Chapter 4: The Incident

It was finally Friday, and I had never been so relieved and stressed at the same time.

There was no trace of Axel throughout the whole week and I went out of my way to avoid any confrontation with Janet. Though the latter was a great achievement, the former only enveloped me in bountiful anxiety, one I couldn’t tone down despite my best efforts.

My constant insecurities kept running through my mind and slowly all the lies I kept telling myself to not have a mental breakdown were coming apart at the seams.

Every day I went to school in hopes of catching a glimpse of Axel only to end up in complete disappointment. I tried searching for him in places we usually hang out or I know he goes to. I even tried calling him several times a day using the old landline that was lying on the corner of our house, completely useless now.

But, of course, he didn’t pick up. At this point, I had a feeling that he won’t. But, it still didn’t stop the inkling of hope in my heart from dying.

Another new development that took place was the constant verbal bullying I was facing. It was so peculiar to think I was being subjected to constant verbal slaughter just a month away from my graduation. And it was even weirder that all of it was centered around the fact that I was dating Axel.

I couldn’t fathom the sudden backlash when we’ve been dating since I was sixteen. Either way, the harsh words were not easy to shrug off. Especially when they were designed to dig through my skin, and scratch at all of my buried insecurities.

It was already hard enough to not let self-doubt cloud my vision with Axel’s recent actions but when people point out your flaws at your most vulnerable moments, any kind of mental shields don’t work.

The only thing I took comfort in was that it would be over soon and that they weren’t physical. Or, at least, I was able to be thankful for the latter till today.

The memory flashed through my mind like a horror movie,

….........

One more week was finally over. I opened my locker and took out all my textbooks. Exams would start in about two weeks. I couldn’t afford to slack off. So, had to start paying more attention to my studies.

Just as I stuffed the last textbook in my bag, my locker was slammed shut by someone. I flinched at the loud noise and turned around to see who was responsible for it.

Unsurprisingly, two very familiar girls were standing behind me. Both of them had a wicked glint in their eyes and their smirking faces promised me trouble.

“Kaira, don’t you think Adelaide looks very sad today? What do you think is wrong with her?” Samantha, a girl with brunette hair, asked her friend in a mocking tone. I’ve become well acquainted with her in the past couple of days, much to my distress.

“Oh, you really don’t know, Samantha? Sweet little Axel finally realized that his toy has become too old to play with and decided to throw it away” Kaira replied in the same tone as her friend, ruthless and taunting.

The words sink in through my skin and settle there. They hurt more than I’d care to admit. I try to hold on to my blank façade, not willing to give them the satisfaction of seeing me bothered.

“Oh, yes. How could I forget? He realized that she is just a waste of time and ran to Janet’s arms, didn’t he? Did you know that Adelaide?” Samantha asked with faux sympathy in her voice, her eyebrows raised and eyes wide.

‘No, I don’t know. And no matter how true it sounds, I won’t believe a word until I hear it from Axel’s lips’ I wanted to scream at her but I kept my mouth sealed shut.

Instead, I turned away from them and tried to walk away. And that didn’t settle well with them, as I learned when Samantha stopped me with a tight grip against my upper arm.

“When I talk to you, don’t walk away from me. am I clear bitch?” she growled, her playful mockery gone, and anger tainting her voice. Her nails dug into my arms and if I wasn’t so focused on how bad throbbing pain was getting, I would’ve wondered how big her nails were and how they were so unnaturally sharp.

“You don’t matter to Axel. You Were just a plaything for him. A source of entertainment. The sooner you realize that the better” she continued threateningly, stepping closer to me.

Not willing to deal with it anymore, I tugged at my hand while simultaneously pushing her away.

Though there wasn’t much strength behind the push, she flew back, slamming against the lockers behind her. The loud rattling sound made me wince and she looked up at me, her eyes wide with surprise.

I was surprised too but I was in a rush to leave and pushed the situation in the back of my mind.

…...

Finally thinking about it now, the sudden strength behind the push was as much a surprise for me as it was for Samantha. I knew that I had unusually sharp senses of hearing, sight, and smell since I was a child but I had never been too strong physically.

“Adelaide come down. Dinner is ready” mother’s voice broke me out of my reverie. I wondered if I would get into trouble if I avoided dinner for the night.

‘They probably won’t even be bothered’ my inner cynic told me and I knew that it was probably true.

So, I dragged myself out of the room and near the staircase, and yelled out, “I am not hungry.”

And just as I predicted, I only get a sigh in reply. No ‘why’, no ‘you have to eat.’ Just a sigh.

There were days when it bothered me, but days like today it was a relief.

Letting out a breath, I started to make my way to my room but not before hearing my mom asking, “What’s going on with Adelaide?”

To which, Kathy’s response was, “She got dumped.”

I closed the door behind me with a loud bang, frustration almost bubbling out of me.

‘I’ll talk to Axel when the school opens again,’ I promised myself, even if it meant I needed to confront Janet.

I needed answers, even if they were better left unheard. And I was going to get them sooner rather than later, no matter what happened.

But, the sense of foreboding hovered over me, drowning me in dense anxiety. It told me that my whole world was going to fall around me and it would be before I went in search of Axel.