Mine and Edward's relationship had become a back-and-forth pendulum, not staying put to one side -- all because what he pretended to be was different from what he was -- and how I pretended to be around him was different from what I thought.

After uttering my farewells to Edward, and trying my best to not meet his intriguing gaze, which he didn't seem to reciprocate, so I just awkwardly left, the loose chain dangling lazily as I moved away.

I walked away, looking past my shoulder every now and then to make sure neither Edward nor his deary lover, were close by. Whatever scene was about to be created in those girls' group, it all seemed quite well elaborated and planned by him, to play the hero right after victimising me.

I was relieved to be out of it sooner rather than later while Edward somehow escorted me away from the scene, but I wasn't going to be okay all of a sudden, with whatever he seemed to be plotting against me. I knew his intentions better than that.

Finally reaching the far end of the library, I took a seat placing my bag on the table. The absence of him made me a little brave and I pulled out my phone, stalking his contact -- right after I had made sure I was out of his eye's reach -- and blocked his contacts again from everywhere. Rejecting and declining in person was not so easy for me, so I preferred to wait before I could gather my thoughts and take action accordingly.

For the first time in my life, I wanted to be alone, as I unseeingly looked around the semi-crowded room. I didn't have the stressful urge of needing friends or people to console and reassure me if I had myself by my side. People were burdensome, demanding and hard to manage. Now that I thought about it, I knew I was just better off alone, and Hayden's advice stuck with me well. My new outlook on friend-making had shifted an entire degree from my perspective of association. I felt like the less I was in someone's story, the lesser the chances of me being their antagonist and probably the other way around as well.

Sighing, and sniffing back my now-dried traces of tears, I slumped against the chair. Sneaking out my cigarettes, I lighted one beneath the table with the new lighter I had bought a while back, and inhaled the calming scent of nicotine, numbing all of my unwanted anxious senses.

Minutes later, once I felt a little better, I fished out my phone from my pocket. I checked to find a couple of texts from Hayden, asking me how I was and if I needed something, he would help me. Sighing deeply, I chose to ignore the texts, wanting to focus on my breathing and the alignment of thoughts that were crashing down on me. Camouflaging myself with books, I pretended to get some of my work done whilst trying to concentrate on the concepts.

What seemed like a quarter of minutes later, my phone pinged, revealing an unknown number on the screen.

Where are you?

The words itself snapped my anxiety again, as fast as it had gone. With paranoid eyes, I began glancing everywhere to look for an intruder or point out anyone who seemed to be causing this, but everyone either seemed too occupied -- or perhaps, too into my lonely presence whilst disguising themselves into busied people.

I just couldn't take it anymore and so I hurriedly gathered my things and stomped out of the room. I had decided to ditch all my classes today just to stay away from Edward as much as possible, and so far this game of hide and not seek was going great. I tapped the block option for the new numbered contact as well and silenced my phone to feel at ease.

The day finally ticked to an end, and I decided to make my way out, after spending some alone time in a secluded place that Edward once used to take me. Before I could squeeze my way out of the place, my eyes caught a glimpse of Hannah and her squad of girls standing right before the gate, while Hannah spoke animatedly to one, about something oddly specific. Blending myself into the swarm of bustling students, I moved a little closer and my eyes caught a glimpse of something shiny in her hand.

I longingly gaped at the sharp thing in her hand, and then back at her, as I stood a couple feet away from her, frozen. The thing glowed as it caught the light at certain angles and I overheard Hannah say something to her friend about self-defence and how she kept the weapon with her for protection.

It was a pocket knife.

And I knew for a fact that Hannah was just making up and excusing having that thing for self-defence when it was the last thing that seemed like it was going to be used for. Perhaps she saw me and was trying to convey a message to me to stay away, or to stay away from her Edward, or else I would be her next target.

I was shocked just by the frightening thought of a girl, having to go this far to prove a point, and to keep me away from him. It wasn't that carrying a pocket knife was bad, but her venomous intentions and the sadistic twinkle in her eye seemed like she was up to no good.

I stepped a few feet back, not wanting her to catch sight of me before she pulled up that thing. I couldn't believe my very eyes, as I saw the sleek knife, she tucked in her pocket again -- probably feeling satisfied that I was finally threatened by the very gesture. Maybe I was. Maybe this time I would step out of Edward's way for good, and not bother with them anymore.

Feeling like throwing up all of a sudden and the nausea accompanying my being by a sharp ache in my stomach, all of it began clouding my sane senses. Shuddering at the nerve-wracking thoughts, I reluctantly made my way out. My body shivered as my fast-paced steps carried me away from her presence.

Her entire aura radiated the vibes of, 'stay away from Edward', in the most possessive way, and that was enough of a cue for me to finally execute my ignoring streak against Edward.

Her way of telling me that though, was quite terrifying if not worse and it only made me frantically worry about my safety. I hurried towards a safe spot, out of reach of everyone, in the far corner of a secluded wall towards the bus stop and quickly pulled out my phone. My trembling fingers scrolled through the apps before contacting and reaching out to Hayden.

After several attempts, he picked up. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Hayden... I... um... Can you come over... I mean where are you?" I stuttered in a small voice, my chest still heaving from intense breathing.

"Of course... I'm headed home. Where are you?" He asked, an undertone of concern in his voice.

"Oh, never mind. It's... Fine," I whispered, anxiously glancing everywhere around me, for any sign of danger.

"No, tell me where are you?"

"I'll be fine... I mean if you want... Or if you can, you can just come over to my place. But it's okay if you can't-"

"I'll be there in fifteen," With that, he hung up. A bus came over and I instantly got in there, squeezing myself into the seats, and curling up in a defensive posture.

As soon as I reached my place and the alleyway of the long steps, I heard the same jogging footsteps of someone behind me. Gulping down the bile in my throat, I kept walking, quickening my footsteps. The sound of the footsteps behind me increased and I instantly looked back.

But there was no one in sight.

Feeling severely disturbed, my pace slowed. I mentally prayed for all of this to be over soon, and that someone would magically appear and save me from all this chaos and tell me it was going to be okay. But nothing of that sort was possible. The saviour only reminded me of that one person, who I would always count on to help me with anything despite the situation. A saviour who would ruin me, only to find a reason to protect me from something, Edward.

But right now, all I had was me and I needed to focus on that. Looking behind, and observing the tiniest of sounds, I took a small backstep. And before I knew it, I began to run. I ran as fast as my feet could take me,  without looking back, as if I was leaving another trail of my past behind. I was panting heavily for breath but I didn't stop.

Finally, when I was in a more crowded area, and I couldn't hear the sound of running footsteps behind me, I halted to catch my breath. My body shivering, I turned around to look back. There was no sight of Hannah -- which seemed to be the only possibility of her wanting to execute her evil plan -- or whoever the stalker was, anywhere far from the area. My eyes searched around, feeling nervous as ever. I could still see the start of the alleyway from my flat building, but it seemed as deserted as if no one had ever been there.

I quickly headed towards my building and walked across the hypnotically long corridor, feeling extremely frightened of being alone all of a sudden.

"Michelle-" I heard a familiar voice speak.

"Please don't hurt me..." I instantly replied, before turning towards the source and realising it was someone else. Hayden's worried face stared back at me, apparently startled, by my sudden take.

"Whoa..." He paused, analysing my expression closely. "Did Edward hurt you?"

"What... No..." I trailed, at a loss for words. My anxiety had subsided a little but didn't vanish completely. "Can we talk inside?"

Hayden nodded back, waiting for me to unlock and enter the doors. The house was as usual, empty, and Mum hadn't been there yet.

We slowly approached my room, while Hayden closely scanned the surroundings, making sure I was alright. His presence made me feel secure and much better, and all of a sudden, I didn't want to be by myself all alone. I got inside and rushed to close all my windows, drawing all my curtains, and locking all the doors.

Just before my mind could wander off to ideas of dropping out of university or better, just running away from the place to move to another town and begin a new life, Hayden's voice interrupted. "You're still wearing his locket. Can I remove it for you, it's not safe,"

"I... Yes, please," I mumbled meekly, without looking at him. He slowly neared me, his eyes slightly inching wide, a ferocious expression sliding on his expression. His hands brushed my cropped hair that curtained my neck, exposing my bare delicate skin.

"What is that?" He scowled, looking very displeased. "Who did that?"

The instant realisation washed over me how there must've been a mark on where Edward kissed me, and I was oblivious to that. The mark was truly serving its purpose, I needed to give him that.

"Did Edward... Did he abuse you?" He asked again, his expression fiercely transforming.

"Hayden it's not what it looks like," I explained, not knowing how to prove otherwise.

"There are marks on you, you have proof. You can't let him get away with this," He quickly pondered over the possibilities.

"It's just a hickey... It kind of just happened?" I said, feeling unsatisfied with my answers.

"How did it just happen?" He glanced back at the light red bruise on my neck, seemingly wincing at their presence. "Don't tell me he's threatening you and you can't tell me that,"

"God... No... I don't know..." I palmed my forehead in exhaustion, not having it in me to explain myself anymore.

A sympathetic countenance was quickly pasted on his look, as he glanced back and forth between me and the mark. He neared me again without an utterance of a word, and with one instant tug, manoeuvred the chain, gliding it away from my neck. His hands held the chain, a little tighter as he flicked the pendant, and stared at the photograph in it with curious eyes.

He didn't say anything about it though, shutting the thing and tossing it in one of my nightstand drawers. "So, would you explain to me the reason for bringing me here?" Hayden started after seeing me lost in my haze of thoughts.

I couldn't bring myself to tell myself, let alone him, that someone wanted to kill me. The thought itself was bothering me alone and it didn't sit well with me.

"Well... I was feeling... paranoid..." I replied, my otherwise state of expression showing no hint of emotion.

"Paranoid?"

"Yeah... Because I felt like someone wanted to kill me and... I was scared..." I said as if it was no big deal, as I perched down on my bed carefully.

I saw him raise his eyebrows at me in sudden disturbance, his face having an incredulous look. "Was it Edward?" He whispered back and I frustratingly shook my head.

"No... I highly doubt he's planned this but I don't know... It was Hannah I think," I answered, feeling vulnerable and tearful all of a sudden.

He blinked at me, entirely gobsmacked by the information I just told him. "What..."

I leaned into my bed, slumping my head back against the headboard, and cupped my eyes with my palms. Tears welled into my eyes again but I tried hard to blink them back.

"I'm not even going to pretend I'm surprised anymore," Hayden stated nonchalantly, leaning back in the chair. "By the way it seems planned of course. Edward would be behind this to get rid of you,"

"But why?" I choked the question, probably more to myself, and my face crumpled into disbelief.

"What did she do?" He asked back, his voice gravely.

"She had this... Pocket knife, that she was trying to threaten me within the university... I could tell she just wanted to give me a warning to stay away from Edward,"

He silently listened, a deep frown marred on his face as if in thought. He looked at me, his features transforming into a sympathetic look on his face, before speaking. "We need to do something about this... I know she's a crazy person from what I can recall. This isn't the first time she might be pulling this off,"

"That's just more than crazy Hayden. I don't think I can do anything about her," The fearfulness was evident in my manner and he just sighed in response.

"I'm with you Michelle. And I'm willing to help. We can't let her get away with this," He breathed, staring into the distance. "She tried the same with me once, when I asked her to kiss her. She thought I was going to force myself, but it really wasn't that,"

"Did she hurt you?" The petrification in the pit of my stomach rose.

"She had this dagger in her hand, and almost tried to stab me but I grabbed her hand and yanked it away. Honestly, I was shocked at the gesture alone," He explained, and I simply listened, a mortified expression evident on my face. "We can't complain about her because you don't have any proof yet," He started, his eyes narrowed in deep thought, and slightly eyeing my bruise again. "But I'll help you figure something out. Don't worry."

"No one even believes that she's not Edward's sister," I said, in utter frustration, my voice coming off crumpled. He stood up from the chair, nearing me and sat beside me on the bed. He looked at me as if asking for consent and I let him, nodding to him. He placed his hand on my hand, trying to console me.

"I am with you. She can't hurt you. We'll figure a way out, okay?" His dark black eyes met mine, which were filled with reassurance, what I once used to find in Edward's eyes.

Suddenly my phone pinged and we both snapped out of our staring reverie. Both of our eyes snapped to my phone tossed over the nightstand, and Hayden gave me an encouraging nod before I picked it up.

I checked the notification and my heart instantly sank. Not again.

It was Edward again.

An email from Edward's email.

I shifted my gaze back to Hayden, who was staring at me with curiosity, and I retracted my eyes instantly. Gulping nervously, I tapped the email open and the small text revealed.

Michelle, please talk to me. Or else I'll come over to your place and you'll have to talk either way.

Edward xx

Slightly trembling at the words and the phone still in my hand, I bit my lip, not knowing how to react.

"Who is it?"

I looked back at him, before exhaling a stifled breath. "It's Edward. He sent me an email saying he wants to talk to me," I answered weakly, slightly grimacing at the thought.

Hayden's expression darkened from confusion to rage. "Of course... He was eavesdropping on us again,"

"W-what? Eavesdropping?"

"He knows I'm at your house," He explained looking frustrated, as I searched for assurance in his eyes. "And I'm sure he was listening to us from your phone that he has hacked."