"Charlie," I scream as I see her near the gate.
No, no, no. She can’t walk away. Not like this.
I bounce off a hard chest when I try to run after her. "Move the hell out of my way. I've got to get to her. You've got to let me get to her."
"No, the fuck you don't, mate. You're the reason she's running. If you think I'm going to let you go after her, then you really are much more stupid than is humanly possible."
Fucking David Baladucci.
"And you're stupid if you think I'm going to let you stop me. You're not getting her, man. I won't let it happen. She's mine."
Any other time, I'd probably be embarrassed about the way my voice breaks on that last word, but I don't have it in me to care right now.
Pain cracks through my jaw, making me stumble aside.
I taste blood as I lick the corner of my mouth, metallic and sharp. My fists clench so tight my nails break skin, drawing crimson. "Again."
David doesn't hesitate as he takes perverse enjoyment from his knuckles connecting with my face.
"Again."
I lose track of how many times I beg him to hit me, and he obliges. The pain in my body is nothing compared to the devastation I’ve inflicted on Charlie.
"I never wanted Charlie like that. She just deserved to feel desired because you were too focused on someone else to give her your time and attention. She's beautiful, and if she'd been friends with anyone else, I would have pursued her. You wouldn't have stood a chance." David folds his arms and straightens, staring me down. "You're done here, Keaton. And I don't just mean tonight. I mean at Granite Bay. Do you know how many people adore Charlie? About eighty-five percent of this University. There is something extraordinary about Charlie and how she is with people. Look at how she treated that girl you cheated with. She never made you choose between her and Rianna—it was your decision."
He shakes his head. "And you picked the wrong one. Charlie is the light people need, and tonight, we all watched you extinguish that. You crushed a fundamental part of who she was. You...you gave up a diamond for a piece of damn coal."
By the time he finishes, the whole party stands behind him, and from their glares, I am Granite Bay’s public enemy number one. Their sneers sharpen as their eyes land on me.
One of the two most hated people at Granite Bay.
Is this the emptiness she felt? This utter desolation?
Red stings my eyes as blood drips down, but I lift my chin to face my firing squad. "Do what you want. I earned it. But I'm staying, as long as she's here. My life belongs to her, even if she doesn't want me in it. If I have to eat shit, so be it. None of you will hate me more than I do. I broke someone who shouldn't have been broken, and I don't know why. I hope I find the answer, because she deserves it. But I'll never stop trying to fix what I broke, David."
It’s tragic that I only let myself be vulnerable in front of seventy-five classmates by breaking Charlie.
"Pretty little speech, dickhead. None of us gives a rat's ass, nor do we believe a word out of your mouth. Take that vile bitch beside you and get out of our faces," Jerica, David's sister, snarls from the comfort of her boyfriend, Reggie's, arms.
I felt Rianna walk up to me during my speech, but I ignored her. Now, she reaches out to grab my hand, and I yank it away viciously, aiming a lethal look her way.
"Do. Not. Touch. Me."
Is it fair to hate her as much as I hate myself? Maybe not, but I do. Every glance, every word, every touch is a reminder of what we ruined.
"She can find her own way out," I say in an empty voice.
"Keaton!"
Her voice scrapes my nerves as I push through the packed bodies. Each shove, each sneer, is a cruel reminder of everything I’ve lost.
You did this. This is your penance.
I squeeze my hands together to control the rage rushing through me as I finally make it clear. It demands I hit them to prove that I'm not worthless. Show them they don't get to shove me without consequences.
I close my eyes and draw a deep breath, letting the pain in my face ground me. My fists loosen as the rage fades as quickly as it flared.
Theydoget to shove me without consequence, because this pain, this guilt, is mine alone to carry.
