AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t!” she yells. “You want me to talk to you? Fine! You hurt me! I was there for you! I would have supported you through anything, and instead, you pushed me away and just fucking quit!”
The tears in her eyes hit me straight in the chest. “Len.”
“No! You don’t get to do that. You wouldn’t talk to me. I tried to help you, and you didn’t want it.” Her fight is weakening by the second, until she’s down to just above a whisper. “You chose to self-destruct.”
“I-I’m sorry,” I cry. “I’m so sorry, but I’m better now.”
She shakes her head. “You’re not.”
“I am, see?” I force myself to smile, despite the tears streaming down my face.
“And the nightmares? What about them?”
Even the mention of them makes me sick, reminding me that I’m broken. That I didn’t escape the trauma. That I didn’t rid myself of the pain.
“They’ll go away.”
Lennon looks as devastated and heartbroken as I feel. “You need help, Tess.”
“No.” I go to walk away. “No, I’m better now.”
“You’re not,” she repeats. “You won’t even admit what you did!”
Turning back around, I throw my hands in the air. “What do you want me to say? That I took the pills on purpose? Fine! I did it!” I sob. “I did it because I’m weak. Because I’m a failure. I took a whole bottle of pills in an attempt to kill myself, and I couldn’t even fucking succeed at that!”
At that moment, the elevator doors open behind me, and I freeze. Lennon’s eyes stay locked on mine as the last piece of my heart breaks.
“You what?” Delaney breathes.
I turn around to find both my sister and Asher standing there, looking at me with unadulterated fear etched across their faces. I swallow hard and wipe the tears from my face only for them to instantly be replaced by more.
“I’m okay, I swear. I’m better now.”
31
ASHER
Two Hours Earlier
I sit in Jon’s office, sweating as he rants and rages at me. When I admitted to dating one of my students, I knew shit was going to hit the fan, but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. He’s screaming loud enough for the whole school to hear him.
“What were you thinking?” he shouts. “How long has this been going on?”
I go to open my mouth, but he shakes his head.
“Don’t answer that.” Like a game of ping pong, he changes his mind. “No, do answer it.”
“I met her in a club, the night after I was hired here,” I explain. “It was an over-21 club. I had no idea she was even in high school until she walked into my classroom on the first day of school.”
He rubs a hand over his face and sighs. “Well, that’s at least better than my first thought, but it doesn’t change the fact that you continued the relationship after you knew. The parents are in an uproar, and rightfully so. I have no choice but to fire you, from teaching and from coaching.”
“I understand.” I stand up and extend my hand. “I’m sorry to disap
point you.”
He nods, accepting my handshake. “You’re lucky she’s over eighteen, son. Otherwise, I’d need to alert the authorities.”
I chuckle. “Trust me, if she weren’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
