When I'm Gone by Katilyn S Read Free Book Online Page B

flattened myself against the far wall.
“He had to fit, like, three of these in here with him. How did he do it?” I wondered aloud. Beside me, Alex shrugged.
When the elevator reached our floor, I rode the cart to our room. Literally. Alex was the one who pushed me.
“That was so much fun,” I eclaimed as I climbed off. Alex responded with a laugh and I noticed that our front door was open. My heart raced increased, until I realized it must have been Mikey .
“Sweet home, Alabama,” sang a voice inside. I swallowed my laughter and walked inside. Facing away from us was a tall man with pitch black hair, dancing around the room. He was still singing. His voice was actually really nice; it was deep, yet soothing to my ears .
“Trying out for American Idol are we?” I laughed cynically. Mikey froze and turned to me. When he did, my breath left me and I stared at him.
There was absolutely no way he could be here. Not after what I said to him. I mean, I was cynical, rude and sarchastic . Who would come back after that?
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from those liquid hazel eyes.
“Hey Claire,” Michael Herring said easily. I continued to stare until Alex nudged me. I shook my head and coughed.
“What are you doing here?” I gazed critically at his jeans and faded tee. Michael actually had the nerve to laugh at me.
“Helping you move in,” he explained. “Welcome to 2B, neighbor?”
“Neighbor?” I repeated, staring at him increduously .
“Yep. Apratment 2A.” He patted his chest as if this proved anything. I rolled my eyes and started pulling boxes off of the cart. I set them beside the couches and when I was finished, I looked back up at him. He was still staring at me, a crooked grin softening his expression.
“Your nickname’s Mikey , huh,” I laughed and placed my hands on my hips. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alex ducking into one of the bedrooms.
“Only Joy calls me that,” he said. “She has known me for a while now. I’m like her own son.”
“Okay.” I waved his statement off as if I didn’t care .
“I see you read my note,” he commented, trying to make small talk.
“Yeah, I did,” I noted obviously. “And I wouldn’t have taken this place if I knew you were my neighbor.”
Michael raised his eyebrows and his grin flickered. I shook my head and let out another laugh.
“And honestly? I don’t like you. You’re just a jerk who leads innocent girls around and then when they finally are ready to love you, you toss them in the trash. I despise guys like you. All you care about is yourself. I’ve dealt with enough of your kind, you stupid, arrogant, self-centered jerk.”
When I finished my rant, I realized that I was standing in his face. My fists were clenched and calming down, I relaxed my stance. Fire glinted in my grey eyes and I glared into Michael’s hazel ones. He was now frowning and after taking a step back he sighed. I could hear my breath coming and going in short angry bursts.
“You don’t know me at all, Claire,” he muttered and took one last look at me before walking out of the room with the carts trailing behind him one by one.
“Ugh,” I groaned and sat down, placing my head in my hands. “I hate him.”
I don’t know how long I sat there, but after a while, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and forced a smile at him.
“You gonna be okay?” Alex asked, taking a seat next to me.
“I guess,” I replied and leaned my head against his shoulder. He placed his arm around my shoulders and comforted me.
“You wanna start unpacking our boxes to get your mind off of him?” He tugged on a strand of my hair and jumped up. He spun back around and held his hands out to me. I took them, smiling, and let him pull me to my feet.
“Okay, but we have to listen to music this time,” I insisted. Eyes gleaming, Alex nodded and gestured towards the sterio sitting beside the television. I sauntered over to it and turned it on. A blast of