When were they going to take responsibility?
“News flash, asshole,” Micha dug his finger into my chest, “he’s your old man too. Just because you didn’t spawn from his nut sack doesn’t mean he’s not your dad. He was there when you were growing up, dealing with all your shit.”
“Yeah, sure.” I rolled my eyes. “Next you’ll be telling me to talk to Freckles.”
“You know what, that’s a good fucking idea.”
Fuck that shit.
“She betrayed me!”
“Yeah, she did,” Micha narrowed his eyes and leaned in. “You ever ask yourself why?”
I tried asking her, so many times. She blew me off. So no, I didn’t ask myself why. I didn’t fucking care. Harper said I was a monster, so that’s what I became. The why didn’t matter.
But doesn’t it?
“You want the truth so bad, Mase, then go and fucking find it.” Micha shook his head and stormed out of the room, grumbling. “Stop playing the goddamn victim.”
I stood there staring after my brother. Maybe he had a point? I spent so much time focused on revenge that I forgot about the one thing I really wanted.
The truth.
If Harper was still here, I might beat it out of her right now, but she wasn’t. Must’ve slipped out during the fight. I balled my fists and glared at the door. Yeah, I wanted the truth, but I also wanted revenge. There was no reason I couldn’t have both.
Silas dropped his hand on my shoulder. “Mase…”
“Don’t.” I shrugged away and stormed outside.
Micha wanted me to stop playing victim, fine. I’d take on the role of executioner.
Judgement day has come, Freckles. I hope you’re ready.
Everybody had scars.Whether they be visible or internal, every person out there had their own story of pain and misery etched into their soul. Some carried nothing more than a paragraph of information, while others had already started writing over their first draft. Trauma is what psychiatrists called this distressing story.
But what if those marks weren’t carved in by evil?
The worst scars weren’t born out of hate and malice. They were self-inflicted. Lana argued that I didn’t deserve Mason Kessler’s wrath, but this was so much bigger than she thought.
Would you hurt someone you cared about if it saved them from something worse? How much pain would you endure to protect them?
That’s why those scars were impossible to get rid of. They were born out of love. And love, no matter how small or fleeting of a moment, always left its imprint behind.
So yes, the pain and suffering was there, but deep down underneath was the smile of a green-eyed little boy. And that memory was the most heart-wrenching of them all.
Trauma didn’t have anything on love.
My heart thundered as I ducked behind a bush and snuck along the treeline. I’d managed to slip out when Micha and Mason started arguing, but it wouldn’t be long before someone noticed I was gone. Star had already texted me twice, and Riley…
I glanced at my ringing phone before tucking it back in my pocket.
This was her third call. I tried texting Shelby and telling her I was okay–she was the only person I knew that could calm Riley down–but obviously that didn’t work. I didn’t want Riley to show up asking questions. Or worse, her dad.
The last time I was questioned by the sheriff, I almost messed everything up. I still wasn’t sure if he believed my story, but he’d left me alone. The last thing I wanted was for him to start poking around again. Look how that turned out for Tico.
How stupid could I be? I knew better than to expose myself like that around other people. I could’ve waited until I got home to check my injuries. Why did I have to look at them there? It didn’t hurt that bad anymore. At least I could breathe now. There wasn’t much I could do about it now.
All I had to do was convince them that it was an accident, meaning I needed a better excuse than ‘I fell.’ I needed something that they would buy.
