Daphne
This isn’t happening.My insides feel like they are folding in on themselves, and I want to be anywhere but here. Anywhere. I want to disappear. I want to sink down into the floor of Rosehaven Academy, never to be seen again.
Instead, I take off as fast as my feet will carry me, away from the dance and everyone having the time of their lives while I’m dying inside.
My body shakes all over and my stomach gurgles, violently rebelling. I didn’t see this coming. Never dreamed that Micah had fed me a line. I’d been blind to his deception. Blind to everything that was coming my way—because this had to have been planned. The question is, for how long? Were any of our interactions real? Or had he been playing me from the start? Whatever this game is, I’d gone all in, never anticipating the heartbreak waiting for me right around the corner.
No wonder he was “sick” last night. He was probably busy with her. Kissing her. Fucking her. My chest constricts painfully. Has he been screwing her the entire time he’d spent luring me into bed? Suddenly, I feel very dirty. Used.
I stumble to a stop midway down the main hallway and bend over, putting my hands on my knees. My eyes squeeze shut and my breath comes fast, like I’ve run alongside Scarlett in one of her cross-country races.
I’ve never felt so stupid in my entire life. I have to hand it to Micah—he sure fooled me. I huff out a sardonic laugh. It wasn’t but a few days ago that I’d thought to myself, Maybe. Maybe things are going to be okay. Maybe I’ll be the one to get the guy this time. Maybe he really does care about me like I care about him.
I’d thought maybe he really was the person I’d built up in my head from the age of eleven. My rescuer. The boy who I thought might save me again—only this time it would be from myself. I let down my guard. Let him in. I gave him everything. I trusted him. And he’d lied. Right to my face.
Now he’s shown his true colors, and I know things aren’t going to be okay. Not ever again. I have no idea how deep this wound is going to cut me—but this is like no pain I’ve experienced before.
My blurry gaze slips down to the gorgeous dress I’m wearing, formfitting and strapless at the top, with a beautifully poofy and flouncy skirt. I’d been so excited to have a taste of what it’s like to fit in, to have some fun, and for Micah to see me all dressed up. For him. But now, I feel nothing but disillusionment.
When he walked into the dance looking devastatingly handsome in his uber-expensive suit, a broad smile on his face, I’d melted. That is, until I saw Alora attached to him like an octopus. She was all over him. Everywhere.
Everything we had was destroyed in three awful, heartbreaking seconds.
What. The. Actual. Fuck? My brain can’t process what he’s done. Not in the context of him and me. The way he’d smiled down at her, like he had eyes for no one else, and passionately kissed her like they’ve been together all along … it made me want to vomit. It made me want to die right there on the spot.
I press my fingers to my temples. Would you listen to yourself?You’re not even that kind of girl. Are you? But I’m staggered by how much this betrayal hurts.
The words Alora tossed at me at the game last night come screaming back. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of my date. I’ll let you know how it goes. I heard he likes you too, though.” Oh my God, had she been talking about Micah this entire time?
I feel weak, like I’m going to pass out or something. I move as quickly as I can to the bench outside the main office door and sink onto it, no idea what to do next. I tuck my head between my knees, moaning out my despair.
“Daphne!” Over the whooshing sounds of the blood rushing through my head, Scarlett’s concerned voice reaches me. I grip the edge of the bench, squeezing my eyes shut.
Her high-heeled footfalls click alongside the heavier clack of men’s dress shoes against the tiled floor.
Max takes a seat next to me, his face appearing in my peripheral vision, features lined with worry. He puts his arm around my back lending his support at the same time Scarlett sits on the other side and scoops my long locks away from my face.
I attempt to choke back my tears and manage to stutter out, “I-I’m sorry.”
“Shh. You have nothing to be sorry for.” Scarlett offers me a tissue from her bag.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.” Max growls in frustration.
I shake my head, unseeing through the haze of tears.
We stay like that, hunched over and motionless for several minutes. I draw in an unsteady breath, then let it go, in a series of shaky tries. I wipe under my eyes, turn my head, and peek at Scarlett. “I-I trusted him. How could he do this to me?”
Her face twists in sympathetic agony. “I don’t know, Daph. I’m so sorry.”
I sit up, looking at each of my friends in turn before sucking in what I hope will be a calming breath.
It’s not.
My despair hits me hard. I stutter some more, the same way I used to do when I was younger. “I-I don’t understand. I g-gave myself to h-him.”
Max’s fingers press into the skin of my upper arm. “What?” The question cuts through the quiet of the hallway, echoing off the walls like a lion’s roar.
Scarlett winces.