Chapter VII

"Confidence is something you create within yourself by believing in who you are."

-Vanessa McCloud

The moment everyone saw how swollen her lips had been, they didn't speak for about thirty minutes. Mitchel was the first to speak. He had asked if she wanted to play Mario Kart. She had responded with a yes, but was too distracted to win.

The kiss wasn't as exciting as they always depicted it in movies or books. There were no electric spasms moving from the place where he touched her, there was no sweet taste. If anything, he tasted like smoke. She still, however, felt herself melting whenever he kissed her. She didn't know if this was what it was like. She wanted it to be him so badly, but something told her he wasn't it.

Eventually, some of them began to leave. Fai and Charlotte were first to go, and eventually Aristide and Zoe left. All that was left were Leyna, Estal, Michal, Troy, and Mitchel.

Leyna turned to her. "So, can I sleep over?"

"Sure, you can borrow some of my clothes."

Leyna smiled at her. Troy walked forward. "What about all us back here?"

"I mean, if you really want to..."

"It's settled then!" Michal announced as he slung an arm over Leyna and Troy.

Andrea guided them up to her room, and knocked on Caleb's door, asking if the boys could borrow some of his clothes. Caleb grunted a 'yes', so Andrea went to grab four shirts and four shorts. When she came out, none of the boys grabbed the shorts except for Estal. The others said they'd sleep in their boxers. Michal turned down the shirt, so Troy did as well. Mitchel and Estal gladly accepted it.

When Andrea walked into her room, Leyna was staring out her window as she sat at the desk in front of it. Andrea looked out to see a man leaning against the tree out front. Another man was in front of him, pacing. Andrea closed the blinds, and then sat on her bed.

"So, how was kissing Jacob?" Leyna asked, still staring through the cracks of the blinds.

"I don't know..."

Leyna's head snapped to hers. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean...it didn't feel...right, you know?"

Leyna nodded. "I guess I get you."

Andrea nodded as the door opened. Mitchel was standing there. "Where will we be sleeping?"

"You can all sleep in here."

"All...five? Even the boys?" Leyna asked, nervously glancing at the boys.

"Yeah. Me and you can share my bed and the boys can sleep either on the ground or in my desk chair, which I doubt anyone will want to sleep in."

"Sounds fine to me." Estal said as he walked over to sit at the foot of Andrea's queen bed.

Leyna walked over to the left side of the bed and sat down. Troy muttered something to Michal before sitting in the space between Leyna's side and the wall. Leyna gave him a death look but he simply pretended to be wounded. Leyna rolled her eyes before laying down. Michal moved next to Estal, so Mitchel went to Andrea's side.

Andrea suddenly felt self-conscious about her baggy shirt and long sweat pants. Mitchel smiled at her, and she tried to keep her eyes off of his boxers.

That night, everyone was asleep, except for Andrea. She carefully tried to get up, but as soon as her foot touched the ground, Mitchel spoke. "Can't sleep?"

"N-no."

"Come, sit." He said as he sat up.

Andrea sat next to him. He placed his hand over hers and drew circles again with his thumb. She relaxed at his touch, and leaned her head against his shoulder. They sat in silence for a while until Mitchel spoke again.

"How was it with Jacob?"

"Not what I thought kissing someone would be like." She answered as she looked up at him.

She could hardly see him, but she could see his eyes. They were trained on her. He sighed. "Are you interested in him?"

"Y-N-Yes." She said.

"Undecided, huh?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong? You were really red earlier when we saw you in your pajamas."

"I guess I'm just self-conscious, nothing to worry about."

"My mother told me this: 'Confidence is something you create within yourself by believing in who you are'. There is no need to be worried around others. All you have to do is believe in who and what you are, don't worry what others think."

Andrea looked up at him. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your mother like?"

Mitchel didn't speak for a second. "N-no! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on anything personal! I'll just g-go ba-"

"Andrea, its fine. I was thinking of the right way to describe her." Mitchel said as he pulled her into his lap.

Andrea didn't resist. Instead, she sank into him, and felt the vibrations of his voice as it moved through his chest. She put a hand on his chest, and realized his heart was beating rapidly. She didn't know if it was caused by her or the thought of his mother.

"My mother," Mitchel began "she was an amazing woman. I guess you could say I look a lot like her. She had my blonde hair and my eyes, but her skin was paler. She was sarcastic and funny around those she knew and trusted, but around new people she hardly spoke. She was a lot like you, actually. She was kind, and she blubbered whenever she thought she hurt someone. She was indecisive, and she seemed to always have someone on her mind. She helped anyone on anyway she could. She was amazing."

"W-w-what happened to her?"

"She...died. It was unexpected. She wasn't ill, and it wasn't like her to have enemies. However, she had been walking through town one day when a-" Mitchel stopped, his voice breaking. Andrea carefully wrapped an arm around his torso.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me."

Mitchel shook his head. "I have to- I have to get it off my chest." He said as he put his face in the crook of her neck.

"She had been walking through town when a masked gunman appeared out of nowhere. He began shooting within the crowd. Twenty people were hit, five died. The gunman was captured and he turned out to be an outsider. That's why people here tend to not trust people from outside of Point Brooke. Anyways, I had only been eight."

Andrea tightened her grip around him. She felt tears slipping out of her eyes as she heard the story. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry, but from everything she had ever heard or read about, it didn't help. Instead, she cried into his chest. She buried her face in it, and sobbed. Mitchel wrapped his arms around her, cooing softly to her as he tried to calm her down. One hand supported her on the small of her back while the other rubbed her back gently. Her arms fell from around his waist and to her sides. She was a rag doll in his arms.

Eventually he pulled her head up gently to look at him. "Why are you crying? You never met the woman." He said, softly.

"Just because I never met her doesn't mean I can't cry for her. That's like saying you can't cry for a character in a movie who died. Just because you never spoke to them, doesn't mean they weren't a bad person. It hurts more once you hear about them, but it only makes it more worthwhile. I can't not cry for your mother because I know him now. Besides, she birthed you. Who wouldn't cry for a woman that gave birth to such an amazing person? Mitchel, you are the best friend I have ever had. Even though I have known you for such a short time, I can't imagine not having you in my life. All of the people here, I can't live without them. I may not be the best person in the world, but I can certainly care for my family."

"Your...family?"

"You all are no longer friends...you are my family."

Mitchel tightened his grip around Andrea. He stared at her, his eyes shining. She couldn't tell what kind of emotion was running through them, but it made them sparkle even more than usual. He pressed his forehead against hers. Her heart beat quicker, and she wondered why.

"Andrea...that means the world to me."

"Why?"

"My father remarried a woman I despise, I don't consider them family as much as I do all my friends. You, Andrea, are the newest edition to my family, and I don't intend on letting go of you. Not yet, anyways."

Andrea smiled at him. Her heart was still beating quickly as she moved her left hand to lay on his heart. His breath hitch at the sudden contact, and she could feel his heart beat racing at her contact. She gently moved it away and pulled her head away. "We should go clean up." She said.

"R-right." Mitchel said as he helped Andrea up.

As soon as they were up, Andrea pulled him into a hug. His body tensed at first, but he relaxed after a second and put his arms around her. He rested his chin on her head, and then gently lifted it up, unwrapping his arms from around her. "We- we need to go get cleaned up."

"R-right." Andrea said, as she looked anywhere but his face.

She removed her arms from around him and they walked over to the bathroom. Upon looking in the mirror, Andrea realized Mitchel's eyes were as red as hers. He had been crying as well, though it had been silent. She looked at him and walked over, touching his cheek. It was wet. He kept his eyes trained on hers, and she gently began wiping them away. She stared at his, and then pulled her hand away.

Andrea felt the need to wrap herself around him. She wanted to comfort him, but she had no idea how to. She sniffed before reaching under the sink, opening the cabinet. She pulled two wash cloths out and handed on to him. She placed it under the faucet and let the water soak into it.

She pressed to her face and wiped off the tears. When she pulled away, she realized how terrible she looked. She looked up at Mitchel, who was just pulling the wash cloth off his face. When he did, Andrea almost gasped. The way his hair was messed up made him look...sexy. She looked away quickly. When she glanced in the mirror, she saw him staring at her. His jaw was clenched, as if he was trying to hold himself back.

"Do you need aspirin? I'm starting to get a headache." She said, not looking at him.

"S-sure."

Andrea nodded as she led him downstairs. When she got to the kitchen, she grabbed the aspirin as he began filling up to cups of water. She pulled out two pills and handed one to him. He gulped it down, and Andrea followed suit. When she was done she stared at him.

His shirt was wet from her tears, and she wanted to pull it off so he wasn't uncomfortable anymore. He noticed her staring and looked at it. "Y-you don't mind if I-"

"You can." Andrea said, crossing her arms over her chest.

She could hear the fabric brushing against his skin. When she looked over, she saw saw the muscles. She felt herself licking her bottom lip while she pressed her mouth closed. She began to forget how to breathe as she stared at him. When she glanced up, his face was bright red, and he was looking anywhere but her.

"L-l-l-let's go back upstairs, alright?"

"R-r-right." Mitchel replied as they made their way upstairs.

Once Andrea was back under the covers, she couldn't sleep. She couldn't get the image of Mitchel half naked out of her head. Her heart beat faster whenever he was around lately. She shook her head. She liked Jacob, not Mitchel. There was no feelings between the two.

She didn't feel anything romantically towards Mitchel.

As she tried to convince herself, she realized that it may not be true.

****

Word Count: 2064

Hey my friends! Chapter VII, and things are starting to happen!

I'm not planning on having more than twenty four (not including prologues and epilogue[s]) chapters in the book. It'll be shorter, so there will probably be about four parts. So, five more chapters in this part!

Anyways, what do you think will happen? Andrea may or may not like Jacob as much as she thought she did. Will she have the courage to explain the predicament to him, or will she chicken out? Find out next chapter!

XD, see you later!

-Paige

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