Trust: The Hero Chronicles (Volume 2)

The next day brought relief from the storm. Both the snow and the wind had stopped early the next morning right around daybreak. The sun was even trying to come out from behind the thick morning clouds. To my surprise, the road had been somewhat cleared already. There was still a good four inches of snow on the streets, but the driving conditions were much better than yesterday. School had already been canceled for Monday, giving us enough time to get both of our houses back in order. We boarded up the large window at Riley and Genevieve’s and got rid of the large tree in their house.

  As bad as the snowstorm had been, we still had school on Tuesday. It was surreal driving to school between the large piles of snow on both sides of the road. Normally, I would be talking with Elle about all of this, but my passenger seat was empty. So much had happened in the last couple of days. I had lost the love of my life, gained a relationship with someone I couldn’t stand before, got attacked, survived a blizzard, and now I was going back to school. It made what was about to come that much more difficult to face. I knew everyone at school must have known about the breakup, because word always traveled fast in our school, but I was hoping that the blizzard would be the major topic of conversation. To my disgust, Elle and I were what people were talking about. I had so many people come up to me and say that they were sorry. Most of them were girls, some asking if I needed some company, which I thought was odd. I hadn’t seen any of our mutual friends yet, and luckily I hadn’t seen Oliver either. Eric and Livi were absent from the row of lockers when I got to school, but I knew that I would see them later.

  Before lunchtime, I was so nervous that I ate a whole pack of Tic Tacs. Was she going to be there? What would she say or do? I felt like going and sitting under the stairs like last year to hide, to get away from this. I ate some more Tic Tacs and went to lunch to face my fear. Every eye was on me, or at least it seemed that way. Our table was empty when I got there. I was glad to be the first one there because I didn’t want to experience that awkward “where do I sit” part of a breakup. I sat down and started eating. Bryce was the first to join me and he sat right next to me.

  “I’m sorry about you and Elle. I was hoping I could have saved you guys from breaking up.”

  “It’s okay, Bryce.”

  “Don’t worry, you two are meant for each other. It will only be a matter of time before she realizes that she made a mistake.”

  I smiled.

  Both Elle and Erin arrived at the table at the same time. Erin looked at Elle and sat down quickly next to me. Bryce gave Erin a dirty look. I couldn’t tell if Bryce’s look was because he was mad about their breakup or if he was upset because she was sitting next to me. Elle sat down next to Bryce. Luckily, before anyone had a chance to speak, Eric and Livi, followed by Amber and Chad, sat down. No one spoke. They had to feel as uncomfortable as I did.

  “So, what about that blizzard?” Eric asked, breaking the silence.

  That was what we needed. Everyone chimed in. I didn’t talk at all. I just ate. I glanced up one time toward Elle to see if she was looking at me. She was staring right at me, but immediately looked down to avoid eye contact. Erin kept trying to start a conversation with me, asking me what I was doing this weekend. I just shrugged my shoulders hoping she would shut up. The last thing I wanted was for Elle to think I would give Erin the time of day. She was still everything to me.

  Bryce and Elle were talking. I couldn’t tell what it was about, but she was laughing at whatever he was saying. Again, jealousy in me rose toward Bryce. I wanted to knock the sandwich out of his hand and push him off his seat. Was this how I would be without Elle? Looking at them would probably be a bad idea because I didn’t want to show myself as being jealous over an innocent conversation.

  This was torture, sitting there and listening to them. My anger toward him was growing every second. I shouldn’t be feeling this way. He was probably the 4th and I needed to maintain some sort of friendship. But every time she laughed or sounded happy, it sent anger pulsing through me. I wanted her to be as miserable as I was. Bryce is my friend, I reminded myself. It wasn’t working. Remember, Nicholas, Bryce is the one we are looking for, Riley’s voice echoed. That didn’t help me either.

  Actually, the thought of him being the 4th raised more questions rather than helping me calm down. Was he really the 4th? I knew my jealousies were raising these doubts, but I continued down that path of questioning in my head. I couldn’t help it. What if he wasn’t the one? What if Elle was really the one? Or maybe I made a mistake and it was Eric’s brother Seth? Then a twisted image came to me. What if it was Oliver? My jealousy was driving me to insanity. There was no way that Oliver was the 4th, but the questions were valid to me right then. How could we be sure who was the one we were searching for? There was only one way to know and I knew what it was.