Clues

Two more days passed without me seeing Chris which is super frustrating. Each day that goes by just sets me back, I don't know how much time I have... since Miguel had to leave me so abruptly it's probably not long. I kept replaying the look on his face before he left over and over in my head, there was desperation a splash of lust but mostly sadness.

"Lemon?" I felt goosebumps upon hearing my name, he's not who I came to see...

"Hey, Jack." I greeted,

"You came here yesterday too... did you need to talk to me about something?" I shook my head no and he laughed. "There's no need to be shy, Lemon... We were together for a long time. You can talk to me about anything." To be honest, there were many questions I wanted to ask, but the most pressing question was,

"How did you know Miguel Rivera?" He paused,

"We... grew up together... Well, we met in elementary school. I guess you're still seeing him...." I didn't want to talk to Jack especially right now but this might be a good thing.

"Did he... come by your dorm often?" I inquired, he had been tense but after this question, he relaxed and laughed,

"What? Lemon I can't believe you're asking me that." Was my question really that odd... I only ask because it was obvious the picture was taken in Jack's bedroom. "He was my roommate." I gasped,

"What?! Really?" I felt like I never saw him until he was dead in front of me,

"He disappeared for 3 years after we fou... well anyway he came to get his stuff yesterday. He's lucky I didn't throw it out." He was living with Jack, so we ran into each other multiple times... but I never once looked at him... "Why are you asking me these questions, are you really together? I never see you with him." I turned to leave, "Don't you owe me that much?! After everything. You went behind my back and flirted with my roommate, my childhood friend!" Was I really so blindly in love with someone like this? So blind that no one else mattered to me. I woke up 3 hours early every day to make him breakfast, cleaned his room, and spent all my savings on new instruments for him, just for everything to come crashing down and for him to feel like I still owed him more,

"I don't owe you anything." I corrected, it was all I could say without letting emotion get the better of me so I left. I rushed outside the dorms and came across the second to last person I wanted to see... Amber...

"Hey... what's wrong? You look upset." I don't understand her... why does she care? She grabbed my shoulders and squeezed slightly, "Was it that bastard?!" I felt like there were so many things I was wrong about... so I asked,

"That night with Jack... what really happened?!" She looked into my eyes and held eye contact until I looked away, then she said,

"I'll tell you but not here... let's go get some coffee." She ordered coffee for both of us and I waited near the back of the cafe at a shaded table. When she returned, she handed me my cup and I took a sip. I'm surprised to see she remembered just how I like my coffee... "Okay... um, where should I start..." She tapped her perfectly manicured nails on the wooden tabletop then took a deep breath and said, "I don't know the exact date but Jack approached me while you were in class, his friends were with him, and he talked super quiet so I don't think they heard anything but basically he asked for my number, said he needed help getting a surprise gift for you. At the time it did sound a little weird to me but I agreed and we went shopping that weekend, your dad was in town I think so you weren't available." I remember this... because my dad doesn't visit often, it was a nice weekend. "So I told him you wanted new shoes because you are super obsessed with shoes, So we met at Angelique's. There was a bit of banter back and forth in our texts. Took us like an hour to choose the right pair. On the way home he told me he had a good time, I said I did too and then we started chatting about some things that happened. The mood got really lighthearted, and when he parked outside my house, he kissed me. You're probably wondering why I'm starting here but I promise I have a point!" I laughed and drank some more of my coffee,

"I know... carry on, please." This felt nostalgic, us talking about whatever is going on in our life, over coffee... I'm glad that hearing about Jack kissing her didn't bother me anymore. I remember receiving those shoes and feeling happy that he knew me so well... I still wish the topic was different... I wish we were still friends,

"So... of course I'm disgusted but I play it cool, don't react, because I definitely didn't want to set him off." I'm not sure how I feel about this part, in my memories, it seemed like Amber was completely willing, "He apologized the next day in texts, I wanted to tell you right away but you were with your dad and when you got back, ya'll looked so happy together that it was hard. Anyway like 3 days later he texted me again and said that he thought he had feelings for me and needed to see me and talk. I was just going to tell him off over text but instead, I came to his room to do it in person. Outside the door, I heard him and his roommate yelling at each other. The roommate left and Jack was in a bad mood but he relaxed when he saw me, I asked what the fight was about but he claimed it was nothing. But I think I heard your name... I could be wrong. Anyway, since we were alone he stopped hiding his intentions and started laying on the compliments so when he got close to me... I uh... played nice so I could steal his phone."

"You did what?" I asked, gasping,

"It was easy, he didn't even notice me taking it out of his pocket after that I lied and said I had to use the bathroom and I sent you a text... One that I was sure would get you riled up, from his phone, I broke up with you pretending to be him. Then I deleted the text so he wouldn't see," She's the one who sent that text?... "I bided my time in the bathroom as long as possible and when I came out he was all over me. I guess he figured I was consenting since I hadn't said anything about you yet. I was afraid things would go too far so I got on top of him, I was thinking about excuses to leave and that's when you came in. I didn't know what to say, I wanted you to come back later so we wouldn't look so incriminating and I could talk to you but you were already hurt, and you ran out. I couldn't reach you by phone and you refused to talk to me. I wanted to explain but when you wouldn't let me, I got really irritated with you, I guess... I was wrong. It just hurt every time you ignored me." All of the blank spots in my memory were starting to come together,

"No... I should have trusted you, at least a little bit more... Plus... before I got to the room someone told me, that Jack had invited a girl into his room." I admitted I had refused to think of it but that day just minutes before I got the text someone told me that Jack was cheating on me I refused to believe him... because there was no way Jack would ever do that, I thought we were in love. The memory of that person is hazy but... I was definitely warned.

"I know you'll probably say no, but I want us to be friends again, one day..." Amber sounded nervous, from her retelling it seems like she wasn't the worst person in my past, like I thought she was but...

"I need some time," I answered, She sighed and drank her coffee,

"I can wait." She replied with a smile,

"So... what happened with Kim and Star... I haven't seen them around lately." I inquired. Amber rolled her eyes and sighed,

"At first I stayed their friend because I was afraid to be alone... but they never listened to me and insisted on badmouthing you every chance they got. Plus, I knew they weren't loyal to me either. I got fed up dealing with those b**ches and figured I rather be alone." This made me giggle a bit and reply,

"I see so that's what happened... I guess...  I changed my mind... I'm ready to try to be friends again." Amber jumped up from her seat with tears in her eyes,

"Are you sure? If you need more proof I still have the text messages!" I shook my head,

"I know you well enough to tell when you're lying... I don't need to see them." Amber sighed with relief and sat back down, she asked me about how my life has been lately so... I brought up Miguel, doing my best to leave out the spooky and supernatural sounding parts.