I’m sitting at my usual corner table in the library, head down, barely noticing the buzz of students around me. I’ve been staring at the same sentence in my textbook for what feels like an hour, but I can’t focus. My mind is drifting—back to Liam, to last night.
My pussy spasms at the memory of him being inside of me. The way it hurt but it felt so good when he took my innocence. The way his skin felt on mine.
The way I callled out his name as I came.
I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to shove the thoughts away, but they’re stubborn, replaying in my head like some terrible movie I can't turn off.
Then as if right on cue my phone buzzes.
I glance at it and see a text from Liam. My heart jumps for a split second, but then it sinks even faster when I read it:
We need to talk about what happened last night.
-Liam
I freeze, staring at the words. What’s there
The moment I check my phone and see the gray checkmark next to my message, a cold pit forms in my stomach. At first, I think it’s just bad signal, maybe she hasn’t seen it yet. But as the minutes stretch on and that gray checkmark stays stubbornly in place, it hits me.Celeste blocked me.For a second, I’m frozen, just staring at my phone, trying to process. This never happens to me. I’m the one who calls the shots, who decides when things are over. Not like this. Never like this. And now, all I can feel
A little while after I've calmed down. Nathan takes me to the beach.It wasn’t planned. I don’t even remember saying yes, but here we are. Skipping school like it’s the easiest decision in the world. After that scene in the library—after crashing into Nathan and making a spectacle of myself in front of Tamrin, Sadie, and Presley—I needed to breathe. I needed to get away from everything.And Nathan… somehow, he just knew.We’ve been sitting here on the sand for a while now. Th
I’m sitting at lunch with Sadie and Presley, and I can feel the anger boiling up inside me again. I can't help it. Celeste—she’s driving me crazy. She didn’t even reply to my text, and now she’s disappearing with Nathan like nothing matters. After that little tumble at the library door, she just walked out with him, parading around like she's in some romantic drama.I know she’s doing this on purpose. Pretending to bump into him like it’s all so innocent. Please. Who does she think she’s fooling?I take a bite of my sandwich, but I can’t even taste it. The frustration is too much. “You know what? I’m sick of this,” I say, louder than I intended. I can feel people turning to look, but I don’t care. “Celeste is seriously acting like she’s replaced us. With Nathan of all people. And she’s doing it right in front of us. I mean, am I the only one seeing this?”Sadie
As soon as Nathan walks through the door, I’m on him. I’ve been waiting all day, pacing the house like a caged animal. I need answers, and Nathan is the only one who’s got them. I don’t even give him a chance to drop his bag before I grab his arm and pull him toward me.“What’s going on with Celeste?” I ask, my voice coming out more desperate than I’d like.Nathan looks at me, confused, and pulls his arm out of my grip. “What are you talking about?”“You know what I’m talking about. The two of you went to the beach and skipped class, Nate. Something happened, and I need to know what.” I say and I can telll he's annoyed that I had someone following them but he has to know that nothing happens around here without me knowingHe sighs, running a hand through his hair, and for a moment, I think he’s not going to answer. “Liam, just leave me out of it. Go ask her”
I’m reaching for a box of cereal when I feel it—his presence. It’s like a dark cloud suddenly hanging over me, and before I can even turn around, I know. Liam.My heart speeds up, anger bubbling beneath the surface. I’ve been dodging him for three days. Three days of avoiding texts, ignoring calls, pretending he doesn’t exist. I’m not ready to see him yet. But here he is, and there’s no way out.When I finally turn around, he’s walking straight toward me, and he looks pissed. His jaw is clenched, his eyes sharp with anger, but I don’t care. If he thinks I’m just going to let him walk up and act like he’s the one who should be mad, he’s got another thing coming.“Celeste,” he growls, his voice low and angry.I don’t even flinch. “What?”He doesn’t answer, not right away. Instead, he steps closer, way too close for comfort, and grabs me by the
As soon as I leave the grocery store, my head is still spinning from the confrontation with Liam. I can’t believe what just happened. My heart's pounding, my breath shaky, but I keep walking, desperate to put as much distance between us as possible. I need air. I need space. I need to just get out of here.I’m almost at my car when I feel it—eyes on me. You know that feeling when you can just sense someone watching you, like a creeping sensation crawling up your spine? Yeah, that. My whole body tenses, but I don’t look up right away. I tell myself I’m just being paranoid, still reeling from seeing Liam.But then I hear it—a voice. Smooth, deep, and way too familiar for my liking.“Hello,” the man says.I freeze, my hand instinctively tightening around my car keys. Slowly, I lift my head, and that’s when I see him—a man standing just a few feet away, leaning against a car like he’s been wait
I stare at my phone, fingers hovering over Nathan's name in my contacts. My brain is telling me to stop, that this is going to make everything messier, but my heart is pushing me forward. I don’t feel like sitting in my room and crying over Liam anymore. I’ve done enough of that. And my friends… they’re not an option right now. I can’t invite them.Before I can second-guess myself, I type out a quick message to Nathan:Hey, feel like hanging out? I could use the
As I take another sip of my coffee, the peaceful silence wraps around me, but it’s fleeting. The memory of that man from earlier creeps back into my mind, sharp and unsettling. I try to push it away, but the way he looked at me—the mixture of lust and something darker, something dangerous—won’t leave me alone. His words echo in my head, sending chills down my spine."I see why Liam likes you so much, you're gorgeous."I freeze, my hand gripping the cup a little too tightly. Nathan’s sitting across from me, gazing out at the view, completely unaware of the storm building in my head. He’s calm, like always, just enjoying the moment. But I’m not. I can’t be.My eyes drift over to him, and it’s like he senses something. He turns his head slightly, his brow furrowing. Nathan’s quiet, patient, but I can see the question in his eyes. He knows I have something to say, but like always, he doesn’t
I wake up with a feeling of something being… off.Then I see him.Trevor.Sitting at the edge of the bed, watching me.A wave of disgust rolls through me so fast I nearly gag. My entire body tenses, my muscles locking in place. I don't move. I don't speak. I just stare at him, waiting, daring him to say something. If he thinks I’m going to cower, he has another thing coming.His lips curl into a slow, unsettling smile. "You're very beautiful when you're asleep."I frown at him, and his smile widens. The kind of smile that says he’s enjoying this—enjoying getting under my skin.I don’t react. I refuse to give him that satisfaction.
I should not be here.As soon as Nathan pulls up to the house and I see
I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.Maybe it’s the look on Nathan’s face—tight jaw, unreadable eyes, the kind of expression that makes it clear he knows something the rest of us don’t. Maybe it’s the way Tamrin has been acting, the way she flinches at everything and refuses to answer when I ask about Celeste.Or maybe it’s just the fact that Celeste isn’t here, and no one seems to have a real answer for why.So yeah, I might be crazy for chasing down Nathan Miller in the middle of a crowded hallway, calling his name like I’ve lost my damn mind. But I don’t care.He looks back at me when I call him, but he doesn’t stop walking. He just slows down slightly, like he’s debating whether I’m worth his tim
Trevor thinks he’s won.He leans against the desk, arms crossed, his mouth curled into that smug smile that makes my skin crawl. He thinks he has me right where he wants me. Weak. Hopeless. Dependent on his mercy.But he doesn’t know me at all.I keep my breathing steady, my expression blank, as I listen to Liam’s voice crackle through the phone. He knows. He knows I’m missing. And if Nathan spoke to Tamrin, it means they’re looking for me.That thought should terrify me—Trevor will hurt them if they get too close—but instead, it gives me hope.I knew Liam would come for me.The question
The second I step onto my front lawn, I see it.Another damn box.
I know something is wrong with Tamrin.She hasn’t said a word all period, hasn’t even pretended to listen when Presley started complaining about her nails breaking during warm-ups. And when I asked her about Trevor—just casually, just to see her reaction—she practically bit my head off before storming off.That’s not normal.Tamrin was obsessed with Trevor. Just last week, she couldn’t shut up about him. And now she won’t even say his name.And then there’s Celeste.She’s not here.Celeste hasn't missed school in a long time and I didn't think she would. And if she was sick, our homeroom teacher would have announced in the morning.
I lean against the fence, hands in my pockets, watching as Tamrin walks into the schoolyard. She moves like a ghost, like she’s here, but not really. She’s trying to act normal—shoulders squared, head up—but I see the cracks in the performance.Her fingers grip the straps of her book bag so tight her knuckles turn white. Every time someone brushes past her, she flinches, catches herself, then forces that mask back on.Guilt. Fear.I recognize it. I’ve seen it in men who know they’ve done something they can’t undo.She knows.And that means I know.Trevor has her wrapped around his finger. Maybe he threatened her, maybe he promised her safety if she stayed quiet. Either way, she’s playing along.I clench my jaw and force myself to breathe through my nose. I want to grab her right now, demand answers, shake her until she tells me where Celeste is.But Trevor is counting on that.
I wake up gasping. My sheets are drenched in sweat, my body shaking so hard my teeth chatter. The room is dark, but I swear I can still see it—the blood, the bodies, Celeste’s terrified eyes disappearing into that box.I squeeze my eyes shut, but it doesn’t help. The images are burned into my mind, playing on repeat, a nightmare that won’t end just because I’ve woken up.Celeste is gone.And I helped make it happen.My stomach twists violently, and I barely make it to the bathroom before I’m throwing up. My whole body convulses as if trying to rid itself of the horror, but it’s useless. No amount of dry heaving will erase what I did.I kneel there on the cold tile, breathing heavily, gripping the s
I stare at Tamrin, my throat tightening, my stomach twisting into knots so painful I feel like I might be sick. She won&rs