Crimson GamesAzaria’s POVI blinked, rage bubbling again. “No. That is not something you can claim. If you love someone, you’ll keep fighting for them, even when things between you are rough. Even in the messy moments. Especially in moments like that.”He looked down, jaw tight.“I didn’t know what you were looking for from me.”His eyes met mine. “I really hope you can forgive what I did.”That hurt. I also wished to be able to forgive him, so my feelings changed.Just wanting wasn’t enough to make someone ready.“I can’t. Not now.” My voice cracked. “You hurt me. Maybe you didn’t intend to hurt me. But you did.”His face sank down, and it seemed that something inside his chest gave way, as he looked a lot smaller all of a sudden.“Alright, I’ll give you some space then,” he said as he moved away. “As long as it takes. I’ll prove it.”After his comment, he got up and left without saying anything else.I sat down again beside the piano, as bitterness and betrayal were all I could tas
The Hurt in Our EyesAzaria's POVI stood there, frozen in place, just watching what was happening in front of me. Selene Lynx, with bleached hair and smooth skin, came right out onto the court like it was her own, jumping into Nicholas’s arms.He didn’t pull back.He didn’t even flinch.And then, the kiss.The crowd gasped. Someone whistled. I heard a few chuckles. My lungs squeezed shut. My fingers gripped tight on the wooden bench I was sitting on. The sting of betrayal hurt so much it seemed to burn my throat, but I managed to hold back the tears and got through it.I wasn’t supposed to care. I wasn’t supposed to feel any way at all.But my blood boiled anyway.And then I stood. Quickly. Harshly. Without a word.Ashley followed close behind me, giving off a quiet sigh. “After making a big fuss about how much he likes you, and giving you that look that says he cares,” she rolled her eyes and said, “I knew it. We shouldn’t trust my brother.”I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.I walked out
The Things We Don't SayNicholas's POVAfter Killian went, I stood there still for a moment and attempted to put together what just occurred. The manner in which he said it – calm, determined, that stalwart trust of his all the time – that made it worse.He liked her. He wanted me to retreat.Something inside me cracked. My jaw clenched and involuntarily I slammed my fist into the wall. Once. Twice. Again. At first it hardly hurt, just the muted echo to the tempest in my chest.I didn’t feel skin tear until the fourth punch. Blood smeared the wall. My knuckles were shredded.“Damn it!” I growled, panting, whether from the pain in my hand or in my chest I don’t know.After that I heard a voice behind me. “That’s enough.”I turned, thinking a teacher, if not Killian, might return for seconds. But it was Marcel. And he wasn’t the Marcel that would joke or would make people laugh.He looked pissed.And then before I could even utter a word, he punched me.Right in the face.It wasn’t stro
When Guilt Wears a NameNICHOLAS’ POVShe didn’t scream. She didn’t throw anything.She just… said the truth. And it did this in a way that rage could never do.“I don’t hate you. However, I no longer rely on you too much anymore”.Those words had kept playing back in my mind. Every syllable beat like the drumbeat in my chest, loud and in bearing judgement. I stayed on in the same room long after Azaria had gone; surrounded by silence that didn’t want to stay still. The smell of her was still in the air: tea warm, and something floral. Something soft. Something I lost.I put my back against the wall and took a quick breath while running a hand through my hair. “You messed up, Nicholas,” I muttered to myself. “You really messed up.”That’s how Marcel found me. Half slumped against the door frame, with my jaw clenched so hard it actually hurt.“Hey,” he said cautiously. “You okay?”“No,” I answered bluntly.“Do I look like someone that you are okay with?”He made that look he had always
The Lies That EchoAZARIA'S POVIn the morning I stood by the window with a cup of tea, and watched the sunrise with swollen eyes.Ashley arrived with her arms crossed. “You okay?”“No. I think that I will be though.She took my hand and squeezed it. “You’re stronger than you think.”I didn’t feel strong.But I nodded.When Killian appeared upstairs, his hair all tousled and his shirt wrinkled as well, I smiled at him a little bit.“Thanks,” I said. “For everything.”“There is no need to thank me”.“I want to.”He nodded slowly. Are you going to talk to Nicholas?I hesitated.“I don’t know.”And that was the truth.I didn’t know if I was able to look at him.Not yet.However, something at the back of my gut told me that I eventually had to.___I never thought back to school would feel this way.The stares were even worse than daggers. Piercing, sharp, and endless. People were not even trying to whisper anymore – they just watched. My flesh crawled under their gaze and my head whirled
Ashes of My TrustAZARIA'S POVI woke up with a violent gasp as my lungs pulled the air as if I had been drowning. My body jerked up and was instantly kept back – forceful arms hugged me tightly.“Azaria,” whispered Killian beside my ear in that husky and quiet tone of his. "It’s okay. You’re safe now. You’re safe."His hand moved in circles on my back as I shook in his arms. His jacket’s scent, the warmth of his arms – everything should have made me grounded, but my mind was a vortex.The images wouldn’t stop. The girls, their laugh, the cold floor. My body, limp and failing.I thought I had slipped back down until I looked around.Ashley was standing at the foot of the bed, both fists tightly clenched and her knuckles turning white. Her eyes sparkled and her face was furious.Marcel was just in the back with a low head and his hands in his pockets. He stood quiet, as if he did not fit in the room.But Nicholas...He wasn’t there.The only one I had looked for with my eyes and heart
The Fire I LitNICHOLAS’ POVOutside the infirmary, the air weighed more on me than any problem I’ve had in my life. I stayed in the same spot by the hallway the whole time. I was still up against the chilly wall, trying to hold on to something that wouldn’t disappear.Killian was still in there. Still seated by her bedside, as if it was where he belonged.And maybe he did.He saved her when it was needed most. He was there to catch her.He saved her time after time. And me? I didn’t move while she lost the little time she had.Some part of myself didn’t want to move my gaze from the room.There was another part of me that wished it was possible to escape the pain in my chest.Then I heard it.Laughter.High-pitched. Sharp. Cruel.I turned my head slowly. Near the stairwell, down the hall, I could see three girls standing close to each other. I saw them immediately and knew they were the ones who hurt Azaria. Seeing them made my stomach turn over. Their smiles were wicked. Lira, the qu
Cracks in the FrameNICHOLAS' POVThe classroom walls were blurring.I noticed Marcel talking next to me, but I couldn't hear any of his words.My attention was still with what happened during the game. How Killian kept going even when it looked like it would have been easier to walk away. How he was looking at her. How she was looking at him.I figured I was reading too much into things. I wished it was only something happening in my mind.But it wasn’t.I squeezed the desk as I kept seeing the same thing over and over. Killian was standing extremely close to Azaria, while she looked at him for an extra second. I kept thinking about it since the game was over. All I could manage to think about was that now.The noise increasing in the hallway barely got my attention until Marcel began to speak.“Some girls are fighting. Let’s go check it out.”I started to frown deeply and then quickly started walking toward the noise. We went into the room right as the screaming started.What I saw
Unspoken LinesAZARIA’S POVThe atmosphere had not cleared after the game; it was charged and heavy with what went unstated. I wasn’t sure how to disentangle the emotions that remained after the game.Not yet.Ashley, on the contrary, clearly wasn’t over it yet. Not after we had started heading back toward the dorms together.She muttered, ‘I’m just going to say’ before looking over her shoulder in a glare. “That wasn’t just a game.”I blinked, startled. “What?”With a wave in the direction we had come from, she added, “That was a showdown. A duel. I really expected people to come with popcorn. You seriously didn’t feel it?”After a moment’s thought, I said, “I just felt... tension. Yet, maybe it didn’t mean more than that. Tension.”She squinted at me. “Girl, that wasn’t just tension. That's what happens when wolves want the same thing badly.”I elbowed her lightly. “You’re overthinking things.”She snorted softly and winked at me. “Am I, though? During much of the match, Nicholas an