Page 116 of Mistaken Prejudice

I beg of you, keep my son alive.

Chapter 36

Andrei

“My dear students.” Mrs. Morrison’s voice broke through the class’s speakers, stopping us in the middle of a test. “It is a sad morning in Beverly Bay.” She paused to take a deep breath. “It is, with a heavy heart, that I need to inform you about the death of a student. We will have an assembly in the main gym hall at lunchtime, where we will talk with a team of counselors. Until then, please remember that Beverly Bay High has a team of advisers to help you with any struggle you may have. Our doors are always open.”

As soon as the announcement ended, the class broke into chaos. Whispering and crying followed me as I clenched the pen I was holding with only one name on my mind.

Miles.

A knot formed in my stomach, thinking about how close we were to losing him. If Elliot had found him one minute later, it would have been Miles’s death the principal had just announced.

I didn’t know who the student who lost their life was or how they did, but I was grateful it wasn’t Miles. I didn’t know how I would have lived with myself if it were.

It’d been almost three weeks since I got the call from Daniel telling me Miles had overdosed on pills.

I wanted to see him the same day Daniel called me, but it wasn’t possible. He was in the hospital for a week, and afterward, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

Yesterday, he finally came back home. And today, I’d be able to see him for the first time in three weeks.

While I wasn’t able to meet Miles, I spoke to Daniel over the phone. Every. Single. Day.

Those past three weeks felt longer than the year I did in juvie. Not being able to see Miles after knowing we almost lost him was the hardest thing I ever needed to endure.

Miles is bipolar.

That’s what Daniel told me the morning he called to inform me about Miles’s suicide attempt.

Although I had heard the term before, I didn’t really know what it meant, and it took me a while to understand the depth of his condition. From what I learned online, it was a mental health condition that made you experience extreme mood disturbances. These waves were called episodes.

Those times when Miles was jumpy, impulsive, short-tempered, distracted, and compulsive? It was because he had a manic episode. And there I was, thinking it was because of drugs or sex addiction. I felt like an idiot. Worse, I felt like the worst human in the world for the way I treated him when what he needed was help.

Daniel explained to me that what happened wasn’t because of me and that I couldn’t blame myself for Miles’s attempt to kill himself. I may not have been the direct cause that led Miles to do what he did, but I definitely helped get him there. I’d told him he was as good as dead to me. I fucking encouraged him to die. The guilt was so hard to bear, and so, I told Daniel everything. And I mean everything.

After repeating in his ears the cruel words I told Miles, he still insisted that it wasn’t my fault and encouraged me to come by today.

And so I did.

When school ended, I jumped into my truck and drove to Miles’s house.

***

“Andrei. I’m glad you came,” Daniel greeted me as he opened the door and stepped aside, allowing me to enter.

I was nervous. No way to get around that, so I didn’t even try to hide the nerves in my voice when I greeted him back.

“H-hey. I hope it isn’t a bad time or anything.”

He smiled warmly; a smile that reached his eyes and made the creases at the side of his mouth and eyes appear deeper than they actually were.

“As I said, we’re glad you’re here.” He rested his arm on my shoulder while closing the door behind him. “Miles is in his room, but I thought perhaps we’ll have a cup of coffee before?”

That sounded like a good idea.

“I thought you were a tea kind of guy.”

Daniel chuckled and shook his head.