chapter 3
1117 Words
LORI
I walked back to my room feeling like a zombie. My legs felt numb, my chest felt heavy. I kept replaying it all over and over again in my head. My hands were shaking when I opened my dorm room. Everything looked the same. My soft, pink sheets, the fairy lights I'd strung around my mirror, the stuffed bear Valkyrie gave me last month during my eighteenth birthday celebration still sitting on my pillow.
But everything felt different.
I threw my phone on the bed and kicked off my heels. My throat hurt from yelling so much and holding in the tears. I didn't want to cry anymore. I just wanted to disappear.
I lay down on the bed, curling into myself. The room was cold, but not cold enough to numb the mess in my heart. I stared at the ceiling, hoping sleep would just come and take me but my brain wouldn't shut up. It was a mess up there. All scrambled, like someone had taken my thoughts and smashed them together like broken glass.
Did Valkyrie mean everything he said to me? Did I do something to deserve this?
And why the hell would my best friend turn against me and treat me like trash?
I hugged my pillow against my chest, my tears sliding down my cheeks for the thousandth time tonight. My lips trembled as I whispered, "I hate you... I hate you so much."
But I didn't.
I didn't hate him. I hated myself for loving him.
"Arguments and disagreements are part of relationships..." I remembered Justin's words. I wanted to punch him when he'd implied I was dramatic, but maybe he wasn't wrong. Maybe I could fix this. I could talk to him. Maybe... maybe he didn't mean it.
I fell asleep late, and when I woke up, it was already bright outside and my body ached like I hadn't rested at all. My chest felt like someone had sat on it all night. But I had to go to school, and talk to Valkyrie.
I dragged myself out of bed and got in the shower. I took a hot bath, because it was freezing. It helped, a little. Made me feel awake and less messy in the head. I put on my white turtle neck crop top, my favourite ripped blue jeans and white sneakers with blue laces. My face looked like death, but I didn't care. This wasn't about looking cute. It was about fixing the one thing I thought was unbreakable.
Before leaving, I baked a small cake in my kitchen. Vanilla, with blue frosting. His favourite color. I even piped "I'm sorry" in shaky letters.
I held the box close as I walked out, telling myself, “This is just a misunderstanding. He loves me. We'll talk and laugh about this tomorrow.”
I waited around the front door when I got to class but he'd skipped it. He was probably just avoiding me. He was still mad. I walked into class, unable to focus. My eyelids kept drooping and before I knew it, I had passed out with my head on the desk. As soon as school ended, I hurried off to the Academy restaurant where he loved hanging out. It was his favourite place on campus.
And my guess was right because I spotted him immediately.
But he wasn't alone. Mabel and her friend, Mara were with him, like plastic barbie dolls, laughing at something he said, touching his arm and giggling. I didn't let that deter me.
"Valkyrie," I called out quietly. That was how far my hoarse voice could go.
His smile dropped when he saw me.
"I need to talk to you, alone. Just for a sec-"
"I don't want to talk to you," he said coldly. "Say whatever you want to say right here, and now. Or get out."
My heart gave a painful twist. Mabel and Mara looked at me like I was dirt. Mabel raised her eyebrow and whispered something to Mara, who laughed behind her manicured hand. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to smile.
"I just... I just wanted to say I'm sorry," I said. "I know we both were wrong last night. I shouldn't have gotten so emotional. I was hoping maybe we could talk things out." I took the wrapped cake out of my bag. "I made this for you."
He looked down at it, then at me. Then he scoffed. "Still didn't learn your lesson, huh?" he sneered. "You think a f*****g cake is gonna fix anything?"
And then he slammed the cake box out of my hands. It hit the ground with a disgusting squish, blue frost splattering across the floor.
"We're done, Lori. For good."
I stared at the smashed cake on the floor like it was my heart. Mara stood up, arms folded.
"Oh, what, you thought you could poison him?" she quipped. "Who the hell brings a cake after getting dumped?"
"Pathetic," Mabel added, laughing like this was some comedy show.
I took a step back, the denial wearing off. I realised, with deep-bone certainty, that we were really done. Forever.
I turned around, cheeks flaming in embarrassment. But I didn't get the chance to walk off.
Mara grabbed my hair, yanking my head back so hard I screamed. Before I could say anything, she slapped me hard across the face. I saw stars erupt.
"You psycho b***h!" she yelled. "You're gonna eat the cake off the floor."
Then Mabel joined in. They both started hitting me- punching my arm, kicking my side and practically anywhere they could hit. I rolled, crying out, covering my head. It hurt so bad. My lips were split open, and my ribs screamed in protest at the slightest movement. I couldn't even fight back. Then they both grabbed me, forcing me off the ground before pushing me into the freezing pool.
Pure, unadulterated fear seized me. I couldn't swim. I panicked instantly, desperately trying to keep my head above water while flailing my arms and kicking to hold on to something, but it felt like clutching at straws. The water was pulling me down. My lungs screamed. I tried to scream, but water filled my mouth.
"HELP!" I choked. "PLEASE!"
But above the water, Valkyrie just stood there, smiling while Mara and Mabel had their phones out, filming the whole thing. I was drowning, and he was watching.
My body, in no time, soon started to grow heavy, and my arms stopped moving. Everything went quiet. And as the light died out, I saw bubbles rise around me, before my eyes fluttered shut.
I was slipping.
Into the abyss.
- Writer
