by Bella King
I sighed. “How can I trust you, Apollo? Why do you make it so hard for us to have something special?”
“We do,” he said, but I could see by his face that he was struggling to justify this even to himself.
“Jesus, now I have to deal with both of you on my fucking ass about this. It’s toxic, Apollo, toxic.”
“I now. We’ll fix it,” he replied, stepping closer to me.
I stepped back, rejecting his advance. “Fix this shit and fix this stupid shit on my locker. I’m tired of people harassing me because of you.” I began walking away.
“Where are you going?” Apollo called out to me.
“Home,” I shouted, trying to fight the tears as they began to well up behind my eyes. I pushed past a group of guys hanging by my locker, snickering as they hung a pair of panties on it.
Chapter 25
Once cut, some ties can’t be repaired.
I stormed home, growing more and more pissed off with every step that I took. This wasn’t my fault, but both Cora and Apollo had made me feel like I was the one who had caused it. For one, Cora had lied to me about Apollo and her. She wanted to keep him for herself, giving me advice laced with personal gain on her end.
The next issue I had with all this was the way Apollo had handled it. He never told me about Cora, suggesting that I ditch her as a friend before, and now shrugging like she was acting crazy for no reason. This could have been avoided if everyone was honest with me. I probably never would have fucked Apollo if I knew.
Then again, that was probably why Apollo never told me. They both had reasons to keep their involvement a secret from me, and now I didn’t have anyone left to trust. I simply didn’t have friends left at Winterlake Prep. Apollo had made sure of that when he started a hate campaign against me, throwing my panties into the locker room and painting me as the school slut.
I made it a point not to hear any more of his bullshit until he fixed the rumors and restored my image. I danced with the serpent, I got bitten, and now I needed to ask the snake himself for the antidote. What kind of nightmare had I gotten myself wrapped up in?
Cold droplets of rain began to pour from the sky as I rushed home in the middle of the day. My parents would be at work, which meant they wouldn’t know that I skipped school. I didn’t need them prying into my personal life when I came back crying in the middle of the day, soaking to the bone by the autumn rain.
My jacket wasn’t waterproof, and the rain quickly found its way in, cooling my hot skin as I cried. My mascara ran down my face. I had bought it to be beautiful, and now I didn’t care. Everything came crashing down so fast. What I thought was heaven was the route straight to hell.
It was dreary, hopeless, and bitter outside. The wind swept the soggy leaves up and glued them to my legs as I walked. Puddles formed beneath my feet, soaking through my flats into my thin socks. My feet began to grow numb as I walked on the gray pavement.
Winterlake was a beautiful city, but today all I could see was ugly in the mansions that I passed on the way home. Their perfect white paint and silver decorations were too neat and bland for my taste. They had no emotion, stone-cold like Apollo had been at times before we began fucking. The houses reflected their owners.
Even the one I lived in was bland on the outside. I still hadn’t had the window fixed, which should have probably been done when my father was so excited about the business deal with Apollo’s dad. He would have happily agreed to anything at that point, but I was too wrapped up in Apollo to take advantage of that opportunity.
It was tempting to blame everything wrong in my life on Apollo, but I had to take responsibility for some of it. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so weak. Whatever happened to staying strong and ruining Apollo? Whatever happened to listening to Cora and taking her advice?
I shivered in the pouring rain, my fast walk turning into a jog as I came around the bend to my house. I was ready to be warm again, growing weary of this cold. I wanted to jump in the shower and wash everything away while I cried. Maybe I would feel better after that.
When I got home, I waited to go inside, pulling out a wet pack of cigarettes from my jacket pocket. Apollo had bought these for me after we had devoured the ones I had at home. I knew that I should probably toss them, but my will to take care of myself was weaker than ever before, so I opened the pack, praying that they were still dry enough to smoke.
I was pleasantly greeted by perfect white rows of dry cigarettes. I guess the packaging as good enough to keep out the rain. I pulled on out and placed it between my lips, wiggling a lighter out of my waistband and sparking it up.
The gray smoke matched the color of the air, almost invisible against the gloomy sky. I gazed off into the distance as far as I could through the rain. It was falling down so hard now that I couldn’t see past a few yards. Crazy.
The heat of the cigarette did little to warm my soggy body, and I retired it early into the wet lawn. It went out instantly in the pouring rain, turning into a wet pile of half-burned tobacco and cheap white paper. The only thing that would remain after this rain was the filter.
I turned and walked into the house, leaving deep, wet footprints on the rug as I walked upstairs with my shoes still on. I needed a hot shower. The rain had chilled me all the way to my core and needed to warm myself up.
I turned the water up to full blast, the golden knob shuddering for a moment at the sudden force of the water pressure. One, two, water. It flowed from the showerhead down into the tub. It was like rain, but much more comforting than what I had been greeted by on my walk home. This time, it was hot, and I was naked.
I ignored the buzz of my phone as I stepped in. It rattled beside the sink where I had placed it to dry. Thank god, most phones are waterproof nowadays. Otherwise, I would have ruined a good few of them this year.
I knew that it was either Cora or Apollo now that I had his number unblocked, who was trying to get in touch with me. I didn’t want to speak to either of them right now. I was already naked and ready to clean off the little splatters of dirty that had crept up my legs when I walked in the rain.
I closed the fogged shower door and relaxed into the pleasant heat. I had it up much hotter than I usually did, making my skin bright pink almost instantly. I wondered what the difference between this and the summer heat was. One was unbearable, and the other put me in a state of sheer bliss. It was funny how that worked.
Lightened cracked outside my window so close that the thunder came at the same time, rolling through me like the bass at a tiny concert venue with oversized speakers. It was deafening, and far too close for me to remain comfortable taking a shower. I didn’t want to be electrocuted, but part of me was masochistic enough to stay in.
A second strike was all it took for me to give that up and jump out for fear of my life. I toweled myself off, satisfied that I had warmed my core back up enough to feel alive again. The cold really does something to numb the soul, and coupled with the emotional pain, I had felt like a nobody out there.
Now, I had a bit more strength to face the remainder of the storm I was in, but I hoped to god it wasn’t going to go on much longer. I wanted peace, not war, but I had little choice in the matter now. I had relationships to repair, obligation to keep, and a school to graduate from. I wouldn’t be smart to throw myself under a train just yet.
Chapter 26
We are all vulnerable, no matter how strong we seem on the outside.
I didn’t have tears in my eyes anymore, having cleaned off the makeup smudge beneath them. I looked fresh, and I felt fine as I grabbed my phone and went to my bedroom to check who had texted me.
It was Cora.
“Call me,” the message read.
I considered deleting it, but then figured she might feel guilty about blowing up on me at school. It was out of line, and very much out of character for her to do. I hoped she saw that and backtracked a bit.
I pressed on her contact image, a glowing smile on a backdrop
of daisies, and called her phone, waiting for only one ring before she picked it up.
“Hey Georgia,” she said, her voice sounding strained from the yelling and crying.
“Hey Cora, how are you feeling?” I asked, trying to be as gentle as I could with my words.
“Like shit,” she said, chuckling weakly.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, so do I,” I replied.
“No, it definitely doesn’t. I didn’t mean to blow up on you back there. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad. I’m just hurt by the way Apollo lied to me about you.”
“He lied to you?” I asked.
“He told me he wasn’t going to get involved with you. I thought we could all just go our own ways. I’m sorry to take is so personal, but I really had feelings for him.”
“Do you still have feelings for him?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think I did, but now that you guys are together, I don’t know what to feel.”
“Listen, I didn’t know that this would happen. He manipulated me into it, and I guess I ended up liking him anyway. Does that make sense?”
There was silence on the other end. I knew that Cora was struggling to find the words to express herself without offending me.
“You can speak freely. I’m not that sensitive,” I assured her.
A sigh. “Georgia, you’re my best friend, so I’m not going to let this come between us.”
Thank God.
“But you need to promise me that you’ll be careful. Apollo is charming, but he’s a double edges sword. The man can steal your soul and leave you hurting if he wants. He did that to me, so I don’t trust him.”
“That part concerns me,” I admitted. “He really seems like he’s all about me, but after hearing what happened between you two, I don’t know how I can trust him.”
“Don’t trust him, but I’m not saying you should end it because of my experience. It might be something totally different between you two.”
“I hope so,” I said, trailing off.
“Me too. Just be careful, okay?”
“I will. I need to talk to that asshole anyway, get this sorted out properly.”
“Do that, please.”
“Are you sure you’re going to be fine, Cora? This has to be tough for you,” I said.
“I’m fine,” she replied, but she sounded like she was on the verge of tears again.
There wasn’t much I could do but let her cry it out and accept the fact that Apollo wasn’t hers to keep. Perhaps he wasn’t even mine to keep, but I would have to have that conversation sooner or later. It was better to get this done sooner.
I hung up the phone after saying goodbye to Cora and went to dial Apollo, except I didn’t have to. There was a heavy knock on the front door, and I knew instantly that it was him. I rushed downstairs to confront him, skipping the last few with a daring jump. I slid on the carpet, the bottom of my foot growing hot from the friction against the rough fabric, and I dashed to the door.
Chapter 27
Love hurts more often than people think. The key is to know when it’s worth it.
When the door came open, I was met with a handsome man with the serpent green eyes, tattoos creeping down his arms, towering over six feet tall, and drenched from the short walk from the driveway to the door.
“Cora is pretty upset about all this,” I said, standing with my hands on my hips.
“I know,” Apollo said, stepping in. “Maybe you want to go for a ride?” He asked, looking over me to check if anyone was home.
“I’m alone, but I don’t know when my parents will get home, so I guess that’s a good idea,” I replied. “Let me get a raincoat.”
Apollo nodded, leaning against the wall and quietly watching me as I pushed through the arrangement of expensive coats in the hallways closet. I finally found a shiny red coat that my mother had bought for me on my 18th birthday. It would do nicely.
“Let’s go,” I said, pulling my arms through the sleeves and walking to the door.
“This thing with Cora. I don’t know what she told you, but it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Apollo said, his voice growing louder to counter the sound of the rain as we stepped onto the porch.
I ran to his car as the doors opened automatically, ignoring his speech until I was back in the dry warmth.
“You were saying?” I asked as he climbed in beside me and shut the door.
“I was saying that Cora and I were barely involved. I shouldn’t have led her on, and it didn’t last for very long. She was a total virgin when we fucked.”
“So was I,” I said. “Are you going to do the same thing to me?”
“I’m done stealing women’s innocence, okay? That wasn’t my intention with you,” Apollo explained, pushing strands of wet hair from his forehead. He pushed the starter on the car, and it silently came to life. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Georgia.”
Fuck, I didn’t see that coming. It was me who was supposed to be the weak one, falling head over heels for some stupid jock who fucked my friend and left her last year. I was supposed to be the one who foolishly forgave him, getting screwed out of my innocence and left to pick up the pieces when he got bored of me. That’s how I assumed this would play out, but it wasn’t going that way. Apollo was telling me things I never thought I would hear from him.
“Why didn’t you tell me that before? Why did you wait so long?” I asked.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone this time,” he replied, backing out of the driveway and pulling onto the flooded street. “I already did enough damage with Cora.”
“What about the party last year? What was that about?”
“The one when Cora interrupted us?” He asked, redundantly.
“Yes,” I replied, crossing my arms and pursing my lips at him.
“That was after her, and I fucked. It was a mistake. That whole thing was a mistake. It was also why I didn’t come back to school immediately after I got kicked out. You know the truth. My dad owns the fucking place. He could get me back in whenever he wanted, but I chose to take a break because I didn’t want to get into all the drama again,” Apollo said, the words spewing so fast from his mouth so fast that I could barely catch them.
He paused, looking over at me. “But I couldn’t stay away.”
“You could have been less of a jerk to me,” I replied.
“I’m not the best at expressing myself,” Apollo said.
“You can say that again,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not forgiving you for all that so quickly. You need to make amends with Cora first.”
“How?” Apollo asked, his eyebrows squiggling back in quiet desperation. “She either loves me or hates me, or both.”
“Hey, that’s my job, not hers. I think you two can have a mature conversation about this if you stop acting like you’re the victim. Just tell her that you’re sorry, and mean it.”
Apollo shrugged, turning a corner in the pouring rain. “I guess I could try.”
“Don’t try,” I said, staring at him intensely. “Do it, or we’re finished.”
“Woah, feisty girl,” Apollo joked, trying to take the edge off my words.
I wasn’t going to let that happen. “Don’t try me, Apollo.”
He grew serious, nodding his head. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“I’m fucking hungry,” I said, switching topics.
“I was about to say the same thing,” Apollo said, pulling off onto another road with a sign displaying fast-food joints. “I need something greasy. I got a game coming up, and I want to pig out before the couch makes me get back on my pregame diet.”
I laughed, leaning back on the smooth leather car seat and closing my eyes. Things might actually turn out alright.
Chapter 28
Rumors don’t fade easily.
When I returned to school the next day, I noticed that someone had cleaned the graffiti off my locker. I smiled, thinking it was Apollo until some girl that I never me
t before in my life walked up to me and pursed her lips together as if it pained her to talk to me.
“Sorry,” she said, clasping two small hands behind her back.
“Sorry for what?” I asked.
“Your locker. Apollo said I had to clean it because you weren’t a slut.”
“Well, that’s true,” I said.
She looked doubtful, nodding, and turning away quickly to remove herself from my presence. I guess Apollo was out trying too right some of his wrongs, but some of these students wouldn’t change their minds that easily.
I was grateful for the effort, at least. It was hard enough at school already without stupid seniors jumping on the slut train, pointing fingers to hide their own embarrassing behavior. I was never one to entertain this kind of drama, and I wouldn’t start doing so now.
I caught sight of Cora down the hall at her locker and quickly scrambled to unpack my books so that I could go meet her. She lingered by her locker when she saw me waiting for me to get there.
“Hey, how are you?” I asked, searching her face for some indication of how she felt.
“I’m okay. Apollo called me last night.”
“He called you?” I groaned. “He was supposed to talk to you in person.”
“No, that’s okay. I don’t really want to see him right now. He did apologize, though, for everything that happened.”
“Did he sound honest?” I asked, checking to see if he had listened to me.
“Yeah, he actually sounded pretty pathetic, to be honest. I guess you whipped him good.”
I laughed. “You could say that.”
Cora smiled. “I think we all feel pretty pathetic right now, though. It’s tiresome being on someone’s case.”
“You’re telling me. That’s some real wisdom,” I replied.
She nodded, knowing that she was right again. She always was, except maybe this last time about Apollo. She was allowed to be wrong occasionally. I was a lot more times than she was.
“Hey, are we still on for that sleepover?” I asked, tilting my head and giving her a winning smile.
