He slowly turned to me, back against the door as his eyes ran from my head to toe. His gaze was intense, like a fury was starting to build up in them. Then he looked away to hide it and rubbed his fingers on his temple.I watched his movement, completely clueless as I stood in front of him with my feet glued to the ground. He was looking down, his left hand was placed on his hip and the other was rubbing his forehead. I wanted to run away, but my gut told me to listen to what he was about to utter. And so I didn't move."What did you and Kourtney plan about, huh?" He flitted his glistening eyes upward, as it pierced to my blue ones.Well, this escalated quickly. I thought to myself. I looked away from his intense stare and backed away a little. My hands were sweaty, gripping the bomber jacket wrapped around me. Blood started to drain on my flustered face, as my heart began to race. This always happened when my anx

Since it was weekend, I had a chance to clean my apartment because I got nothing to do. I was folding my clothes from the laundry, throwing away the scraps scattered on the ground, vacuuming the dust on the floor, and tucking the bedsheets.I felt exhausted, and somehow my body wanted to rest. I thought I would find comfort by cleaning the house, but it was the other way around.I plopped myself on the couch, wiping the beads of sweat on my forehead that was starting to trickle down to my temples. Heaving a sigh of relief, I looked out of the window behind the television and started to wonder about how my life was going on living on my own. I didn't know if I still wanted to go home, or just never come back because of Mom.All of a sudden, I heard a knock on my door. I shifted from my seat and glanced behind the couch. Standing up abruptly, I headed towards the door and swung it open.My eyebrows raised at

Tomorrow, after the dreadful night at home, I still managed to get up and prepare for school. I wasn't going to stop, not now.Not now that I already felt good. Like the burden that was heft in my chest was put out. For the longest of years, I'd been wanting to feel alright. Then when this unexpected circumstance came, I was caught off guard. I'd been dreaming about the day Mom would suddenly realize her horrible deeds, but I didn't know why I felt guilty when she apologized. All I knew was that I was satisfied. Like I didn't need to prove anything to the world anymore.I couldn't believe I became vulnerable. I'd snapped, and the walls I built for myself was broken down. But I didn't regret it. It made me feel good, in a way that gave me hope to live. I was still sad though, to be honest. Dad was still held captive and Hansel's handling it. My reputation was still at risk and I had to deal with it.

I couldn't utter a word, as my heart beat rapidly at the sight of Hansel. A grin was plastered on his face, bright and optimistic. My eyes were widened, my hands were sweating, and I caught a lump in my throat. I wanted to run and hide, but at this moment, I had no choice."Hi," I managed to utter, my voice sounded strained.He stepped inside without asking for permission and moved further inside the apartment.As soon as I turned my back, my world stopped when I saw Hansel and Daniel, staring at each other in confusion.Sweat started to trickle down to my temples, and my knees began to wobble. I hadn't pictured this scenario to happen and it was freaking me out. Daniel was staring at Hansel, eyebrows raised and eyes widened. While the grin of my stupid brother was replaced with a scowl.Clearing my throat, I moved in the middle of these two and curled my lips to a nervous smile.

At lunchtime, I headed to the school's field to look for Daniel. Kourtney told me he and Mason were having training for tomorrow's football championship. I needed to talk to him before dismissal or else the questions in his head would remain unanswered. I wanted to clear things out, so he could trust me and there was no way in hell I was going to hide this for long. I hope he'd understand.I walked on the neatly groomed grass beneath me, approaching the leveled bleachers beside the field. Stepping on the stairs, I sat in the middle bleacher and roamed my eyes around the place.I was overlooking the green field that was packed with football players. They wore a black jersey and a football helmet that hid their faces. They ran along the field with their long legs, as the coach blew his whistle and signaled everyone to approach him. When they pulled the helmets off of their heads, I quickly spotted Daniel. His face formed into a tired scowl,