Page 5 of Blade

Ten years ago

“Micah!” I looked up from the book I was reading to see Becca headed my way. My best friend. She was the only person I trusted. The one person I knew who had my back. It was her I wanted to tell everything to, but couldn’t. She sat beside me against the tree in front of the high school.

“Hey, Becca, you heading to The Diner?”

“No, Grams needs me home to do chores. What about you? You meeting Tina there?” I could hear the sneer in her voice. She wasn’t a fan of Tina. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of Tina either, but since Becca was off-limits, Tina made an ok runner-up.

If I thought for a second that getting together with Becca wouldn’t ruin our friendship, I wouldn’t hesitate. Losing her was a chance I wasn’t willing to take. The direction my lifewas headed would ensure I would lose her. There was nothing I could do to stop it.

“Nah, Tina was just a distraction.”

“God, boys are such dogs. A distraction? From what?”

From you, I thought, a distraction from you.

“I will never understand how you can do things with her and not feel anything. That isn’t fair to her.”

“You don’t even like her.”

Becca looked at me with her mouth open like she was trying to catch flies.

“That is not the point, you jerk.”

Laughing, she gave me a shove with her shoulder, and I shoved her back.

“Hey, I’m a teenage boy. We only think about one thing,” I said with a wink.

Becca shook her head and stood up.

“I have to get home. Can you come by the house later? We can watch a movie.”

“Sure.” I looked up at her and lied, not because I wanted to, but because I had to.

I jumped to my feet.

“Hey, Becca.”

Grabbing her wrist, she turned back, and I pressed my lips to hers. It was only a brief kiss. I couldn’t chance more than that. Nonetheless, it was a kiss I would always remember. When I pulled back, she smiled.

“What was that for?”

“I told you, I’m a teenage boy. We only think about one thing.” I winked, and she laughed and walked away.

I stared after her, committing everything to memory, because after tonight, I would never see her again.

After tonight, I would be dead.

I wish I’d had the chance to tell her what was going on. I wished I could have stayed, but it was just too dangerous. Not just for my parents and me, but for everyone connected to us.

We had to die to protect the ones we loved.

Grams told me she didn’t take my death well. It didn’t make me happy per se, but it sure made me an asshole that I liked it.

It told me I meant enough to her that my death devastated her. It also made me an asshole that I didn’t tell her when my father, who brought this whole thing on us, died and I was free to live my life again.

Death was easier to accept than betrayal.

Betrayal was what it was. My biggest secret and I never told her. She thought I told her everything. She told me everything, and that made me love her.

---