Her Semi-Colon

Chapter 7: The Voicemail

I didn't know what was making me flush even harder, the fact that Brayden was praising my ideas or the way he kept eyeing me. I was confused on why he kept tossing me some glances that seemed flirty. However, this was Brayden Connors, he flirted with everyone. It had to be all in my head.

“I swear Miss Macey Lowe, every idea you have would make the school run much better. Study groups and free periods to destress during exam periods, it's every person's dream," he gushed as he tossed me a suggestive smirk once again and I flushed even more.

“Okay, it's not that good," I laughed sheepishly, “but thank you."

“It is though! Do you know how hard it was last year?" he remarked, and simply the memory of it seemed to stress him out. “The SATs, the trips to Northwest Community College, and the massive load of exams. I understand the preparation for college, but it seems a bit much especially since everyone at Cloves usually stays in town for their studies anyway."

I just stared at him. Was this really Brayden Connors? The most popular guy in school, the jock, the boy who thought my words for his speech would help him please his parents. “Brayden, you're really smart, you know that right?"

He blushed, which shocked me, I…I made him blush? “You're just saying that, after all, I'm just repeating your words."

“Yeah, but your passion and drive," I insisted, “those are good qualities."

“You have those two," he smiled, “but thank you."

We stared at each other awkwardly and before I could flush again, I focused on my lunch and took a bite of my Jello.

I'm glad I chose to hang out with Brayden. With him, it didn't seem like I had to prove myself to anyone. We both wanted to please others, but with each other, we're comfortable being ourselves.

I suddenly thought of my sister being another person I felt comfortable with. We never argued and we were always so close despite all of our differences. But last night, it seemed like we were drifting farther apart than ever.

“Hey, you okay?" Brayden suddenly asked me. “I noticed the same look on your face in the car before I wasn't sure it was my place to say anything."

I took a deep breath. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to tell him. After all, he probably could relate. “Let's just say the person I thought I could trust pushed me away," I said, and realizing that my voice was shaky, I suddenly stopped talking.

Breathe, Macey, Breathe. “People push people away when they are hurting," Brayden chimed in. “It's not you, it's them. At least that's what I'm learning."

I looked at him, as his words scared me. Was my sister hurting? I remembered the fear in her eyes and after what just happened, maybe he was right. And with that thought, I jolted up. “I'm sorry, I have to go."

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean–

“No Brayden, you didn't say anything wrong. In fact, you said everything right," I assured him. “Thank you."

I smiled at him quickly before dumping my trash and gathering my belongings. Just as I was about to leave, I heard footsteps behind me. Turning around, I was suddenly surprised when Brayden pulled me into a hug. As he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, I could smell his cologne.

Without thinking, I closed my eyes and hugged him back. The fear, the worry, the anxiety, it seemed to all melt away and I felt safer than I have in a while. When he pulled me away, I stood in front of him speechless.

D…did that just happen? What?!?! “Thank you, Macey," Brayden told me with a kind smile before walking away before I could say anything else.

I was still shaken. Did he just hug me… and why didn't I hate it? Whatever, it didn't matter, at least not right now. I had something I had to do.

I scanned the cafeteria looking for Stacie before spotting her sitting with Taylor.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to them as soon as they saw me, noticing there were tears in Stacie's eyes. I suddenly felt my stomach drop. This wasn't good. “Stacie?"

“Macey, you came!" She said sounding relieved, yet petrified. “Thank God! Look there's something you need to hear."

I didn't know what scared me more: her voice or the tears in her eyes. That's when I knew that nothing could brace me from what was about to happen.

Stacie looked around making sure the teachers wouldn't see us on our phones. Taylor suddenly grabbed her sister's hand. “Who cares if a teacher catches us, this is huge! Maybe we should tell someone?"

“Okay, you guys, the wait is killing me," I said nervously. “What happened?!?!"

Stacie opened up her phone, clicking a few buttons before handing it to me. Listen to this voicemail. I took her phone with my hand shaking in fear. I closed my eyes and placed her phone to my ear.

“Why! Why did you make me say that?! My sister doesn't have a lot of people who believe in her and you just made everything worse."

I gasped! I never heard my sister talk like this before. There was pure fear, and the thrill of her voice sounded broken. I bit my lips to hold back my tears. What happened to her light?

“Shut up Lacey! Can't you do this? I'm doing this for us? Your sister has a weird codependency bond with you and it's getting in the way of our relationship!"

“Ash, you have no right to talk about my sister like that! What happened to you? It's like you're a totally different person!"

Suddenly, I heard a loud thud and I felt chills running down my spine. “Are you serious right now Lacey?! Your phone!"

“O…oh my God… I didn't mean–

“I swear to God I'm going to–

Click. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I wanted to crumble. I had the nerve to leave her alone and I had the nerve to want to focus on me.

This entire time I was blinded. I thought my sister was perfect and because of that, I assumed nothing bad would happen to her.

However, despite my doubts, I allowed her to go with him. This son of a b***h. The terror in his voice and the power Ash thought he held scared me. It made me realize that he was possibly doing worse things to her than I couldn't even imagine.

“Macey! Are you okay?" Taylor asked me as she suddenly pulled me in for a hug. “I'm so sorry!"

I gently pushed her off and stood up. I wiped my face, not even realizing that it was drenched in tears. I felt a whirlwind of emotions and I just couldn't take it.

“I have to go. I'll update you guys on this later."