Page 4 of Unbreakable

But looking at him, I see someone who’s actually trying and that terrifies me more than his toxicity ever did.

“Fine,” I say. “You’re trying. Good for you. But trying doesn’t erase what happened. It doesn’t make us friends. It doesn’t make me not hate you.”

“I know.”

“And it doesn’t give you the right to expect forgiveness,” I add quickly.

“I’m not expecting forgiveness.”

“Good. Because you’re not getting it.”

I push past him, back to the living room, back to the safety of the group. My hands are shaking, and I can’t decide if it’s from anger or something else entirely.

Behind me, Tyler stays in the kitchen. Alone.

And I feel like I’ve won something, even though it doesn’t feel like a victory.

Chapter 2

Tyler

Cassie hates me. This is not news. But it’s also not something I’ve fully accepted until tonight.

I knew she disliked me. I knew she was angry about sophomore year. Knew she’d written opinion pieces that were, let’s be honest, about the culture I was part of.

But seeing her face when she turned around in that kitchen, the pure contempt, the barely contained rage made it real in a way it hadn’t been before.

I deserve her hatred. I know this. I’ve spent the past eighteen months in therapy trying to understand how I became the kind of person who would stand silently while his friends tore someone apart. How I could see something wrong and do nothing about it.

The answer is that I was a coward. A privileged, arrogant coward who cared more about fitting in than doing the right thing.

And Cassie was my victim. Not directly, but complicit through silence is still complicit.

Carter finds me in the kitchen after Cassie leaves.

“That went well I see,” he says dryly.

“She hates me.”

“Yeah. She does.” He leans against the counter. “She’s not wrong, either. You were an asshole sophomore year.”

“I know.”

“But you’re not an asshole now. So.” I look at him drinking his beer.

“So what? So I’m supposed to just accept that she’ll never forgive me? That every time we’re in the same room, she’s going to treat me like I’m the scum of the earth?”

“Maybe. Or maybe you keep showing her that you’re not the person you were. You don’t do it for her forgiveness. You do it because you need to be someone you can respect.”

“That’s very philosophical.”

“I learned it from watching Jackson try to win Priya back. And from Ryder learning to ask for help. And from Maya choosing to keep living even when it was hard.” Carter claps my shoulder. “You’re not suddenly going to be redeemed. But you can work on actually being better. And maybe someday, she’ll see that.”

I remember the time Carter used to be an asshole, I mean if he can change anyone can.

“And if she doesn’t?”

“Then at least you’ll know you tried.”