All the Little Truths (English Prep 3)

The pink on her cheeks disappeared.

“Yeah,” I reiterated, taking a step back before I did something I’d regret, like pull her out of the tub and kiss her again. “So, who did it?”

Her innocent act faded. Her anger came back, slashing at the vulnerable girl in front of me. “Stop looking at me like that!” Her words snapped like a rubber band, so I snapped right back.

“Like what?”

A tiny yet angry noise came from her. If I didn’t have that voice in the back of my head, reminding me of all the reasons I hated her, I might have thought it was kind of cute. “Like you want to be my hero. And what exactly did you tell Ollie and Christian when they saw you were about to kill someone for me?”

I glared at her. “Stop evading the question.”

“Why do you even care?!” she yelled, her arms falling from her knees for a brief moment. I tore my eyes away, glancing at the ceiling. “You hate me so much I figured you’d be glad.”

My blood pulsed. “You never knew me at all if you truly thought I’d want something like that to happen to anyone—even you.” My voice picked up in volume. I turned around before I got even angrier. This is what she wants. She wants you to get mad and leave her alone. Madeline’s greatest defense mechanism was pushing people away, but I wasn’t letting that happen again.

“Do I know who it was?” I asked, keeping my back to her. I will kill him.

It took her entirely too long to answer. “No.”

My shoulders sagged. I don’t know why I’d hoped she would deny it again. Something about her admitting that she was raped made me feel fucking sick. It confused me, worried me, and pissed me off all at once.

“Finish your bath and get dressed,” I demanded, knowing I was five seconds from punching something in this girly ass bathroom. It smelled like her. All flowery and intoxicating.

“What are you doing?” she asked hesitantly. I was pretty sure she was crying, but I was too afraid to look, so instead, I opened her bedroom door, stepped inside, and slammed the door behind me.

Chapter Fifteen

Madeline

My bath water was cold. Goosebumps broke out all over my arms and legs. I knew it was time to climb out, but I was still too angry. Each tear that trembled down my face betrayed me.

I hated crying.

But I was so worked up I couldn’t stop.

My chest heaved as I dried my body off, and the skin on my cheeks screamed in agony as I took the towel and roughly wiped away my weakness. I wasn’t going to cry in front of Eric. I had to quickly put on my armor, my cool facade, and deal with him ins

ide my bedroom.

I wasn’t even sure what he was doing in there. Waiting for me? But why?

My fingers shook as I tied my drawstring shorts that rested along my hips and as I pulled my shirt over my head. My hair was still damp, little trinkets of water falling off the ends and onto the floor.

I couldn’t even glance at myself in the mirror. I was afraid I’d start crying again—or get too angry and break it. I knew that the girl staring back at me was a shell of who she used to be. She was fragmented. And she was angry and hurt. I felt betrayed by myself, and that was a truly disturbing and lonely feeling.

My cheeks puffed as I blew air out of my mouth and reached for the doorknob. I gave myself a five-second pep talk to keep my composure as I rallied against Eric and his confusing actions. He was awfully quick to remind me that he hated me every day, but his behavior completely contradicted that.

As soon as I was inside my room, closing the bathroom door behind me and double-checking to make sure I locked it, my shield started to shake. Eric was perched on the end of my desk, his long, jean-clad legs still touching the floor. A small dip in my stomach told me all I needed to know about my feelings for him. It had been a really long time since I’d felt those magical butterflies in my stomach at the sight of a boy, and here I was, swatting them away furiously as I fought to remind myself that Eric and I would never be more than what we were now—a cross between enemies and forgotten friends.

“What do you want, Eric?” I sighed. I was proud of how annoyed I sounded. But the truth was, I wasn’t annoyed at all. In fact, him being in my room somehow clamped down on all my usual anxiety.

“I’ll give you one night, Madeline. That’s it.”

I slowly padded over to my bed, pulling my long shirt down to cover my legs more before sitting on my fluffy blanket. “What are you talking about?”

Eric picked at his nails, avoiding me. His hair looked like he’d tugged the ends of it forcefully before I came out of the bathroom. His strong jaw was clenched. His cheekbones were sharper than usual, like they would cut me if I dared touch them.

A breath escaped me when I found my way back to his eyes. He was staring at me intently before he glanced out the window, crossing his arms over his t-shirt. “I’ll give you one night to sleep, and that’s it.” I bit my lip when he sighed exasperatedly. “I’ll wake you up at the first sign of a nightmare. You obviously fucking need sleep if you’re trying to get more sleeping pills—which, by the way, is so fucking stupid.”