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It Was Too Late

Mother wasn’t even home when went to bed last night.

I had stopped asking myself where she was, stopped asking her to explain herself. Now, I’m used to living my life as if I’m on my own. It’s why I asked her to make sure my school is within walking distance.

I can’t depend on her for anything.

I leave home early this morning, not wanting to run into her coming home from a drunken night. Yesterday wasn’t the best of first days of school, but I somehow convinced myself today would be better.

The walk is short and when I step inside the gated campus, my heart slams in my chest in excitement. I’m going to see Aiden again. I know it’s silly to hyper fixate on someone so quickly, but he was nice to me.

Jace’s comments yesterday did have me up last night wondering what he meant, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try and make Aiden seem worse than he is.

I step into first period, and Aiden is sitting in our seats from yesterday, waving his hands to catch my attention.

“What’s up, Florida?” He winks, shooting me a disarming smile and my insides turn into puddles.

“You do remember my name, right?”

He laughs. “Yes, Alina. How was detention yesterday?”

I don’t get to tell him how it was, Mr. Admas begins his lesson quickly, avoiding me the entire time as he teaches. Not once does he look in our direction, even when we talk loud enough to interrupt the class.

Everything goes normally until lunch, where I find myself alone. I purse my lips, looking down at my tray of school pizza, applesauce and chocolate milk. I throw it away, taking an apple from a bowl and making my way to the tables they have outside.

I find an empty table, sitting at it as I rub my scar. The apple crunches loudly, and its juices runs down my chin. It’s sweet, right at the perfect ripeness.

I hear a loud commotion and my attention is drawn to a large group of people that are crowded around a table. My eyes widen, my heart rate spiking when I spot Aiden sitting on the table with a girl on his lap.

She straddles him, her back to me. She has curves, her shirt riding up to show most of her back. Aiden is laughing, throwing his head back as she wraps her arms around his neck and laughs with him.

He…he has a girlfriend?

I take a bite from the apple, still watching.

She grips his chin, forcing him to look at her and she kisses him. He doesn’t stop her, his hands gripping the skin of her back and lowering down to cup her ass.

Heat coils in my stomach.

I wonder what it feels like to be touched like that. Especially by someone like Aiden. Muscular, big hands, handsome. He looks like he knows what he’s doing. My mouth dries.

I lift my eyes from her to him and I gasp, freezing in my spot when I catch him looking right at me. Those amber eyes gleam in the sunlight and they glare at me, watching me as he absolutely devours the girl with his kiss.

His fingers dig into her ass, and he moves her, practically grinding her on his lap.

But those eyes, those intense, teasing eyes, remain on me.

My skin prickles and I blink out of his focus, looking around to make sure no one is watching me. I toss the apple in the trash, my appetite gone and I walk away, looking over my shoulder once before entering the building.

He’s still watching me.

Still kissing her.

I shake my head and make my way into the building, searching for refuge in the library. My stomach twists, but I ignore it.

The library is mostly empty, so it doesn’t take long for me to find a table. I take out my notebook, opening it to fresh page so I can doodle until lunch time is over.

“Alina.”

I shut my eyes, breathing out at the sound of that familiar voice. All I wanted today was to not run into him, to not see him.

Zaid sits in front of me, Jace taking the seat beside him and their other lackey takes the seat beside me.

“What luck for us to run into each other again.”

“It’s more like bad luck,” I whisper under my breath, still not looking directly at him.

He chuckles. “Ouch.”

I lift my eyes to his, forcing myself to not tremble beneath his dark gaze. “What are you doing here? You don’t seem like the library type.”

Jace snickers, but he says nothing as Zaid frowns, pretending to be hurt. “Oh, do you think I’m stupid?”

I shrug, leaning back in my chair as I cross my arms over my chest. “If the shoe fits.”

That soul-cutting smile of his curls his lips. “Well, I think it’s time I show just how studious I can be.”

My heart rate picks up.

He digs in his pockets and fishes out his phone. “I did some research last night.”

I don’t know where this is going, so I just sit back and listen, eyeing the clock, hoping for the bell to save me.

“Alina Hanson. From Florida.”

Oxygen escapes my lungs, and I dig my fingers into my arms to stop the tears that prick my eyes. “Stop.”

“Found this interesting article about you.”

I grit my teeth, struggling to breathe. “Stop.”

“Alina Hanson, sole survivor of fiery crash that kills both her her brother and her father.”

My ears ring and the world around me spins. I have to close my eyes to center myself and I grip the table, feeling bile rise into my throat. Its a pull and a push, like a tidal wave.

I can smell the fire, the chemicals in the air, the gasoline and the hot asphalt beneath me. Burning flesh. My dad’s screams, Alex’s cries. It all comes back like lava flowing from a volcano, I can’t stop it.

I cried, I screamed. I told them to let me go, to not save me if they couldn’t save them. But it was too late.

It was too late-

Water splashes across my face and I scream, coming back to my senses.

My legs feel like jelly beneath me and I struggle to stand. I grip the sink in front of me, and when I look up, it’s Zaid who stands behind me, holding me up as he splashes water into my face.

His eyes are narrowed, and he watches me in quiet study.

He doesn’t apologize, doesn’t say anything, in fact. He just stares.

When I can finally put weight on my legs, he steps back and cocks his head.

I wipe my face dry with the paper towels, looking around to notice that we are in the men’s room. It’s empty though, and it’s just us two in the room.

“Is that how you got your scar?”

I glare at him, my nostrils flaring, but I don’t say anything, refusing to say anything. I try to walk past him, only to stop when he wraps his hand around my arm and pulls me back in front of him.

The bell rings to signify the end of lunch. Still, we stay exactly where we are.

He inhales, his shoulders rising as he reaches for the hem of his shirt, he lifts it all the way to his pecks and my eyes widen when I see the mess of scars on the left side of his torso.

Burns.

From his belly button to the beginning of his nipple.

My mouth parts in shock, a breath escaping me.

He drops his shirt, grabbing my arm again and leading me out of the bathroom. “Come on, we’ll be late to class.”

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