Se connecterMICHELA;Morning came whether I wanted it to or not. I turned under the covers, and my body felt like I was wearing a bag of bones. But when I turned and opened my eyes, my old bedroom came into view, an ugly reminder of the night before. Even my lower back complained, like I had spent the night carrying something heavier than sleep.“Ugh.” I let my forehead fall back into the pillow I had grabbed with my hands.My eyes caught on the white top I still had on, I had barely managed to get out of the jacket and boots before collapsing into bed. The tank top and leather skirt from the Gala were still on me, wrinkled now and twisted from restless sleep but that wasn't what mattered. Then came the knock on the door. I did not answer or say any words, I only turned my eyes toward the door, brushing disheveled hair out of my face with one hand.“Hi, Princess,” Miles said through the wood. “Can we start on a better note today?” He knocked again, softer this time.My heart thumped at the so
MICHELA; Miles had the truck waiting just where he said he would. I walked up to the truck, he got down even before I got to the door and held it open for me. I slid in and fastened the seatbelt. He walked around and got into the driver’s seat, rumbling the engine to life. He looked over at me with that warm, proud expression still sitting on his face, like he was replaying the whole speech in his head. “You were exceptional up there,” he said. I managed a small smile, my hand still on the seatbelt. “Thank you.” That was all I gave him. He pulled out of the lot, one hand steady on the wheel, and for a few minutes neither of us said much. Under normal circumstances, I might have filled the quiet with everything still buzzing through me, the stage lights, Courtney standing first, Jemy’s arms around me, the way my name had sounded in other people’s mouths or at least singing along to the song playing softly from the car’s speaker. Instead, Celeste’s message kept rising to t
MICHELA;The moment Jemy and I stepped out through the side exit, I pulled my phone out from the back pocket of my skirt. There was a message from Miles. I quickly read it and he was telling me he would be waiting for me in the truck. My throat moved once, the message from Celeste still fresh on my mind, but what bothered me more was that Miles had gone out to meet her with one of his “Be right back” excuses. But before I even had a chance to brood over it, two girls walked up to me—Courtney Adams and another girl who introduced herself as Naya West. We exchanged pleasantries and I could tell they were impressed.Courtney pulled out her phone, ready for a picture. Truth was, I was in no mood for pictures with Celeste’s manipulations, and Miles yielding to her efforts on my mind and then the urgent need to use the bathroom, but Jemy drew me in before I got a chance to decide. In seconds, we were showing our teeth and making faces for the camera. After that, Courtney gave me a side
AUTHOR;Nathan made it to the car before her name stopped ringing in his head.Her name still echoed with every footstep he took back to the lot.The cheering and the sounds of clapping were still coming out of the arena behind him, mixed up with overly excited voices. He yanked the driver’s door open, dropped into the seat, and slammed it shut hard enough to shake the frame. The noise from the Gala dulled the moment he sat into the driver's seat and jammed the door, but it didn’t disappear. It was like a bad song he didn't want to listen to, he rested his head against the steering wheel.Jessika got to the passenger side a few seconds later and pulled the handle.Locked.She knocked on the window, already annoyed. “Nathan, open the door.”He lifted his head, darted her a glance, and moved his face away to the dashboard, his jaw hurting from clenching too hard. Behind his eyes, he could still see Michela on that stage… shiny boots, skirt that hugged her curves perfectly, jacket shi
MICHELA:Backstage, my hands would not stay still.I wiped them against the leather skirt Miles had chosen for me and tried to breathe the way he taught me in the empty bookstore— In and out. The shiny black leather boots reached my calves and brushed my skin each time I shifted my body. The white tank top sat neat over my stomach and stopped clean at the waistband of the skirt. Over it, the black shimmering jacket caught every backstage light whenever I moved. Miles had checked all of it before we left… the fit, the zipper, the way the jacket sat on my shoulders, like getting the outfit right might steady everything else too.Well, I guess it all starts by feeling good about yourself. My eyes never left his face while he helped me get ready, but he noticed I said fewer words today.When he asked why, I said nothing was wrong, he didn't push because he believed I was nervous because of the event. But the text message I saw on his phone, and the way he had hurriedly left the house e
MICHELA;I walked out of the bathroom with a towel barely holding around my body. It was too small for me and I knew it, but it had come in handy. The cloth stretched across my chest and dipped high on my thighs, leaving most of my buttcheeks uncovered. Miles was leaning against the headboard with a glass of red wine in his hand, like he had been keeping himself busy while he waited. The moment he saw me, the glass stopped halfway to his mouth. My fingers lingered at the fold of the towel intentionally, I already knew what I was going to do with it. His eyes moved over me slowly, like he was seeing me for the first time all over again. When they finally lifted to my face, the need in them made my stomach tighten.I loosened the towel and let it fall. It dropped around my feet in a soft heap, I didn’t cover myself. I stood there and let him look. Miles still didn’t move at first, he adjusted further against the headboard like he was in a fucking cinema.He raised the glass, took a s







