The same pool in which I felt special.
The same pool in which Aiden made me think that I could live past my fears and my traumas.
And now, he tainted it with Silver.
I throw the phone away and hide my face in the pillow as tears barge into my eyes.
I guess it’s really over now.
12
Aiden
I twirl a pawn chess piece between my index and middle finger as I stare out of the locker room’s window.
Both the football team and the girls’ track team are inside the changing rooms.
Elsa lingers back with their coach. She discreetly keeps herself the last to shower so none of her teammates sees her scar.
She spent her entire life hiding. And for what?
Finding her was never an option. It was always bound to happen.
I waited eight years to find her and if she thinks I’m letting her go now then she really doesn’t know me.
And here I thought she was beginning to understand me.
Until Jonathan and Queens screwed up everything.
I continue following her with my gaze even after she disappears inside the building with her coach.
Two years.
I’ve been watching her for two years, biding my time and waiting for the moment to strike.
I got close — so close — before everything blew up in smoke.
But I’ll fix it. I always do.
The battle is still the same. I just need different tactics.
Still clutching the pawn’s chess piece, I retrieve my phone and pull up the pictures Astor attached to the group chat a few days ago.
In one picture, Elsa is taking one shot — when she never drinks.
In the second, she’s climbing into the new boy’s car.
If Nash sent those pictures, I would’ve had a different theory. Nash becomes a little bitch when it comes to Queens. I knew he wouldn’t like me taking off with her, but I ignored his opinion.
However, this is Astor. He’s the most neutral person in our group. During parties, he’d be so busy with pussy, alcohol, and weed to plot anything like this.
He even asked me to spare his head when we met for practice the following day.
I scroll through the photos to a shot where the new boy was caressing Elsa’s face.
My left eye twitches as I strangle the pawn between my fingers.
He had his hand on her.