Page 231 of As the Rain Falls
“They’re talking about…” He rolls his eyes. “How you two slept together, behind Maria’s back, and all these boys you’ve been texting are sort of reporting back, blowing it way out of proportion…”
I shrink, and my mind reels.
Slowly, I start to look around me.
Zacharias is two tables away from mine, sitting with some of Maria’s friends. She’s nowhere to be seen, and neither is Caleb, for that matter. And yet, they’re watching me with a certain kind of loathing, whispering to each other, pointing at me as I try to gather my fingers.
“They are?” I echo as the noises grow louder, more aggressive.
Clarity hits me then. I’m hit with a feeling of finality, like this isit, and the words seem more obvious to my own ears than before.
“They are.“ I mumble with quiet certainty, mostly to myself.
My stomach starts to really hurt.
Not a single familiar face seems willing to offer me a bit of kindness now.
Still, I swallow hard, trying to pull myself back together.
“I guess I just wanted to, you know, check in on you. Ask what’s going on,” Mateo reveals quietly, looking guilty. His gaze lights up. “We could skip class for the rest of the day?”
But I don’t want to do that.
I don’t want to run and hide from this.
“Who told them?” I ask, grabbing his arm. “Was it Caleb? Zacharias?”
“I…” Mateo stammers, suddenly unsure. “I think so? I… It wasn’t me, Cassie. I swear, I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Of course, he wouldn’t. And does it really matter who did? Caleb hasn’t texted me since that night, and we haven’t spoken face-to-face since our fight either.
He isn’t like Beckett; he won’t apologize first.
And neither will he delete the—
“The pictures,” I breathe out, panic rising.
Mateo frowns at my words, and I pull back automatically, feeling a shock running through me.
Every day, I’ve been acting like a complete lunatic, ignoring the most obvious issue that I should have been dealing with since Caleb and I broke up.
“I forgot,” my voice stalls. “I forgot about the pictures.”
“What pictures? Cassandra, wait!” His face crumbles, watching me shake my head. “Don’t go!”
But I step back, bile rising to my mouth.
“I sent him…” I try to explain, but the words get stuck.
Shame.
He is going to leak everything.
It’s what I get for breaking up.
He liked having sex with me, and I took that away from him. This is my reward.I said no. I shouldn’t have said no.
You can’t say no to me, Cassandra.
