Page 6 of Torment Her (Rebels at Sterling Prep 5)

Conner

Kenny doesn’t say anything else. Instead, she turns her eyes away from me and focuses on the wall, attempting to block me out.

I sit there for a few minutes before my need to move, to do something, gets the better of me.

“This is fucking bullshit, K.” I push from the chair and storm from the room.

I want to sit beside her and comfort her. Be her shoulder to cry on. But for that to happen, she needs to stop shutting me out.

The door slams behind me, and I fall back against it.

Not a second later does Cole’s bedroom door open and a blonde head pokes out.

“Is she okay?” Hadley asks, concern for Kennedy pulling her brows together.

“Fuck knows,” I spit. Some people might be affected by the harshness of my tone, but not Hadley. She knows me, or more so Cole, better than to be threatened by us. She’s the bravest fucking girl I know.

“You just need to give her some time, some space.”

I lift my hands to my hair and pull until it hurts. I don’t want to give Kenny those things. I want to pull her into my arms and tell her that it’s going to be okay, that all she needs to do is tell me the truth and I’ll make sure that motherfucker isn’t able to touch her, or another woman, ever again.

I trusted that fucker with her. Kenny was the single most important person in my life aside from my brothers, and I trusted him with her.

What a fucking idiot I was.

"I don't fucking want..." My words trail off as Hadley's eyes soften.

"I know, Con." She reaches out and gently pulls my arms down before taking my hands. "I know you want to fix things... her. But you can't. Not as easily as you think you can. Just do as she says, let her heal, then maybe she'll be more willing to let you in."

I stare into Hadley's eyes, I want to believe what she's saying, that Kenny will open up once she's feeling better, but something tells me that this isn't going to be as easy as that.

The Kenny lying in my bed right now is different from the girl I remember. The light and sparkle that was once in her eyes has gone. I fucking hate it, and I know he's the reason.

Thoughts of him have my grip on Hadley tightening.

"You should go back in there." I nod to the door she appeared from.

"Things might be okay with Cole and me now, Conner. But that doesn't mean I'm no longer your friend."

"I-I know," I manage to get out through the emotion clogging my throat.

"Why don't you go and get some air. You've been standing out here all day. Get something to eat, maybe. I know you haven’t had anything yet. Ellen made cookies," she sings. And while I can't deny that they sound tempting, the last thing I want to do right now is eat cookies and pretend like everything is okay, because it's fucking not. Nothing is okay while my girl is laying battered and broken in my bed and I'm not beside her.

"Hads?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you try to talk to her? See if you can get through to her? I need to know if what I fear happened actually did happen."

"I can try. But if she doesn't want you to know, then you need to respect that."

Releasing her hands, I spin away from her. I might know that she's right but that doesn't mean I need to accept it.

Looking at my bedroom door once more, I do something that I haven’t done since I first brought her up here however many hours ago. I walk away.

The second my feet hit the ground floor my arm flies out, knocking the vase and full bouquet of flowers from the top of the dresser. The vase smashes as water splashes everything.

Watching the pieces clatter to the ground doesn't make me feel any better.

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