?WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL?
?EPISODE 68 ?
“Are you okay?” Chaise asked me in a gentle tone.
I simply nodded. I couldn’t speak, afraid that if I did, I
would cry or scream my heart out.
This was so frustrating! I wanted to run after Hunter to
assure him that it was still him. It would always be him. But I didn’t know how or where to start fixing this mess.
Chaise looked down at me and studied my face.
“Why are you crying? Did Vaughn make you cry?” he
asked. He sounded alarmed, like he was ready to punchHunter’s teeth down his throat if I said yes.
I managed a fake giggle. “No, silly. I was just glad thatyou guys finally came back for us.”
That was a stupid lie. But I couldn’t tell Chaise the truth.
Not yet. He would be hurt and I owed him so much. I owed
him my life.
But on the other hand… Hunter was heart-broken
because he thought I didn’t wait for him. Before he left, he never really knew how I felt for him.
Chaise looked at me with a serious expression on his
face. I felt uneasy because I suspected that he was trying to
read me.
Suddenly, I felt a tug on my necklace. When I looked down, I saw that he was holding my pendant in his hand, feeling the inscriptions with his fingers. I immediately
snatched it away from him. He was staring at me with
shielded eyes and I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
I stepped away from him and turned to Denise. “Are we all set to go?”
She smiled at me and nodded. “Get your bag. We’re leaving.”
directions, I thought we actually spent more time making
out.
But I would never admit that to Denise. Not yet. I had to
plan this through. And I thought Chaise deserved to know
about Hunter and me first.
“Why… why were you in the same room when we found
you?” Denise asked.
I turned away from her to hide my blush. I’m about to lie
to her, but I didn’t want my expression to give that away.
“There was only one room in the house, Denise,” I faked
a laugh.
“Well, yeah. But the living room was big enough. Surelyyou didn’t sleep on the same bed.”
No. I don’t think Hunter slept at all.
“No. I slept on the bed. He came in to wake me up,” I
lied. “Then you guys came.”
“Okay, good. Because I will not forgive him if he insultedyou or took advantage of you.”
“I don’t think he’s capable of taking advantage ofanyone.”
Denise nodded. “Yes, but he’s very much capable of killing anyone with his sharp tongue alone,” she said. Thenshe groaned. “This trip was a total disaster!”
“What happened when we weren’t here? And why didyou leave me there?”
“Well, Mica was sick. I think she’s mental to be honest.
Apparently, it was the first time somebody shouted at her
and told her off, she couldn’t take it. When she came back,
she couldn’t stop crying that she found it difficult tobreathe.
They had to give her a brown bag to breathe intoso she could calm down.” Denise rolled her eyes. “Ipanicked when they told me she was on the verge of havinga nervous breakdown so I rushed back without telling you. I didn’t know it was going to have a storm so soon that wecouldn’t go back for you. The signals were out so wecouldn’t call you.
“Chaise wanted to go back for you even when it was
raining. We all had to convince him that it was a terrible
idea. I told him that Hunter would take care of you,” Denise
said, then she looked at me wearily. “I think that worried
Chaise even more.”
I knew what she meant by that, but I kept quiet.
“I think that Chaise was jealous of Hunter. He didn’t like it that Hunter jumped into the water first when Mica pushed you. It only meant one thing. Hunter had been watching you when that happened. And Chaise thought it was his job to save you.”
I shook my head. “It was never his job. He’s not my
boyfriend.”
“Alice… if you really have no intentions of returning
Chaise’s feelings… you should just tell him.”
“I did. Plenty of times. But he’s also my friend, Denise. I
wish he would just give up. I owe him for saving my life… for
looking out for me even when I thought I didn’t need him to.
I just don’t know what to do. I want him to stay away from
me. But how could I tell him that without hurting him?”
Chaise was a good guy. He was my guardian angel.
Unfortunately, my friendship with him cost me… the most
important boy in my life.
“You’ll figure it out one of these days.” Denise smiled at
me encouragingly.
“I hope you’re right,” I said.
We heard somebody tap on the door. Chaise peeked in.
“Breakfast is ready.”
Denise and I looked at each other.
How long had Chaise been standing by the door?
Denise gave me a slight shrug, as if she read my mind.
“We’ll be there in a sec,” Denise replied.
Chaise nodded and then he left quietly.
“Do you think he heard us?” I asked Denise.
“I don’t know. But if he did, then maybe your problem is
solved. You wanted to find a way to tell him to bugger off.
There you go!”
“Denise!”
She laughed. “Sorry, hun. Force of habit. You know there
will be no love lost between Chaise and me.”
All of us, with the exception of Hunter, had breakfast in
the dining room. Mica was all sobered up and I hoped
Denise would tell her parents about the incident.
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