Addicted To You

5| Secret

Chapter 5: Secret (Emma's POV)

"Mr. Cole, I need to go check on him, please," Brandon groaned. 

"No," Mr. Cole repeated, "But if you're really that concerned, Emma can go check on him." 

"Me?" I looked at him wide-eyed.

"You were his partner after all," he nodded. 

"Not for life," I mumbled, "But Mr. Cole, I barely know him," I said. 

"Then remain seated, if you're concerned about him, just go and check on him," he shrugged. 

I sighed, looking at Brandon. 'Go' he mouthed. 

"Where?" I whispered while standing up. 

"Back of the building," he mumbled. 

I stood up, taking my stuff with me and walking out of class. "Damn you, Nathan," I said under my breath before running. And I mean, running. From the way Brandon was concerned about him, I was almost sure he had a panic attack. He left in a frenzy anyway. I got to the back of the building, huffing, out of breath, gasping for air by the time I got there. 

I pushed the door open and looked left, then right, then down, seeing him sitting against the floor, smoking. "Oh, for fuck's sake, must you always run out?" I gasped, sitting beside him, leaning my head back. 

He eyed me weirdly for a moment before handing me a water bottle. I eyed the water suspiciously. "Relax, it's not alcohol or a drug," he rolled his eyes. I opened the bottle, chugging nearly half of it. "You'll choke and die," he said, taking it away from me, "I'm not gonna be held responsible for that too," he mumbled. 

I decided not to question him on what he just said. It must be about the accident. 

"Why did you run out?" I asked after catching my breath. 

"I don't know, it was weird," he said, killing the cigarette while exhaling, "You figured out too much about me." 

"So you ran? Seriously?" I deadpanned. 

"Seriously," he admitted sheepishly. We fell into silence and moments later, he pulled out another cigarette. 

"Can I try that?" I asked, reaching out for it. 

"No," he said, pulling it away from me. 

"Then don't do it in front of me, it's very tempting, it looks cool," I lied. I just wanted him not to do it, at least while I was here with him. 

He huffed, putting it back in his pocket. We fell into a long silence after that. "How do you figure out so much about a person just by looking at them?" he asked. 

I didn't look at him as I answered with a shrug. "I guess I'm just good at reading people." I'm about to push my luck. "And uh, I know about the accident." 

"Do you know who was with me in the car?" he asked calmly. I expected him to freak out but thank god he didn't. 

"No, just that they didn't make it out alive. I'm sorry that that happened to you," I said, finally looking at him. 

"It was my fault, why are you sorry?" he asked, turning to me. 

"Was it your fault?" I asked, not finding that convincing. "You were what, 16?" 

He nodded, "Driving on a learner's license." 

I nodded in understanding. "Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to offend you," I started, turning to look at him, "But people live and people die. You can't always brood in their misery. Even if it supposedly is your fault," I said.