I bit my lower lip softly, holding back the tears that suddenly burned at the corners of my eyes. My breathing hitched not only from anger, but from fear. Fear of losing control in front of someone who could so easily take command of everything about me.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted tonight to feel normal. I wanted to know, even for a moment, what it’s like to be an ordinary student. Not always hiding, not always feeling guilty every time I smile at someone else.”
Gabriel’s eyes locked on mine, sharp and unyielding, but I knew that look wasn’t made of anger alone. There was something else behind it something deeper, something he refused to show.
“Normal?” he said, his voice low. “Nothing has been normal since you came into my life. You’ve turned everything upside down.”
I lowered my head.
