Break-Up Club ⓄⓃⒸ ②⓪②① ✅

13

After all of the students were out of the pool room and had gone home, I sank down into one of the chair beside the pool, burying my head in my hands. Indy crouched next to me. She was silent at first, but when she finally found the right words, her hands closed over the backs of mine. 

I lifted my head to meet her eyes, and I saw her suck in a breath before she said, "Would Cordelia give up?"

"What?" I asked, looking at her with confusion. She rolled her eyes before she reiterated her question. 

"You're the one starring in the play, so you tell me," I said. Boarding school? Was Raja being sent to a boarding school? If she was, it was my fault. Everything that had gone wrong in my life was my own fault... including my own parents' death. 

"Well, she didn't. Even though her father kicked her out of the kingdom unfairly, she still went back to save him," she said. 

"But what's the point? The Break-Up Club was pointless. Raja has the money, and we have no chance of getting it. Hell, Raja might be gone to some Catholic school by the time tomorrow morning rolls around. We're done, Indy. I'm done," I whispered the last part, my eyes pricking with tears. No. I was not going to let myself cry in front of Indy. 

I pushed myself off of the chair, turning my back on Indy. "This was a mistake. Just go home, Indy. I've done more than enough damage. I mean, I got Raja killed!" I cried out, but I couldn't help it as I was brought to my knees. 

"Wow... that was a very 'Lear' thing to say. But you have to know... you may be partially at fault for this, but it's never too late to change," she said, her hand resting on my shoulder. Her body heat warmed me through the material of my cotton shirt, and I smiled sadly. 

"Yeah, but can I be forgiven for killing my parents?" 

Indy was silent behind me for a moment. When she spoke again, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"When I was seven, Raja's parents picked me up from swim practice, and I forgot to call my parents. They were out on the roads looking for me right before a storm. They... their car..." I choked on a sob, and Indy's grip on my shoulder tightened as she knelt in front of me, drawing me into her with an embrace. 

"That's not your fault, Logan. Sometimes, things happen that are out of our control," she murmured, her pointy chin digging into the top of my head. She held me tight, as if she was afraid of letting go, and with great hesitance, she also said, "But this is in your control. You can get that money back and still get a chance to compete in the Fishboy competition."

"How am I supposed to convince Raja's dad of the truth? He'd knock me out as soon as he sees me," I said, letting Indy wipe away the moisture from my eyes as she also rubbed circles with the pad of her thumb on my cheek. 

"I can get it for you. I snuck through her window once, so I can- Wait, one sec," Indy said, pausing to dig her phone out of her back pocket, her long braids slapping my arm. Her arched eyebrows straightened as she stared at something on the screen. 

"Just don't worry about it. I can do this," she said after she looked back up at me with an affirmative nod. She didn't wait for me to say anything else as she got up, beginning to make her way out of the pool room, leaving me alone. 

At first, I was going to go home, but I couldn't stand to face my aunt and uncle. The guilt within me was like a tsunami flooding through me. Instead, I decided to get high, and the only place I could do so except Brody's basement with Raja and our "study group" was with the people that could no longer say anything. 

I stopped by my locker and grabbed the last remnants of our "study sesh" before taking off toward the graveyard. 

I wanted to feel numb. I didn't want to feel this guilt anymore, especially around my parents. I just wanted to be normal, have a normal relationship with them. But then again, normal kids didn't kill their mother and father.