TRISHA
"It was me, Mum," I said, my voice barely carrying over the noise spilling out of the hallway. "I hurt Ethan."
The moment the words left my mouth, I felt my stomach tighten. I kept waiting for it to hit her, for the shock to spread across her face the way it had on everyone else's when Ethan slammed into the wall. I expected questions, anger, maybe even that quiet disappointment she got when I did something stupid.
Instead, she lifted her hands and cupped my face like she was holding something fragile.
Her thumbs brushed lightly against my cheeks while she studied me, and then she smiled.
The smile wasn't soft the way it usually was when she tried to comfort me. There was something sharper behind it, something almost triumphant that made a strange chill crawl up my spine.
"I d
