You’re the only distasteful joke here, Naomi.
“It was so cute watching you act like a puppy in love when we all knew Sebastian was playing with you.” Brianna laughs. “Didn’t she look like a perfect fool?”
Many agree and laugh, some point their fingers at me as the whispers erupt.
“What a joke.”
“Look at her. She’s still broken.”
“Someone call the doctor.”
“Even her friend knew…”
My gaze snaps to my side to find Lucy staring at her lap, zipping and unzipping her bag at a rapid speed. Her face is red, her freckles dark, and her lips are pursed.
Tears I never wanted to shed in front of these assholes fill my lids. When I speak, my voice is so low and pained, it’s like it’s coming from a dark corner I didn’t know existed inside me. “You knew?”
She slowly stares up at me with tears clinging to her lashes. “It’s not that, I…”
“You knew.”
It’s not a question, but a mere statement of facts from the way her brows are knitted and her nose is scrunching.
The girl I called my best friend was well aware of the game played against me and didn’t say anything.
I stagger to a standing position and grab my bag with stiff fingers. My arm feels as heavy as my tongue inside my mouth.
The need to cry is so strong that all I see is blurry lines. All I hear is the taunts and whispers, the jabs and mockery. All I taste is the salty bitterness of my tears. All I feel is the need to crawl somewhere no one will see me and sob my heart out.
A shadow falls over me, and I don’t have to look to see who it is.
The man I thought was made for me.
The man I was thinking of being in a stupid relationship with.
When the facts are, he’s been using me to chase away his boredom.
I believed the depravity he painted and I thought we were playing a mutual game when he’s been playing me all along.
He stops a small distance away, probably reading the atmosphere. But it’s not far enough to block his scent.
It’s not far enough to stop the fit of rage I’ve never experienced before.
Forget red.
My vision turns pitch fucking black.
“What’s wrong?” he asks slowly.
I don’t think as I grab a glass of water and throw its contents at him, dousing his face and T-shirt.
A collective gasp echoes in the group and our surroundings.
But I don’t wait for them to direct their malicious intent toward me. I don’t wait for the humiliation of what I just learned to sink in further.
Holding my head high, I rein in the tears stinging my eyes and march out the door.
As soon as I’m outside, I let them flood my cheeks.