Checkmate (Sequel to Game On)

Chapter 8: The Calm Before The Storm

After my encounter with Nick, I took the rest of the day off. I quickly went to the nurse and faked being really ill so that she would send me home, and then I left the school building and somehow ended up in an abandoned park.

Music is blasting through my earphones on a high volume and I sit on a barely functioning park bench, which brown color is starting to fade away and being replaced with a grey tone of dead, dried out wood.

I can't concentrate on anything really and I barely look at the sketchpad that rests on my lap.

I let my hand that's holding a pen run freely over the paper, forming lines and circles that eventually will connect and turn into a full drawing. My mind is blank, empty, and I don't know what will end up on the piece of paper in my hand, but it doesn't matter either.

All I want is to take out my anger and frustration and by drawing, I will succeed in doing that.

I don't know how many pictures I have drawn since I got away from Nick but let me tell you that there isn't just a few.

I've drawn pictures of Nick, some of them with him posing as the devil, and I have drawn pictures of Nathaniel and things that by the eye seems to be pointless, but for me have a strong meaning. Like pictures of a wilting rose, that symbolizes my old life, and pictures of a small box with chains, that symbolizes how I felt when I was under Nick's control.

Every now and then, I check my phone for messages and occasionally finds one from Nathaniel and Sabrina, but none from Nick. I half expect him to call or text me, telling me what a big mistake it was to leave him, but then the other half of me except him to be silent and let me suffer in silence as he plans his next move.

I admit, it felt good to finally tell him off, but I do regret it as well. I mean, I could see the anger in his eyes so clearly and I don't want to know what he'll do now, what the consequences of my action will be.

I sigh loudly, it's not like anyone can hear me anyway, and watch the drawing in my lap. Flames cover most of the paper but in the middle, a pair of dark eyes hides behind the flames. It's not just a pair of eyes, it's Nick's eyes, and they seem to stare right into your soul. I shudder and close my sketchpad, contemplating whether or not I should burn the picture. I decide against it and slowly make my way out of the abandoned park, letting my feet wander freely, leading me to some place that my subconscious probably thinks about.

I end up in front of Nathaniel's house and I pick up my phone to check the time. It's 02:30 PM, which means that school ends in half an hour. I make myself as comfortable as possible on the porch, deciding to wait for him.

Even though I can't tell Nathaniel the truth about practically everything, I still search myself to him when I'm in need of someone.

It's not like I can travel across the world to Lindsey every time I want to talk to someone because I don't have the time nor the money needed.

I just have to do as I'm used to by now; keep it all to myself and trying my best to be strong. It's not like I got any other choice. The only one I can talk to about everything is Nick, but it won't happen in a million years. I rather die than crying my eyes out on his shoulder, telling him about everything that goes around in my head.

I sigh loudly, again, and spend the rest of the time left before Nathaniel comes home playing around on my phone and listening to music.

Somehow, I get too caught up in the game on my phone and the loud music that fills my ear, and I don't hear nor see that someone walks up to me until it's too late.

Arms wrap around my waist before I even noticed someone else's presence and a high-pitched scream leaves my lips, hurting the ears of whoever stands beside me.