028
1169 Words
~Alice
The dorm was quiet.
Too quiet.
The low hum of the overhead lights, the faint clank of the old radiator, even the distant laughter drifting in from somewhere down the hall,all of it felt muffled, as though the world itself had decided to tread carefully around my thoughts.
I sat cross legged on my bed, phone clenched in my hand, staring at the screen like it might suddenly confess something. Like the truth would finally spill if I stared hard enough.
But it didn’t.
No new messages.
None from Iris.
My chest felt tight, heavy, like someone had wrapped a fist around my heart and refused to let go. Seven days. Seven days since she’d come back, and somehow she already felt farther away than she ever had before.
I clenched the phone harder, my knuckles whitening.
I love her.
The thought hit me like a bruise. I kept pressing just to see if it still hurt. I hated how fast my heart reacted to her, how easily she owned parts of me I pretended were under control. One memory was enough, her laugh, soft and reckless; the way her hair fell over her shoulder when she tilted her head; that dangerous little spark in her eyes when she smiled like she knew something I didn’t.
My stomach twisted.
I could still feel her. The ghost of her fingers brushing mine beneath the desk. The warmth of her thigh against mine in the cafeteria earlier that week. The way her eyes had lingered,too long,on Ky when she sat beside her in class.
That had stayed with me.
Even now, just thinking about it made my pulse spike, my breath turn shallow. Jealousy burned low and ugly in my chest, mixing with something sharper,fear.
Why wasn’t she picking up my calls?
I glanced at the screen again, as if the answer might suddenly appear.
Is she out with Ky?
The thought made my jaw tighten. I swallowed, trying to push it down, trying to be reasonable. Iris had friends. She always had. I’d never been the type to control her, never wanted to be.
But still..
Even if she was out with Ky… was Ky really more important than me?
The question echoed, cruel and insistent.
I’m her girlfriend.
For damn sake.
I dropped back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling, my chest rising and falling unevenly. Something was wrong. I could feel it deep, instinctive, the way you feel a storm before the clouds roll in.
And the worst part?
I didn’t know if I was about to lose her… or if I already had.
I turned onto my side, curling around the ache in my chest like it might lessen if I folded myself small enough.
It didn’t.
Ever since she came back, things have been odd with us.
My phone buzzed.
I jolted upright so fast my neck hurt.
Iris.
My thumb hovered over the screen, heart hammering.
But it wasn’t her.
Just a stupid notification. Some group chat.
Someone laughing about nothing that mattered.
I swallowed hard, my throat burning.
Pathetic.
That’s what I was. Sitting here, waiting like a fool, while Iris was out there smiling, laughing, maybe leaning too close to Ky, maybe forgetting all about me.
I dragged a hand through my hair, nails scraping my scalp. I hated this version of myself. The needy one. The jealous one. The girl who checked her phone every thirty seconds like it was oxygen.
She wasn’t like this before.
You changed her, a voice whispered in my head.
Or maybe… she changed you.
I squeezed my eyes shut, memories crashing in whether I wanted them to or not.
Iris showed up at my door that first night, shaking but defiant. Iris curled beside me in bed, confessing fears she never let anyone else hear.
Iris kissing me like I was the only solid thing in a world that kept trying to knock her down.
She chose me.
Didn’t she?
The phone buzzed.
Not iris.
Sasha.
The girl, who had almost made me and Iris fight.
Why is she texting me now ?
It's a video.
I hesitated, then opened it.
The screen filled with dim light and a familiar face.
Sasha’s.
My breath caught,not because of shock exactly, but because of how deliberate it felt. She was looking straight into the camera, lips parted, eyes heavy lidded, her hand moving down, slowly.
It wasn’t violent.
It wasn’t accidental.
It was intentional.
I stared at the screen, as she moaned my name.
Fuck, I was wet. I slid my hands down through my panties.
She was moaning my name.
I shook my head, what was I doing?
I slammed the phone face down on the desk like it burned my fingers.
“What the hell…?” I whispered.
The phone buzzed immediately after.
Sasha: I didn’t mean to shock you. I just thought… you should know Iove you, and I'm available to keep you company.
Love?
I let out a bitter laugh, dragging a hand through my hair.
This is not love.
This is manipulation.
I picked the phone back up, staring at her message like it might rearrange itself into something that made sense.
Alice: Why would you send me that?
The reply came almost instantly.
Sasha: Because everyone thinks you’re untouchable. Alpha’s daughter. Perfect life. Perfect girlfriend. I wanted you to see me without pretending.
My jaw clenched.
So that was it.
Not concerned.
Not friendship.
A challenge.
I felt exposed in a way I didn’t like, like someone had looked at my wounds and decided to poke them.
Sasha: I know you’re hurting. I can tell. People like us… we don’t get picked first.
My chest tightened despite myself.
I hated that part.
Hated that she was close enough to the truth to sting.
I typed, deleted, typed again.
Alice: Don’t ever send me something like that again.
There was a pause this time. Longer.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared.
Sasha: I’m sorry. I just thought you were bored.
I locked the phone without replying.
Silence rushed back into the room, thick and suffocating.
I leaned back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling, my thoughts spinning.
First Iris pulled away.
Then unanswered calls.
Then this.
Everyone wanted something from me.
Comfort.
Reassurance.
Control.
No one asked what I wanted. Not even my Dad who has been distant lately too. But I understand that he is probably dealing with pack issues.
I hugged my knees to my chest, anger slowly replacing the ache. Not wild anger,cold, focused.
Something was shifting.
I didn’t know yet who was lying to me
I didn’t know what Iris was hiding.
But I knew this much:
I was done being passive.
Done waiting for explanations.
Done being the last to know.
Tomorrow, I will watch more closely.
Listen more carefully.
And stop assuming the people I loved were protecting me.
Because tonight proved one thing,
Everyone had an agenda.
And I was finally ready to uncover it.
- Writer
