agreed that the relationship between us wasn’t working, at least romantically, but that we could still be friends. The last time he texted me, he mentioned that he was seeing a new girl who worked at the local coffee shop.
I hear what sounds like something snapping, and when I whip my head around, I see Cassian holding a broken pencil as he scowls at me.
“And have you finished that piece you were working on?” Mrs. Brummer queries with a cocked brow. “Charming Devils” was a passion piece of mine when I was younger, but over the years, I’ve been able to improve my craft until the song wrote itself. It didn’t feel like notes on a page. No, it felt like me. That song is a story of my life, a story that unravels my soul for the entire world to see.
“I have.” I smirk at her, and her eyes light up in understanding. With a nod towards the grand piano, easily worth the price of my car, she moves to sit at the desk I abandoned.
“Let’s hear it, child.” She waves her hand at me to begin, and I slowly slide across the bench. I move my fingers over the keys, familiarizing myself with the instrument, before I take a deep, reflective breath. I know that when I play this song, I’ll be revealing a piece of myself, a piece of my soul, to the two boys sitting attentively in the front row, staring at me with indecipherable eyes. But at the same time, I want them to hear it, to know what’s coming for them. I want them to question everything and wonder if this is it. If this is the moment I destroy them so irrevocably, they won’t be able to pick up the shattered pieces.
I lived in fear for years.
Now, it’s their turn.
My fingers glide across the keys as I begin the song I’ve memorized. Years and years of playing, of writing, of composing, has led to this moment. This single song, played to an audience of seven.
The first half depicts immense, agonizing pain. The notes are lower, louder, to emphasize the fear I felt every day. The panic. The myriad of emotions pounding, pounding, pounding in my head. But then, the piece gets softer, lighter, as I detail my escape from the school and the new life I made for myself in California. And finally, the ending…a mixture of impishness and cunningness, all fleshed together in a fast-paced tune.
When I finally finish, I bow my head over the keys and squeeze my eyelids shut. The emotions roaring through me, demanding my attention, are almost impossible to ignore. They sit on my chest like a fifty-ton weight, pressing down on my ribcage until I’m choking on my own blood. Because pain? It doesn’t just go away. I mean sure, there are moments when you forget about it, moments when it doesn’t monopolize your every thought, but it always returns when you least expect it.
And it fucking kills you.
“Charming Devils” took years to write, but the funny thing is? It’s not done. I just know there’s going to be one more section of the song, one more verse, depicting these final moments. And I also know that the ending is going to be written completely by fate, with me as the guiding hand.
I’m vaguely aware of the class erupting into applause and Mrs. Bummer jumping to her feet, but I can’t focus on them. My eyes are riveted on the two boys on either side of the room, each watching me with narrowed eyes. They know the song was about them…
And that means they also know that the war has only just begun.
Chapter 10
Mrs. Bummer fucking saves my ass again by letting class out two minutes before the bell rings.
Before Lucas and Cassian can corner me—I can see in their eyes that’s their intention—I grab my backpack and race out of the room, towards AP Literature with Mrs. Town. Then I wait, practically bursting with nervous energy like a bottle of soda that has been shaken repeatedly.
The second the bell rings, I feign a bored, almost nonchalant expression, and walk in the opposite direction of my other classmates…bumping my shoulder into a startled Mariabella, who’s just exiting Mrs. Town’s classroom.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” I say with fake sincerity as she blinks her long lashes up at me. “Mariabella! Hi! Fancy running into you here.”
She blushes, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
“This is actually perfect!” I