Watching Nathan skate circles around me has to be the most frustrating thing in this entire world. He’s done nothing but taunt me since this game started, and I want to fucking throttle him for it.
“Damn Lucas, guess losing your girl really did a number on you” he laughs as Coach calls for a time-out.
I lunge at him but two sets of hands hold me back, both Davis and Blair shake their heads at me. “Just let me hit him, I don’t care if I get thrown out of the game, it’s his fault I lost her.”
Davis gives me a sad smile, “I think you did that to yourself.”
Now I want to punchhim.
Blair pulls me to our bench while I watch Nathan laugh with his teammates, like nothing happened last week, like he didn't just ruin my life.
The game continues and I bubble with anger on the bench, watching players move on the ice and ram into one another while fighting for the puck, but I’m barely paying attention. My mind is overrun with Claire, with thoughts of whether she’s okay or not, of what she’s doing and who she’s with. Everything revolves around her these days, and I’m helpless to stop it.
I come back to reality when a hand slaps down on my shoulder, Tony looks down at me with a scowl, “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you lately, but you need to sort your shit out. Now is not the time to have your emotions running wild.”
My whole world is shifting, how the hell am I supposed to focus when all I can think about is… The sound of sobbing shakes the arena, and the entire place goes dead silent.
thirty
CLAIRE
Tears burn in my eyes as Nathan spits venom at me over the phone, and even though I know that I need him to keep talking in order for my plan to work… I want to throw up.
Hearing his voice makes me sick to my stomach, and all the memories from that night come flooding back, just as raw and hurtful.
“There is nothing you can do about it, sorry sweetheart” he chuckles. “No one is going to believe you over me, I’m untouchable.”
Untouchable my ass, he has no fucking idea who he messed with, “no one’s untouchable, not even you.”
“Keep your mouth shut and everything will be fine, I have a game to get to. See you around, Claire.”
A smirk twists my lips as he hangs up, and I stop the recording. Nathan Thomas is such an egotistical prick, he doesn’t believe anyone would dare to cross him…
I’m sick and tired of being everyone's victim, of being the helpless princess who doesn’t know how to stand on her own two feet. The world is going to see who Nathan really is, and I’m about to tear through his life like a fucking tornado.
I hope Lucas feels like shit.
He’s going to be in tears by the time I’m done with him, both of them are actually.
It’s going to be glorious.
My fingers itch to rip them apart like they did to me, and even though I’m no better for wanting this… it feels so fucking good. I’m always fighting that instinct that my parents instilled in me, to fight dirty and make those around me feel like shit, but for once I’m going to give in and let them see that I’m no longer going to just lay down and take it.
I cringe at my choice of words, feeling like there's a million spiders crawling up my spine pumping poison into my blood.
I’ve been falling apart for days –I’ll probably continue to for the next week– but for now, I want to be a brick wall, concrete,steel. I want to be an impenetrable force.
My bag hangs over my shoulder, and the thumb drive in my hand weighs a million pounds. So much tension, so much excitement. I just hope it works.
I can’t help but wonder what exactly is going to happen when I do this, there’s so many factors that I can’t even begin to consider. What if the staff stop me? What if Nathan gains enough courage and hurts me despite the crowd of people that will be watching? What if I lose my friends for good?
They aren’t your friends anymore.
* * *
My hands shake as I tie my skates in one of the unoccupied change rooms. Walking through the sea of people to get here was harder than I thought, there was so much noise, so many people… I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest.
Even though this is quite possibly the scariest thing I’ve ever done, I know that I have to do it. If not for myself, then for every girl he’s possibly hurt in the past, and to prevent him from hurting anyone else.
