Chapter 4 #2
"OH MY GOD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BOYFRIEND, YOU STUPID SKANK?
" Josslyn's high-pitched screech draws both of our attention, and it's as if we're frozen, watching her run toward us in her high heels and a tiny skirt that barely covers her crotch, with her mouth wide open, and her friends on her heels.
She reaches me first, and her hand rises as if to slap me, but I dodge it at the last moment, and something snaps inside of me.
It's as if a dam breaks, and all the water rushes through, ready and willing to cause destruction.
My hand rises of its own accord and connects with the side of her face, and then my fingers grab onto a bunch of her hair, and I pull.
She releases a god-awful scream that threatens to shatter everyone's eardrums as she attempts to dislodge my hold.
"I'm going to kill you, you stupid bitch!
" She screams near my ear, and it causes me to yank harder until heavy tears slide down her face like a black river from her mascara.
"You were always full of yourself, Joss.
You don't scare me or anyone else. As for your nasty boyfriend…
" I raise my knee and land a whack to her heaving stomach, before shoving my other elbow into the middle of her back.
"Keep him the fuck away from me. I don't want to catch any of the diseases you two are sharing.
" I release her hair and shove her backward, and she stumbles, falling to the ground near Noah's feet.
I give her friends a furious glare, and they instantly put space between us, but don't utter a single word in defense of Josslyn.
Some fucking friends she has now, bunch of damn cowards.
I turn and walk away, my head held high and my shoulders straight, and force myself to take measured steps down the hallway.
I refuse to show them how much what just happened is tearing me apart on the inside.
Just as I reach the end of the hallway, and the door that releases me from this building, I look back to see Noah standing and staring at me intently while Josslyn is still trying to regain her feet, and he's doing nothing to help her.
She looks pitiful, her legs sprawled, and her skirt now around her waist, displaying her underwear for everyone to see.
Her hair is clinging to her face as she continues to cry, and her friends finally show some humanity and try to help her stand, but it's like watching a newborn fawn take their first steps.
Noah's eyes meet mine, his gaze searing into me even from a distance.
His hand rises to his lips, and he kisses his fingers and waves them at me, and my throat closes tightly with the gesture.
It's something he used to do whenever we parted here on campus for our own classes.
He always sent me off with a finger-kissed goodbye.
I feel the tears burning my eyes, and I know I'm seconds away from breaking down here in front of him.
I pull myself together, refusing to give either of them the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
I shove my side hard into the lever to open the door, and rush out into the wintry sunshine as I gasp for air and don't turn back.
My feet kick up into a steady jog as I dart around other students, the tears already starting to slide from my eyes as I swipe at them angrily.
I finally stop when I reach the back of the next building and duck into a copse of trees, my legs refusing to carry me any further as silent sobs wrack my frame.
My mind viciously replays his words over and over in my head.
"Have you missed me the way I've missed you, sweet baby girl? Does this heart miss mine?"
Lies. It's all lies. Noah Tisdale is full of deceit. I don't know what I ever did to deserve him wanting to hurt me so much, but it's obvious now to me that he never cared for me, and hates me. Why else would he say those things and put me through this?
I drag my hands down my face as I sit on the ground, my back resting against the harsh bark of one of the trees.
We were never truly in love; it was all some sick game he was playing with me.
I must have been incredibly amusing to him, falling all over him and bending myself backward to make him happy.
I lost a part of myself to Noah, and I know I will never get it back.
I'll never be the trusting or carefree girl I once was.
He's tainted everything for me, and he'll continue to do that if I keep giving him what he wants, a fucking reaction.
The last of the tears falls, and I use the back of my hand to wipe them away.
I can't continue to be this victim. I have to find the strength to move on from Noah and our traumatic relationship.
Maybe it all starts with allowing my fantasies to come to life.
To free me from all the things I hold back and refuse to acknowledge.
Perhaps if I had been willing to be honest, and explore some of my kinks without shame, Noah wouldn't have looked elsewhere for satisfaction.
One thing is for sure: I'm done allowing myself to be his punching bag.
He wants to come at me to hurt me some more, he's going to find that his victim has grown a lot more than just teeth.
I grab my bag off the ground and hoist it to my shoulder with determination.
Valentine's can't come soon enough. I have a feeling it's the change I need to become a better, freer version of myself without Noah Tisdale's influence.
It's time to become the woman I hide inside, and tell the world that continually judges me to go fuck itself.