In the bathroom, I press my hands against the sink, inhaling slowly, counting under my breath.
One. Two. Three.
Calm down.
Four. Five. Six.
He’s not worth it.
Seven. Eight—
The moment I feel steady enough, I step out and head back to my locker. But when I open it, something cold seeps into my stomach.
My phone is lying there. Face up.
The screen—
Smashed.
Not just cracked, but shattered, like someone had taken a heavy object and slammed it on the phone several times.
My fingers tighten into fists.
I already know who did this.
My body moves before my mind does. I storm out the back door, knowing exactly where to find him.
He is leaning against the wall in the backyard, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. A few of the other staff are nearby, caught up in their own conversations.
When he spots me, his mouth stretches into a wicked grin.
I don’t stop, I march straight up to him, holding up my ruined phone, my pulse roaring in my ears. I want to scream at him, want to ask him why, but the words don’t come, they never come. Knowing my words only come freely when I’m with Alex infuriates me.
Jeremy just leans back lazily, blowing out a slow stream of smoke. His voice is as irritating as ever when he says,
“Do you have any evidence it was me?”
The way he says it makes my blood boil. I grip my phone tighter, my throat burning with all the things I want to say but can’t. I hate this. Hate how easy it is for him to run his mouth while I have to stand here, fists clenched, heart pounding, silent.
He watches me, waiting, knowing I can’t answer him the way he wants me to. And then he smirks.
“Don’t have something to say?” His voice is mockingly sweet. “Not like you can talk anyway.”
My jaw locks so tight it aches, but before I can react, someone else does.
“Jeremy, you’re such a loser.”
I turn just as one of my coworkers, Megan, marches up, fury burning in her eyes. Jeremy’s smirk falters. I had heard him tell Josh, one of our bakers, that he had a crush on her.
“Are you serious?” she snaps. “You broke his phone, and now you’re bullying him for not being able to talk? What do you get off on being a complete dick?”
Jeremy’s grin fades, and I see it—the flicker of uncertainty in his expression. He scoffs, pushing off the wall.
“I did not do that to his phone, and Whatever, it was a piece of shit phone anyway.” He seethes.
“Yeah?” Megan crosses her arms. “So are you.”
Jeremy glares at her but doesn’t say anything. He turns away, flicking his cigarette onto the ground and crushing it under his heel. A second later, he’s gone.
