I have a king that wants me to be his queen." If that was even true. It was hard to get back into that place, especially on the way home.

We sat, listening to music for some of the way. He let me hook up my phone to the auxiliary because he liked how different my music tastes were. He also liked some of the music I had downloaded whether he knew the songs or not. Or so he said. He could have been lying like he's done to his daughter and everyone else he knew. Like he had me lie to my best friend and my dad.

Soon he glanced over at me and turned the music down a little. "Did you enjoy the weekend?"

"Of course I did! If I didn't, I'd be in my room all day today," I said, looking at the window.

"Then what's wrong?"

I looked at him and shook my head, frowning a little. "Nothing's wrong. Why do you think something's wrong?"

"Do I need to remind you that I can tell when you're lying?"

I shook my head again. "No,"

"Then what is wrong?" He changed his tone to nice yet demanding. It made me shiver.

I might be developing Stockholm syndrome. That's all really. Oh and I'm getting ready to lie again. It won't be a complete lie so you shouldn't get too mad. "I just.. a boy kind of asked me to Homecoming and he asked if I'd run with him."

He nodded. "When did he ask?"

"A few days before we left." I kept my eyes on his face to see some sort of change or disapproval.

"What did you say?"

"I said yes."

He nodded. "Well you can't say no now, huh?"

But you're gonna kill him if I don't! "I mean, if you want me to, I'll take it back."

He shook his head and took my hand. "No no. I want you to run. You're a senior. It wouldn't hurt to be on the court. Hell, you have a chance to win."

His response shocked me. But at the same time, I should've expected it. I was still scared for Ryan. Who knew what Michael was really capable of? Who knew how many people he had really killed?

I probably shouldn't have told him about Ryan, not that he wouldn't have found out. Michael wasn't stupid.

**********************

Hey gang!
Here's another update!
Ready for some chapter questions?

Do you think Michael will kill Ryan?

What step should Tia take next?

What might happen when they get back home?

I LOVE YALL SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH THIS STORY!!

THANK YOU!!

-Shann❤️