All Chapters of Stop Using My Fear as Your Game: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

My boyfriend, Oliver Wilde, paused for a moment. Then, he smiled and ruffled my hair."Are you scared silly? What are you talking about?"My childhood friend, Vivian Thorne, winked at me playfully and said, "Yeah. I only meant well. I won't do it again."Seeing that I wasn't speaking, she pouted pitifully. Then, as if a good idea had just struck her, she said, "Tell you what—to be fair, I'll jump into the deep end too. That way you can see there's nothing to be scared of."Before she could finish, Oliver grabbed her arm."You choked on water last time and ended up in the hospital," he said with a frown. "Don't push yourself. Aria won't hold it against you."I stood there, still dripping wet.When I sank to the bottom of the two-yard-deep pool earlier, he didn't even bat an eye. But now that Vivian said she wanted to jump in, he was frantic with worry."Come on, let's go have a little soak at the spa area. Think of it as my way of making it up to you," Oliver said, gently tousli

Mom jumped up from the couch to hit me.I shut my bedroom door. She stood outside, cursing me out for over an hour.I put on my headphones and packed my things—sunscreen, motion sickness pills, and band-aids.The next afternoon, I went out to pick up the last few supplies. When I came back, I heard laughter coming from the living room as I stood in the hallway."For this segment of the engagement party, how about we put in a few live little loaches in Aria's champagne glass? The moment she takes a sip, she'll see them swimming right by her mouth," Vivian said, then laughed.Oliver was silent for a long moment."What's gotten into you now?" she asked, slightly annoyed.He sighed and finally replied, "Fine. But this really is the last time."Mom was laughing along beside them."It's just a little prank to teach Aria a lesson. After all, she's been running her mouth too much lately."To them, my engagement party was just a set-up for a prank.I stood at the door without moving,

Mom was the first to speak, her eyes sweeping from my sun-tanned face down to my old T-shirt and flip-flops."Look at you. What a disgrace. Why are you hiding out on this godforsaken island playing teacher to a bunch of kids? Is this how you repay me for all the money I spent raising you?"Oliver was holding a paper bag. He hesitated, then held it out to me."Aria, I brought you sunscreen and the skincare you always used. Let's go back. The conditions here are terrible.""I don't need those anymore. The aloe vera gel here works just fine," I said. My voice was so calm that it even surprised me.Vivian let out a laugh from behind them."Aria, you're really putting on quite the act. Who'd actually believe someone as terrified of water as you could actually live on an island?"Caspian had run up behind me at some point. He clutched the hem of my shirt and peeked out, half his face showing.Oliver looked down at him, his expression complicated."And this is…""My student."Mom's

The hurricane passed.When daylight came, the rain stopped.The sun slipped out from behind the clouds, and the sea grew calm again.It was as if nothing had ever happened.The search and rescue team found Oliver in the mudflats after the tide receded.He had been swept 650 feet downstream into a stretch of reef rock, his body wedged into a crevice between the stones. Most of his clothes had been torn away, and his face was covered in silt and fine scratches.I knelt down beside him.Sage tried to hold me back, but I pushed her away.Bit by bit, I wiped the sand from Oliver's face.His eyes were closed. Not only were his lips purple, but his skin was also already cold.Even though I felt something inside me shatter so completely, I didn't cry.His right hand was curled against his chest. I tried to pry his fingers open, but they were stiff and ice-cold.I loosened his fingers one by one, only to find there was nothing in his palm. But there were deep curved imprints pressed