My Last Year

The Confession

The hospital room was quiet except for the steady beep of the monitor beside me. I had just begun to drift back into a fragile calm when a familiar voice broke through.

“That voice…” I whispered, my chest tightening. I know it so well. Slowly, carefully, I turned, afraid of who I might find standing there.

And then I saw him.

The boy in the doorway wore the most colorful, elegant clothes I had ever laid eyes on, like he had stepped out of another world entirely. His presence filled the room, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

But the moment my gaze reached his face, my breath came rushing back in sharp, uneven bursts. My nightmare. My tormentor. My… weakness.

Jake Bennett.

Even now, with the faint light spilling across his sharp jawline and softening his otherwise arrogant features, he was still beautiful painfully so. But beauty didn’t erase memories. It didn’t erase every cruel word, every smirk, every deliberate attempt to hurt me.

And yet… I had risked my life for him.

“Why?” Jake’s voice broke through my thoughts. It wasn’t the cocky, mocking tone I knew so well. No!this voice was different. Softer. Fragile. Almost like a confession. “Why did you save me, when you hate me so much?”

I froze. My lips parted, but the words refused to come out. I had imagined so many scenarios where someone might corner me with that question—“Why did you do it?” But never once had I prepared an answer.

“I…I…” The stammer slipped out, weak and humiliating.

Jake stepped closer, his eyes burning into me with an intensity I had never seen before. “I know there has to be a reason. You’ve always despised me, I’ve always given you enough reasons to. So why?”

There was something desperate in his voice, like he needed my answer more than he needed air.

And before I could stop myself, before reason could wrestle control from emotion, the words spilled out.

“I like you.”

My voice cracked, but the confession rang loud in the silence. My cheeks burned, and my hands trembled in my lap. “I’ve always liked you. Since elementary. I’ve always…” My voice broke again, mortified, the reality of what I had just admitted slamming into me.

I wanted to swallow the words back, to rewind time and erase them. How could I have just blurted out my secret, the one I had buried under years of anger and denial?

My heart thundered so loudly I was sure he could hear it.

“I mean” I tried to backtrack, my voice trembling. “I’m human. I saw someone about to die, and I reacted. I didn’t think. I just…did it.” My throat tightened as I fought to steady myself. “Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t save you on purpose. I should’ve let you fall. I should’ve—”

I tried to sit up to emphasize my point, but pain shot through my body. I nearly collapsed back onto the bed, and before I could hit the sheets, Jake was at my side. His hand steadied me, firm yet careful, and his eyes locked with mine.

That look. I hated it. Pity.

“You don’t have to pity me,” I said through clenched teeth. “I don’t want that.”

“It’s not pity,” Jake whispered, his voice trembling with a strange sincerity. “It’s…something else. I’m drawn to you. To your honesty. To the way you’re not afraid to say what you feel.”

His words caught me off guard. I just sat there, stunned, as if my heart had momentarily forgotten its rhythm.

Then Jake took a deep breath, his jaw tightening like he was preparing for a battle. “Do you know why I was always at you every time? Why I couldn’t leave you alone?”

I shook my head, confused and cautious.

“Because no one ever spoke to me the way you do,” he admitted. “No one ever looked at me the way you look at me. People treat me like a prince, like I’m untouchable. But you? You treat me like I’m human. I hated it. I hated how much I craved it.” His eyes glistened in the dim light. “I’ve always loved your sincerity. You said you liked me since elementary…but the truth is, I liked you first.”

My chest tightened. What is he saying?

“I’ve liked you since the first day I set my eyes on you at Evermore.”

The disbelief in my gaze must have been obvious because Jake continued, voice low and urgent.

Flashback Elementary School, Evermore.

The classroom buzzed with children’s laughter. Little feet stomped across polished floors, and chatter filled the air until the teacher arrived, silencing the noise with her gentle clap.

“Good day, everyone,” Mrs. Carl greeted warmly.

“Good day, Mrs. Carl,” the children chorused.

“Today, a new student will be joining us. Her name is Lily.”

A little girl stepped forward, clutching her bag straps tightly. “My name is Lily, and I’m happy to join this school,” she said with a shy smile.

The class clapped politely, but one boy in the back of the room wasn’t clapping. His eyes were wide, fixed, utterly captivated. Young Jake Bennett.

“Go sit beside Jake,” Mrs. Carl instructed.

Jake’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Hi, Lily. I’m Jake Bennett,” he said eagerly.

But Lily didn’t respond. She simply slid into her seat, eyes straight ahead, completely ignoring him.

Jake’s smile faltered, but something inside him shifted.

Back to Present.

“I never stopped liking you since then,” Jake confessed, his voice low, trembling. “Even when you tore my letters.”

“Letters?” I frowned.

“The ones I left on your desk. Don’t you remember?”

Flashback.

Elementary, the classroom quiet before lessons began. Young Lily entered, dropping her bag on her desk. A folded piece of paper lay waiting. Curious, she opened it.

Dear Lily, you are beautiful and kind. Since you came, I can’t stop thinking about you.

Her face hardened. With one swift motion, she tore the letter to pieces and tossed it in the bin.

In the corner, Young Jake watched, his heart twisting as the scraps fluttered away.

Back to Present.

“I saw you tear it. From that day, I convinced myself you hated me. So I gave you hate in return.”

Tears stung my eyes. “I didn’t know it was you. That was the week my father died. I blamed myself. I wanted the world to end. I didn’t have space for kindness, or love, or anything good.” My voice cracked. “I wasn’t angry at you. I was angry at the world.”

Jake reached out slowly, pulling a clean handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped away the tears that spilled down my cheeks with surprising gentleness. Then, without hesitation, he pulled me into his arms.

His embrace was firm, warm, safe in a way that terrified me. I wanted to resist, to remind myself of who he was and what he had done. But in that moment, all I felt was his heartbeat against mine.

He pressed a soft kiss to my forehead. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “You don’t have to carry it alone anymore.”

For the first time, I saw him not as my tormentor but as a boy flawed, broken, and aching just like me.

The door creaked open.

I froze.

Bernice stood there, my best friend, eyes wide in shock. And beside her, Conrad. His jaw was clenched so tightly I could almost hear his teeth grind. His eyes blazed with fury he was trying desperately to conceal.

Jake released me slowly, his hand lingering a second longer before he stepped back. “I’ll leave,” he said quietly, his gaze still locked on mine. Then he turned and walked past them, the room suddenly colder in his absence.

Bernice hurried to my side, her expression a storm of questions she hadn’t yet voiced. Conrad, however, didn’t move. His fists were clenched, his eyes still burning with silent rage as he watched Jake’s retreating figure disappear down the hall.

The silence was suffocating. My chest tightened with dread. Both of them wanted answers—but what could I possibly say?