Talons

Chapter 46: The Change

Rhea’s POV

Since I moved out, Raven has been calling me nonstop, but I don’t answer her calls. I don’t want to hear her excuses, so I send her texts instead. The only thing she ever sends back is how much she misses having me around, but I think that she and Tucker are struggling without my financial contributions, while Sylvia is just plain confused by our sister.

Once, I used our bank’s instant transfer feature to send her money, and she responded to me with a paragraph of question marks before sending it back. I know that I got it wrong, but I don’t feel like going back over the past with her. What’s done cannot be undone, and all that’s left to do is work toward forgiveness.

On a more positive note, I’m genuinely happy. Mike has been a perfectly patient and understanding future boyfriend, and he has made more of an effort to get to know me. He always tried before, but he now wants to know things only a partner would ask.

When we work out together, he is supportive and kind, not that he wasn’t before, but it's obvious he is dedicated to helping me achieve my goal no matter how long it takes. Likewise, I am helping him for a potential future I’m now excited about.

It was hard, but I have finally perfected my compost, and I can now guarantee its effectiveness. I didn’t sell the rights to my product, but I did have a more experienced corporation come in to help me market for fifteen percent equity.

The school owns thirty percent by default, and I have the controlling majority with fifty five percent equity in the company. Thanks to the Lizard, I already have property and a large line of credit attached to it, so I can sink funds where needed.

It wasn’t long before we started to see a return because all of the test fields that we had been working in immediately ordered a year's supply of our compost, which has made me a very rich girl. I no longer have to tutor the guys, but for the sake of keeping my financial status a secret, I do.

Another positive in my life is that I have lost a lot of weight but gaining was much easier than losing. This is made worse because my appetite is out of control, and Sylvia thinks that it's because my body is about to go through puberty, albeit late.

After the day’s classes, Mike came over for dinner and at his request, I always remove my glasses for him. He knows they are fake, and while he doesn’t agree with my reason for wearing them, he understands it.

Mike and I start having an interesting discussion regarding the benefits of livestock on a harvest farm, and then we get into the fact that he will be going away for the summer to practice with a professional team.

I am a little saddened, but I support his dream, and after he assures me that he will come back to school and keep his promise to me. I lean forward and kiss his cheek.

“Every time you do that you make it hard for me to wait,” he says, and I turn red as I clear our plates and head to the kitchen to wash them.

I know Mike wants to have s*x, but his reputation is important so like a gentleman, he has been waiting for me. I don’t know if I’m ready, but Sylvia thinks he is a candidate we won’t later regret.

Mike’s POV

B is a sweet girl, so it feels good to be around her, but waiting for her to turn eighteen is hard. I haven’t had s*x in a while, so feeling her soft lips on my cheek has given me a hard on that my own hands won’t be able to fix.

I start scrolling down my contacts, looking for the girl that I know won’t say no and won’t tell people, but I am distracted when a text message pops up on B’s phone.

She has the person saved under three question marks and I intuitively know that it’s the guy she refers to as her mysterious friend. I have told her several times that I don’t like her texting another man, especially one she doesn’t know, but she turned the tables back on me, asking if I would drop my female friends because she asked me to.

I couldn’t combat her words, so I let them hang, but I still hate when I see her on her phone, especially when she smiles at it. She knows that it bothers me, so she has stopped answering the texts when I am around, and she gave me the code to her phone for further assurance.

Still, I cannot control my annoyance. I pick up her device and immediately I am upset. Their message thread is full and in my opinion the guy is flirting with her even if she hasn’t realized it.

I swallow my pride and respond to the message.

[Don’t text my girl anymore. I’m tired of you contacting her, and to be honest, you're no longer someone she and I like to laugh at.] I wait for a reply, hoping that it comes before B finishes with the dishes, but I know she will be a while because I can hear her whispering with Jamie.

[Who the f*ck is this?]

[You don’t already know?] I send, wanting to be an ass. I just called B my girl, so I’m hoping he will think I am her boyfriend.

Colton’s POV

B and I have been getting along so great that I now find myself texting her daily. It was an extremely tough day for me today, and I reached out to see if she is willing to talk, but I found myself being confronted by someone claiming she is his girl.

[Who the f*ck is this?] I respond.

[You don’t already know?] I immediately think of Jack. He and I have had a series of negative chance meetings and I assume that he is using B to get to me.

I unleash all my anger into the phone as I consider the fact that B knew who I was this whole time and has been playing me. As ‘her man’ said, they were probably laughing at me while giving me bad advice meant to mess with my peace of mind and weaken me.

Mike’s POV

Once the person starts going on a rant calling B a wh*re and anything else he can think of, I send a message pretending to be her. That really sets the guy off and he goes on and on about her. I know his words are lies, but I have to admit that they are still shocking to read.

I delete the messages I sent and his replies, putting the phone down just in time for B to come back into the room. She looks at her phone, which is violently vibrating as texts come in back-to-back. I look at her face, and I see a worry on it that I don’t like, but I encourage her to check who it is.

Rhea’s POV

Jamie has spent too much time lecturing me about Mike. She tells me that he is not the person he is pretending to be, but I can’t see him putting in so much effort for someone he doesn’t actually like. I know she is trying to be helpful, and I satisfy her worry by telling her that he and I are not sleeping together.

When I finally convince her that we are moving slowly, I head back into my room only to find Mike staring at my buzzing phone. He raises an eyebrow at me, and I immediately think it's my sister or worse, my mother is texting.

He tells me to see who it is, reminding me that it could be important, so I pick it up and see a bunch of text from my mysterious friend.

[You f*cking wh*re. Did you really think that I was your friend?]

[I felt sorry for you, but now, I think I will hurt you.]

[I know your secret b*tch, and if you think you're going to get away from me, think again.] The messages get darker and more explicit as I scroll down the thread, but I can’t understand what triggered the rant.

[Are you talking to me?] I send, wanting to make sure the person hasn’t sent messages to the wrong person. I know it is highly unlikely, but I have to make sure.

[YES!]

[YOU]

[F*CKING] Mike snatches my phone from me, and I literally fall onto the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest.

I know that the next word was going to be r*tard, and I get the sick feeling that I have been texting Colton, but Sylvia tells me that he would never spend that much time on me. She reminds me that we are rogue, and that if Colton wanted to do something to me, it would be physical not mental.

Mike picks me off the floor as he tells me that he has blocked the number and deleted the thread so that I am not tempted to go back and read it. He also tells me that I should change my number to avoid having the person contact me in the future.

I nod at his suggestion, and before it gets too late, he and I are already on our way to the nearest cell carrier buying a new sim card. I knew Mike had his own car, but this is the first time I have ever been inside of it. I can’t help but to notice that it's not as nice as I thought it would be.

I don’t care, but the way Mike speaks about his past makes me think that he grew up with well-off parents, however from the looks of his car, that is not the case.

“I know she is old, but I love her,” Mike says, seeming to have read my expression.

“If you like it, I like it,” I say, and he cautiously lays a hand on top of mine. I’m at a weird phase where too much contact with Mike feels wrong, so I subtly move.

My phone has been constantly ringing but I haven’t dared to check it. I finally find peace when the clerk at the cellphone shop makes the transfer for me. I text my new number to my family, telling them not to share it, and the first person to call is my mother followed by Mandy, then Lark.