Fourteen:

A flat tire.

That was my one and only impediment of getting in time to Hills Park. Because of it I would end up making Michael wait for me for too long.

I was a little bit reluctant to go to Hills Park, though. It was usually deserted, with a large amount of trees that made the park look like a miniature forest in the middle of a town. I liked that, but the winter gave the whole picture an eerie perspective, especially with the naked branches of the trees.

It made me wonder why would Michael want us to go there.

I also wondered what he would want to tell me in the first place. I really, really hoped he hadn't checked the latest comments on the blog. I didn't have any good explanations for those.

A curse slipped under my breath. I forced the car to a stop on the pavement not even twenty feet away from my house, and quickly got out.

I checked the tires one by one, circling the car. Sure enough, my eyes landed on a small hole into the back tire, which turned out to be the source of my problem.

My spirits dropped. I'd never changed a flat tire before. I wasn't even sure I had a spare one in the trunk, even though mom had always told me to carry one with me in case something like this happened. She knew her reasons, I realized now.

Shit.

The trunk was as empty as it could be. The only thing present was the random ball of dust, resembling a prop from those old Western movies.

Letting out a sigh, I rushed back to my house and searched for a spare wheel. The attic was filled with all kind of things, dumped there as the time passed. I'd seen dad occasionally dumping his old tires in the attic. Surely they would still be here.

I found myself grabbing something from the pile, my hands pulling onto it as I managed to get it out from underneath all the other objects.

Eureka!

A wheel. It looked a little bit old and it definitely could've used some cleaning, but it would have to do. As long as it didn't break, it was all I needed.

Now that I'd found my rescue, I travelled the whole house and went to the garage, taking all the other car tools I needed in order to change the tires.

I'd seen dad do that a couple of times. Hopefully I managed to inherit some skills from him.

I picked everything up and placed them into my arms, somehow managing not to drop anything in my way toward the car.

I dropped everything next to the car and sat on my knees, my ripped jeans letting my skin touch the ground.

I carefully jacked the car up and changed the wheels, probably with some godly help that made it all happen in less than ten minutes.

When dad would come home from work and he'd see my car, his jaw would probably hit the floor when realizing that I had managed to change the wheels by myself.

Not gonna lie. I was feeling quite proud.

I got up and rubbed my hands together, removing the faded stains of grease and dust off of my palms. I fished my phone from my jeans pocket and checked the time.

Damn. I was late. Very late.

I quickly returned all the car fixing things back into the garage and hopped back inside the now properly working vehicle.

Hopefully Michael decided that whatever he wanted to talk to me was worth the wait.

_______

I parked the car in a corner down the street and hurried in the park's direction.

My breath hitched with my every step. I moved my legs and arms as fast as I could across the almost empty street, the remains of the sunlight poking in my eyes as the sun descended onto the sky.

I could feel the sweat sticking on my face and palms. I checked the time.

Shit. I was twenty minutes late.

Come on, Bree, come on. Go faster.

I reached the entrance to the park, a narrowed pathway curving between the tall trees. I stopped in my tracks and yanked my head in all directions, searching for Michael.

There were a few empty wooden benches, but they all were seemingly empty.

Wait, there he was.

I hurried toward him, but as I came closer and closer to his whereabouts, I noticed someone else standing beside him.

He wasn't alone.

"Thanks again for trying to help me," I heard Michael saying.

I reached a tree a few feet away from them and hid before its looming shape.

I didn't want them to see me. Yeah, I was acting like a stalker, I knew that. But you can't really blame, can you?

"Well, it's not fair what that bitch did to you," the girl Michael was with said.

The sound of her voice made a chill travel my spine. She sounded awfully familiar.

I peeked from behind the tree and glanced at this mysterious girl.

Suddenly the air was sucked right out of my lungs, leaving me completely breathless.

A whole drew itself into my stomach. I felt sick.

"I know someone who can take her blog down," Marie Elizabeth offered. "If I see one more post about you, Michael, I swear I will -"

"Woah, calm down there," he looked amused. "Look, it's fine now. I mean, I was really, really mad at first, but I'm okay now. Of course, if I find out who the blogger is, I'll make sure to give her - or him, we still don't know for sure - something they won't forget. You know, make them realize they messed with the wrong guy."

"You're such a dork," Marie Elizabeth chuckled, her lips tugging into a smile as she looked at him. "A really sweet dork."

She leaned in toward him, and my eyes grew wide as I watched her plant a small kiss onto his lips.

To say I had a dejà vu feeling of the freshman year was something.

But to say that I felt my whole body ache at the sight of the two of them kissing was another.

I didn't even care that Michael's expression showed shock. I didn't care that he froze in his spot as she glued her mouth to his, and I certainly didn't care that he didn't seem to be kissing her back.

I don't even know how I got away from there. My feet just seemed to have a will of their own as they carried me as away as possible from the park.

I climbed into my car and drove back home, regreting that I'd come here.

I could feel my heart racing against my chest, but it hurt. It hurt, and what was even more painful was the fact that I had no idea why I was feeling this way.

Every single possible emotion flashed through my system like viruses, making my brain shortcircuit with every minute that passed.

The streets spread in lifeless motion before my eyes, but I couldn't pay attention to them. My mind was a mess. I didn't even feel like myself anymore.

I was utterly confused. And it still hurt.

I took the next corner, turning the steering wheel to the left as I began to spot glimpses of my house somewhere down the street.

But before I could even realize what was going on, noise exploded within my ears. 

BANG.

My eyes fluttered shut as the car came to an abrupt halt.

Pain surged through my bones. I felt my body being squeezed as it hit something hard. My breath was lost.

I could feel a strong wave of pain burst through my head. My hands involuntarily left the steering wheel. But it didn't matter. The car could no longer move, and neither could I.

The last thing I saw was the toxic image of Michael and Marie Elizabeth kissing in the park.

And then everything went black.

______

Please don't kill me for ending the chapter like this, I'm just a simple writer, I didn't do anything wrong *smiles awkwardly*

I won't spill anything out tho, you'll just have to stick on with me and find out what happens :)

Thank you for supporting me through this rollercoaster book!

See ya to the next update XD

Cheers✌