3

Cressida

The tension in the classroom didn’t seem to lessen with time. Everyone was whispering about how Savaş chose me over Blake. It felt wrong, but somehow right at the same time.

I ignored him for the rest of the class and even after it ended. I could feel his eyes on me constantly, but I simply kept on ignoring. 

No one called me or Talia any names as we walked through the hallways of the school to our lockers. Not one bad word got directed at us. I had to double check to see if Savaş or any of the horsemen were behind us because it would’ve been the only explanation after what happened today.

Savaş insulted Blake in front of everyone, for my sake. Not that I believe he actually helped me for… well, me. There has to be a reason behind that action of his, because there is no way that he just turned into a good person towards us. Not after all this time.

But I wasn’t sure what to feel about this whole thing. I had hated Savaş for a very long time… and I still do, but why exactly did he pull that stunt today? I couldn’t think of any reason to make him do that. Like why? 

While I was busy thinking about everything, I clumsily bumped into someone. A girl, judging by the shriek she let out as she fell. Talia and I quickly grabbed her before she hit the floor and helped her stand up straight. 

She had black hair, though not as black as mine. Her eyes were brown with a hint of… green in them. She looked like…

“I’m sorry for being clumsy. My name is Ember Monroe.” She extended her hand for me to shake and I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that she looked like someone. 

“I’m Cressida Arne, but I’m the one who should be sorry. I also couldn’t help but notice that you look like Jesper Varon?” She was like a copy paste of him, almost like… 

“Oh, that’s because we’re twins.” She laughed nervously, but why was she nervous? She was Jesper’s sister, meaning no one could say one word to her, so why did she even apologise to me?

“Ember, what are you doing here? I thought you were studying in France?” Talia sure as hell sounded tense as she asked this question, but I didn’t understand why? Damn it! I couldn’t understand anything because I forgot everything. 

I hate this feeling!

“Mom has a few fashion shows here, so she didn’t want to leave me alone in France. I’ll be studying here for a while. I hope that doesn’t bother you?” Ember’s voice turned into a mere whisper in the last sentence. It was official… something had to have happened between these two, and now I need to find out what it was. 

“No. No problem at all, but excuse us, we have to go now because Ida needs to refill her water bottle. For medical reasons,” Talia declared coldly. She took my elbow in her hand and started pulling me towards the girls’ bathroom. I was fast enough to catch the hint of disappointment and sadness in Ember’s eyes when she looked at Talia.

What happened between them?

I yelled loud enough for Ember to hear, “See you at lunch, Ember!” In the blink of an eye, she turned around to look at me and gave a grateful smile. I couldn’t return her smile, because Talia pushed me into the bathroom, closed the door, and stood behind it.

“So…” I trailed off when Talia pushed from the door and embraced me tightly. She let out a sob, and I wrapped my arms around her in an instant.

“Talk to me, Talia.” She only shook her head as she let everything bottled inside of her out silently. I couldn’t do anything to help her through whatever it was that happened to her.

After what came to seven minutes of crying, she finally pulled away from me, steading herself on the sink behind her.

“Remember the whole Oliver situation I told you about?” I nodded my head. Talia told me everything about the history she had with Oliver, but that’s a story for another day.

“Ember was the one who… who told him about the thing.” Talia was about to have another breakdown when her phone started ringing.

I watched as she took it out and answered while my brain was still analysing what she just said. Why would Jesper’s twin sister tell on Talia and destroy her relationship with Oliver? It didn’t make sense. 

I only sighed. Nothing made sense in this cursed town. 

“Ida!” Talia snapped her fingers in front of my face, earning my attention. 

“I have to skip what’s left of the day. Dad needs me to sign a few papers that involve our companies.” Right. Sometimes I forget that Talia is her parents’ only heir and that her father is already involving her in the family business.

I nodded my head, giving her a smile as we shared another hug.

“You’ll be fine, my little redhead,” I whispered, which earned me a giggle from Talia before she kissed my cheek and left the bathroom.

I refilled my water bottle and took my blood pressure pills, because I knew I would’ve forgotten them later, then left the bathroom. I went to the cafeteria while searching my bag for my food… which apparently I forgot on the kitchen counter this morning. 

I really felt like slapping myself as I headed to the parking lot. I would have to go and buy something that I’m allowed to eat, because the cafeteria sure as hell didn’t have my special food.

I was about to open my car door when someone placed their hand over my mouth, blocking me from screaming. They pushed my head against the top of the car by the nape of my neck.

I quickly tried to back-kick my attacker, but they were faster than me. As… he… it’s a he.

He pushed me further into the car by pressing his chest on my back, blocking all my movements. I was standing there helplessly as I tried screaming, even though his hand was still on my mouth, muffling every sound. 

Suddenly, that person leaned down so that his heavy breathing was beside my ear and every alarm in my brain went up. I’d felt that helplessness before. I had.

But nothing could’ve prepared me for the voice I heard beside my ear as my eyes widened. 

“Ignoring me wasn’t your smartest move, Güzel…” he trailed off for a split second when he noticed that I’d stopped my attempts to scream, but then continued. 

“And now it’s time to pay for your wrong move.”