Chapter 13-AND THEN IT CRACKED
524 Words
The almond tree didn’t feel like safety anymore.
It felt like exposure.
When Tara walked there that evening, the sun was dipping low, the sky bleeding orange , like something ending.
Tyler was already waiting, back against the tree trunk hands in his lap, the silence thick around him.
She could tell from the way he looked at her , he knew.
“Hey,” she said.
He didn’t smile.
Just nodded. “You saw it too?”
Her throat tightened. “Yes.”
He stared at her for a second longer, then looked away.
"Why didn’t you tell me?"
She swallowed. “I didn’t know how. I got it before anyone else. Someone left it for me.”
“You mean someone sent it to you anonymously, and you didn’t think I should know?”
His voice wasn’t loud. But it cut.
“I was scared,” she admitted, arms folded like they could hold her together. “Scared that if people found out… if we got exposed… maybe you’d start acting different. Maybe you’d regret it.”
He scoffed softly. “So instead, you shut me out. Made me think I did something wrong.”
“I didn’t mean to. I just........” Her voice cracked. “I didn’t want to ruin what we had.”
He looked at her now , properly looked.
“T, if what we had was so fragile it couldn’t survive a photo, maybe we never had anything at all.”
That one stung. She looked away.
“You don’t mean that,” she whispered.
“I don’t know what I mean right now,” he said. “All I know is , you pulled away when it mattered. You didn’t trust me enough to share the weight.”
There was a pause. A long, breaking pause.
“I wanted to protect it,” she said.
“And instead you hid it.”
They sat in that silence for a while. Not peaceful. Not safe.
Just raw.
A group of students walked past nearby , laughter echoing. One of them paused, whispered something. Looked at them.
Tara's shoulders tensed.
Tyler noticed.
“You’re still scared,” he said.
She didn’t reply.
Then, finally:
“Do you still want this?” he asked, voice gentler now.
She looked up, eyes glistening.
“I do. But I don’t know how to hold it right.”
He exhaled. Shook his head slightly.
“I liked the girl who made space for me under this tree. The girl who drew hearts on my palm and didn’t flinch when I told her I’d never kissed anyone.”
Tears burned the corners of her eyes.
“She’s still here.”
“Then let her stop hiding.”
He stood.
Didn’t say goodbye.
Just walked away slowly, giving her a chance to stop him.
She didn’t.
Not because she didn’t want to.
But because for the first time… she wasn’t sure she deserved to.
Elsewhere, Tonia scrolled through her messages again.
The photo had done its job.
But it hadn’t broken them , not completely.
Not yet.
And she still had one more thing.
- Writer
