The fear in his eyes gives me a sickening satisfaction, and I imagine the nice dark bruise that’s going to bloom across his pale skin.
Out of pure hate and spite, I draw my arm back and punch him in the face again. And again. Something I’ve dreamed of doing multiple times since I met him.
“Bronx, stop!” I manage to hear Olivia over the blood roaring in my ears.
A delicate hand wraps around my bicep, and I freeze. Looking over my shoulder, I see Olivia’s face filled with fear and horror. Immediately, she lets go of my arm, as if I scorched her, and takes a few steps back. She stumbles into Delilah, who catches her, wrapping a secure arm around her shoulders.
“Finch.” I let go of Rat Boy and he crashes to the floor. I take a step toward her slowly, carefully, not to scare her any further.
She closes her eyes, willing the tears away, and suddenly I notice a small crowd has formed around us. Students trickling out of nearby classrooms stop and watch the show. All of a sudden, it seems like time has stopped and I’m standing outside of my own body, watching a fiery train wreck unfold.
I scan the faces of the crowd, feeling like a caged animal on full display for their pleasure. All of them anxiously waiting to see what happens next.
My eyes catch on a pair of wicked green eyes, Adrianna’s mouth turning up in a satisfied smirk, making my blood run cold. Just as I’m about to confront her, a large, strong hand grips my shoulder, pulling me back to real time.
“Dude, what the fuck is going on?” Brennen asks, his eyes hard, questioning.
My eyes flash between Olivia, Delilah, and Rat Boy, who is still crumpled on the floor, a small amount of blood trickling from his nose.
“Let’s go, Liv,” Delilah whispers gently to her friend, pulling her toward the exit.
“Finch, wait!” I call, ready to run after her, but Brennen’s hand grips my shoulder tighter.
Brennen flashes me a warning look, telling me with his eyes to let them go, but I’ll be damned if I let her walk away. I shove Brennen and shoulder my way through the crowd, pushing through the doors of the science building to run after my girl.
“Finch! Olivia!” I call, running behind them, begging her to stop.
Delilah looks over her shoulder at me, flashing me a warning glare.
I stop in my tracks, my chest heaving.
No, no, no, no.
My chest seizes, and I feel like I’m losing everything. Losing her. Like my life is spiraling out of control. And the fact that Olivia won’t even talk to me—will hardly look at me—I can’t handle it. The look on her face; she has all the power to single-handedly destroy me.
“I love you!” The words desperately tumble out of my mouth without warning, and I instantly wait for the regret to creep in—the dire need to shove the words back into my mouth—but it doesn’t.
Olivia freezes, Delilah jerking to a stop next to her.
“You know I wouldn’t do that to you, Finch,” I call. “You know it,” I plead.
“I don’t know what happened,” I confess. “I swear, I had both of my alarms set! Adrianna—” I harshly scrub my hands over my face, not knowing how to explain. I know she had something to do with this, I just don’t know what. “I’m sorry.”
Olivia remains frozen, but she doesn’t dare turn around to look at me.
“Please, Finch. You have to believe me,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
Delilah rubs her back soothingly, whispering into her ear. After a few moments, Olivia squares her shoulders, standing up taller, and the two of them begin to walk away.
“No,” I breathe, my heart shattering into a million pieces.
My eyes sting and my chest grows incredibly tight. I want to chase after her, catch her in my arms and promise everything is going to be okay, but my feet are rooted to the ground.
I watch Delilah settle Olivia into the passenger seat of her car then close the door and round the hood. She flashes me a look before she gets behind the wheel, and the two of them drive off.
A frustrated scream rips from the back of my throat. I slam my fist into the brick wall of the building repeatedly, loving the scrape of the rough texture on my skin. I only stop when Brennen finds me and locks his arms around me, pulling me away.
“Man, stop!” he yells, his grip tightening around me until I settle down.
