Chapter 27 Aria #2
Maddie catches sight of us from across the room, her blonde hair swept up to reveal the deep V-cut in the back of a silky, midnight-blue gown. She tilts her head toward Hunter, whispers something in his ear, and he answers with a nod before lifting a hand in a quick wave to Jayce.
The music dips along with the sinking feeling in my stomach, transforming from a loud beat into a slower rhythm. Around us, the crowd begins to shift. Movements slow. Bodies press closer together as everyone falls into a silent dance.
Jayce takes the opportunity to slip a hand in mine, dragging me forward, and I begrudgingly follow, every tightening muscle in my body begging to stop.
He wraps a hand over my waist, pulling me in and guiding one of my hands across his chest. My clutch dangles from the other hand, pinned between us as I brace against his shoulder.
I avoid looking at him, my eyes drifting somewhere into the sea of moving bodies behind him.
“Ease up a bit, will you?” he chastises, his fingertips digging into my hips, bringing on a rush of moisture to my eyes. “Seriously, you’re about to cry? Stop being so dramatic.”
“You’re blackmailing me,” I clip.
His brows furrow as he wets his lips, shaking his head in disbelief. “Blackmail? Aria, you sent that photo to me.”
I take a slow, measured breath, trying my best to appear calm and collected, but his voice scrapes the restraint from my chest, grinding it into dust, sharp and stinging as it hits my eyes. “So you won’t leak the picture if I decide to leave right now?”
A small breath escapes his lips. “I don’t get it. You used to enjoy my company,” he says, tilting his head to the side, trying to catch my attention again, but I glance away, shaking my head. Our bodies stop swaying. His voice darkens, the tone turning sharp and cold. “Unless there’s someone else.”
“No,” I begin, but the rest of my words collapse into a trembling sob. The tears finally spill. Cutting through the careful canvas Clara painted onto my face, through the perfect little facade I’ve tried so hard to hold together. The illusion shatters.
My teeth clamp down on the inside of my cheek, willing the tears to stop, but it’s too late.
They keep coming. Unstoppable now. Somehow, I find the strength to push myself off him.
Without hesitation this time, I bolt from the room—past the empty table and down the hall, through the heavy double doors.
Gasping. Sobbing. One hand flies up to angrily swipe the tears away, smearing dark shadow and eyeliner into my fist.
I hate that I cried in front of him. How small it makes me feel. Helpless. Fragile. Like an empty shell used to its fullest extent before being thrown out.
Exactly like my mother.
I blink into the cool, late breeze, letting it soak up what’s left of the moisture in my eyes and the mess on my face.
I’m nothing like her. I’m not even the same version of me that I was at the start of the school year. That quiet girl, too afraid to draw attention to herself. Always hesitant. Desperate for control.
It’s true, life can be cruel, and I can’t always control what happens around me. But I can control my part. Nobody else is in control of me. I make my own choices.
The doors click open behind me, startling me out of my thoughts. I glance over my shoulder, head spinning as I hear Jayce calling after me, my ankle twisting in the stupid platforms Clara paired with this dress.
I steady myself, the sharp sting dulling into a throbbing smolder as I push through it, walking faster down the side of the building, farther from him.
“Aria, stop!” he calls out again. “You’re acting crazy.”
I don’t look back a second time. I keep walking. The pain in my ankle is nothing compared to the deep ache in my chest. Eventually, he’ll stop following once he realizes I’m not going back.
“Hey!” he shouts again, louder now, the sound spiking my adrenaline. “Just slow down. Let me talk for a sec.”
He catches up to me, clamping a hand on my shoulder as he spins me around, eyes wide and frantic. “Just listen to me, damn it,” he says, jerking my shoulders in his grasp like I’m a ragdoll.
“No!” I snap, shoving him. Tears rising again, hot and furious as I drive into him harder. “Don’t touch me. Don’t you dare touch me.”
“Aria—”
If he doesn’t let go in the next second, I swear I’ll start screaming like an actual crazy person. I open my mouth to warn him, but he backs up almost instantaneously, like a magnetic force snapping him away.
My breath catches. It takes a second for my senses to sharpen, for my brain to catch up to what is happening.
When Jayce speaks again, his voice comes out strained, almost breathless. “What the…? Who the hell are you?”
My heart leaps out of my chest as I blink through tears, tilting my head up to see who it is. A crashing wave of dizziness hits when our eyes meet. Gray. Cold. Familiar.
It’s him.
Not a dream. Not a phone call.
He’s here. Standing in front of me.
Ledger grabs a fistful of Jayce’s collar and yanks him higher, lifting him to eye level like he weighs nothing.
He narrows his eyes on my classmate, sharp, daggered, and unflinching.
“Are you deaf, or just fucking dumb? She said, don’t touch her.” His voice drops low, vicious, a dark vibration that tears a violent shiver out of me. I know what he’s capable of when he’s angry. And right now, he looks like he could gut him. Just like he did to the last guy he dragged off of me.
Jayce’s face drains to an unnatural shade of white, his voice cutting off from the pressure Ledger’s putting on his throat. My heart slams into my ribs.
Oh, God.
He’s going to suffocate him.
“Stop, please stop,” I cry out, finally finding my voice. “He can’t breathe!”
Ledger’s grip loosens when he hears me, just enough to lower him slightly, but not to let go. “Listen. And listen to me real close, because you’ll be sorry if I have to repeat myself,” he growls, jaw tight. “I never want to see your punk ass near her again. Got that?”
Jayce whimpers, his knees caving inward. He looks impossibly small next to him, like a boy realizing he’s come head-to-head with someone bigger and far more dangerous than himself. He just has no idea how much. Not like I do.
“What the hell, man? You’ve got this all wrong,” Jayce gasps, sounding downright pathetic as his head shrinks back into his shoulders. Like a frightened turtle. Prey and predator.
“Got. That?” Ledger repeats, his grip tightening. Jayce sputters out his compliance at record speed, a vein bulging in his forehead before screwing his mouth shut, hoping it’ll speed his release.
My stomach clenches tight. Apprehension quaking in the pit of it.
“Wait,” I choke out, both heads snapping toward me. “He has something on…” My cheeks burn. “His phone.”
Ledger pauses. The silent stretch shorter than a heartbeat before it registers. He doesn’t ask for clarification. Doesn’t need to. His attention cuts back to Jayce like a swift blade to the jugular. “Get out your phone. Now.”
He doesn’t shout. His voice is deathly low, but it makes the fine hairs on my arms lift. Quiet. Certain. That tone terrifies me more than if he’d broken into a rage. The restraint in it bone-chilling.
Jayce feels it, too. His gaze jumps to mine, stricken, his bravado cracking at the seams. I’ve never seen any of the jocks at school this terrified before, and secretly…I like it. More than I should.
His brows pull together, like he actually still expects me to be on his side.
But we both know he’s been holding that photo over my head this whole time, and will continue to do so if given the opportunity.
There’s no way I’m letting him get away with it.
Not this time. So I keep quiet, my mouth clamped shut.
Jayce’s expression fractures, something uncertain flickering in his eyes, like he’s just now sensing an undercurrent he’s not part of. He glances away, swallowing hard as he fumbles to scoop up his phone.
“Unlock it,” Ledger says, nodding at the phone trembling in Jayce’s hand.
“What—come on, man,” Jayce says, glancing back at me, panic breaking through now, raw in his voice. Still expecting me to step in. Still clinging to the hope that I’ll save him once I catch up to how bad this is.
I don’t.
When he realizes that, something in his face shifts, a mean glint cutting through the fear in his eyes. “That’s who it was for?”
I cringe, my eyes dropping to my silver heels. My ankle throbs, so I shift my weight slightly to take the edge off, keeping my focus there.
Ledger shoves him forward, breaking his line of sight. “Eyes up here. You have less than a fucking second before things get much worse for you.”
Jayce grits his teeth and keys in his passcode, his fingers rigid, like he’s choking down the last of his pride just to obey.
Ledger snatches it out of his hand, swiping through the screen until he lands on what I assume is the photo. His thumb stills. His face hardens.
A shiver-laced sweat slips down my spine.
My face prickling with heat, a visceral sting of humiliation threading through me.
He’s looking at it, at the image of me in my lace bra, lips parted, teeth tugging at the edge of my swollen bottom lip from that night he called.
I look away, eyes locking on the pavement as my heart flips hard.
Seconds later, I hear the notification of the picture being deleted before the phone crashes to the ground. He stomps over it, grinding it beneath a heavy, scuffed combat boot.
I gasp, my eyes widening at the crack of glass and the burst of plastic shards scattering across the asphalt.
“What are you doing?” Jayce cries, yanking at his hair, fingers fisting into the strands. “What the fuck, you fucking psycho—”
Ledger shoots him a menacing glare, sharp enough to make Jayce’s mouth snap shut and stumble back a step. Jayce’s eyes flick to mine instead, accusatory, like he’s on the verge of saying something but thinks better of it, before turning to retreat toward the building.
Oh, God. He broke his phone. Smashed it to pieces.
Relief courses through my chest as it sinks in. The photo’s gone. Deleted. Destroyed.
The feeling barely takes root before dread tears it loose, knotting itself deep in my gut.
What if Jayce brings someone back out here? Or worse, what if they try to call the cops to report an assault? This is bad. Really bad.
My heart pounds, eyes darting through the dark, but I don’t spot anything suspicious lurking around. It’s empty. Quiet. My gaze returns to Ledger, and I freeze, nerves fluttering sharp and jagged through every inch of me.
His eyes are fixed on me, the look in them intense, sharpening the flurry of nerves swirling in my stomach. He doesn’t seem as worried about what just happened. His focus hangs on me instead, pulling me into his secluded attention; the rest of the world’s fallen away.
Snapping out of it, he moves closer, wrapping a sturdy arm around my waist before guiding me off the sidewalk and into the road. His voice is gruff when he speaks again. “Follow me.”
My feet move on their own, just like they had the very first time. I don't fight it. Not even internally this time. I’d take anywhere over this place.
Up ahead, nerves spike my pulse when his old car comes into view, shiny and black, parked beneath the last stretch of streetlights at the far end of the road. I never thought I’d see it again. The headlights flash as we draw closer, not a single person in sight. Wordlessly, I climb inside.
I’ve never been one to believe in fate. But as my dress settles beneath me and the leather warms against my skin, I can’t help but feel we were bound to find our way back to this point again.