Unintended Consequences

Chapter 37 - Part 1

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    Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. OH. NO.

    The second those words slipped from my mouth my whole body went into panic mode. My pulse pounded in my throat as I snapped my head up to look at Archer. He was frozen in place, his arms were still wrapped around me but they were slack. His mouth was partially popped open and his eyes were glazed and unfocused.

    The adrenaline in my body set off my fight-or-flight mode. I jumped off the bed as fast as I could and accidentally kicked Tyler in the face on my way. He groaned as he rolled over and grabbed his face.

    "Oh my gosh!" I rushed out. "Are you okay? I am so sorry!" I stood next to the bed anxiously wringing my hands as Tyler sat up and tenderly massaged under his eye. His actions awoke James as well.

    "What's going on?" James mumbled.

    Tyler chuckled lightly as he stood up and bopped me on the shoulder with a loose fist. "I think Charlotte gave me a shiner."

    "I—uhm—uh," I stumbled as I flicked my eyes between the boys. My gaze finally settled on Archer and my breath caught in my throat. His mouth was set in a firm line as he stared intently back at me. His eyes held some secret message that I couldn't decipher.

    I slowly backed out of the room as I fumbled to pull my phone out of my pocket. "I'm really sorry guys but Mads needs me I need to go."

    "Sweetheart—" Archer started to stand but I held my hand up to cut him off.

    "No. I'm uh really sorry I need to go," I repeated and ran out of the house. I didn't begin to breathe until I was back on the street and sure that Archer wasn't following me.

    Needing to leave my anxiety back at the football house, I pushed myself into a fast jog. The wind whipped my face as my feet picked up speed. The fuzziness in my brain slowly cleared as I took deep breathes in my nose and out my mouth.

    I cannot believe that I told Archer I loved him. I had planned on waiting for when—or if—he ever said it first. Now he would think I was moving way too fast. I mean we'd only officially been dating a little over a month. People didn't fall in love that fast right?

    By the time I got back to my dorm and locked myself away in my room I had several missed calls from Archer and a few texts.

    A: Sweetheart please come back.

    A: I'm sorry I was surprised.

    A: I really want to talk about this.

    I sighed as I read his messages. I felt guilty that I had run but I was too over-sensitized now to deal with anything. It was time to hide under my blanket and pretend none of this was real.

    C: Can we please just forget that happened? I need a bit.

    A: Okay... Talk to you soon?

    I left Archer on read and opened my laptop to put on a movie. I needed to distract myself from the skin-crawling embarrassment I felt every time I relived our conversation.

    I managed to successfully evade Archer for a little over a week. I kept waiting for the moment I could face him without being uncomfortable but it never came. I blamed homework, Madeline, and a lack of sleep, but we both knew why I didn't want to see him.

    It was Saturday morning and I had just sent off a paper to my professor. My plan was to do laundry for the rest of the day and then Emmett had asked me hangout tonight. I was going to run everything that happened past him to get a guy's perspective.