I'm Sorry
506 Words
AURELIA'S POV
I couldn't breathe.
Everything around me blurred into noise.
Kenzie stood in front of me, her perfect smile slicing through every fragile thread of control I had left.
Her words echoed inside my head.
"Your mother abandoned you."
"No one has ever wanted you."
"Even your mate couldn't stand you."
Every sentence struck like another whip across old wounds that had never truly healed.
My fingers tightened around the pen in my hand until the plastic cracked.
I barely noticed.
All I could see was her.
All I could hear was her voice.
She was laughing.
Everyone was laughing.
The classroom walls seemed to close in around me, squeezing the air from my lungs.
Make her stop.
The thought came from somewhere deep inside me.
Just make her stop.
My arm moved before I realized it.
I took a step toward her.
She looked over her shoulder for a split second.
I caught it.
That tiny smile.
She wanted this.
She wanted me to lose control.
But by then, it was too late.
My hand rose, gripping the jagged piece of the broken pen.
Someone was shouting my name.
"Aurelia!"
The voice sounded distant, muffled beneath the pounding in my ears.
I couldn't stop.
I just wanted the pain... the humiliation... the memories...
To end.
Suddenly, warm fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist.
My arm jerked to a halt.
The sharp point of the broken pen sank into something soft.
A strangled groan reached my ears.
"Ugh!"
Time froze.
The rage clouding my mind shattered.
I blinked.
Blood.
Bright crimson blood trickled over a familiar hand.
My eyes slowly traveled upward.
Zane.
His jaw was clenched, his breathing uneven, but he didn't let go of me.
The broken pen slipped from my fingers and clattered onto the floor.
My entire body went numb.
"Zane...?"
My voice barely existed.
His blood continued dripping onto the floor.
My stomach twisted violently.
No...
No...
I hadn't...
I stared at his injured hand, unable to understand what I was seeing.
"I..." My lips trembled uncontrollably. "I did that?"
His grip on my wrist softened, though he still held me as if he was afraid I might fall apart.
"You need to breathe," he said gently.
Breathe?
How could I breathe?
I had almost...
I shook my head over and over.
"I wasn't..."
The words refused to come.
I hadn't wanted to hurt him.
I hadn't wanted to hurt anyone.
I just...
I just wanted everything inside my head to stop.
"I know," he said quietly.
The certainty in his voice only made my chest ache more.
Then I noticed them.
The students.
Dozens of them.
Standing at the doorway.
Holding up their phones.
Watching me like I was some wild animal that had finally snapped.
Heat rushed to my face.
My knees nearly gave out beneath me.
Every stare burned.
Every whisper pierced straight through my heart.
Shame swallowed me whole.
I took a shaky step backward, unable to meet anyone's eyes.
"I..." My voice cracked. "I'm sorry."
- Writer
