Checkmate (Sequel to Game On)

Chapter 27: Trust Is The Key

To say that I feel a lot better when I wake up next day is an understatement and as my eyes flutter open and glance at the clock, I realize it's already a quarter past eleven in the morning.

I yawn and get up and throw on a tank top and a pair of sweatpants, in my own size this time, before I go down to the kitchen to get something to eat.

I decide to go for a run when I'm done, despite the cold weather, and I spend some time searching through my closet after suitable clothes. When I finally find some clothes that can work, I say bye to Martha and Roland and start to run the same route that I would run with Sabrina. She's still on a break from the running since Nick decided that it would be a good idea to put out a freaking bear trap for her to get stuck in.

I honestly don't know what to think about Nick anymore. I don't like him, that's

for sure at least, but he acts so differently now compared with how he was when I was stuck with him. I'm actually confused over his behavior. I thought that, since he's back, he would be a lot more dominant and just plain mean but instead, it feels like he has given me more freedom. Maybe it's just my imagination or maybe it's just the fact that I don't live with him anymore that causes me to feel like that.

It's just... it feels like he has changed but at the same time, it feels like it's just an act. I can't seem to figure him out. He's probably just messing with my mind but the main thing that is driving me crazy is that I don't know where he is going with everything. Surely, he must have some other plan than stalking me in my school for the rest of the time I have to spend there. Why isn't he just kidnapping me again? What's the catch?

I shake my head while running, as I don't find any answer to the questions that are circling through my head. I thought running was supposed to help clear your mind, not doing the opposite.

Sighing, I jump over a fallen branch as I enter the forest and follow the track like uncountable times before.

Halfway through the forest, I notice a figure running towards my direction on the same track. I shrug it off, thinking that it's just another runner judging by the clothes, but as the person get's closer, I realize that it isn't just another runner.

Surely, it's a runner, but it's not just any runner.

It's Nathaniel.

Quickly, I gaze around the forest, still while I'm running, searching for another path to change to, but the track I'm currently following is the only one.

I mentally curse and pick up my pace instead, hoping that he'll just ignore me. The less I see and think of Nathaniel, the easier it will be to get over him.

I'm not that lucky.

When I'm only a few meters away from him, Nathaniel slows down while I don't. I try to run past him, but he calls my name and hurries to place himself in front of me, blocking my way.

"Celiné", he says while panting and gasping for air, "don't run off. I want to talk to you."

His word causes butterflies to erupt in my stomach, but not in a good way. It causes me to feel nervous and uneasy.

"About what?" I ask him while focusing my eyes on everything except for him.

"Well", he starts, "I would like to know what happened after you walked off with Shane at the party since you were pretty wasted, but I guess that's your business and not mine. But I would like to talk about Shane in general", he says and I feel my body freeze.

"Nothing happened at the party", I tell him, just because I don't want him to think I slept with Nick, "and what about Shane?"

"I want to know what is going on between you and him", Nathaniel says, straight to the point. "And don't tell me you like him because you don't."