Forest Lake

Chapter 3

“Yes.” they said, nodding at the same time.

I grabbed the bottle from the table, stood up, and stormed out of the dining hall. It took every piece of strength not to look at the table where she was sitting.

I needed a drink, and I needed it bad.

_______________

Emma POV

Any doubt about him hating me is now gone.

The hate I saw in his eyes made my heart break into a million tiny pieces. My stomach twisted painfully, and all I wanted was to curl up into a ball on the floor and cry.

I don’t know what I did for him to hate me this much. I wish I did so I could fix it. But I knew he wouldn’t talk to me. He was having trouble even looking at me.

I walked back to the table where a very worried-looking Hazel was waiting for me.

“Shit, Em, I’m sorry.” she said as soon as I sat down. “I got so caught up in our conversation that I didn’t even see him walk away from his table.”

“It’s okay, Hazel.” I said, trying to give her a small smile and failing miserably. “It wasn’t fair of me to ask you to help me avoid him.”

“What happened?” she asked quietly, leaning closer to me.

“He told me to stay away from him.” I said quietly, trying to swallow a huge lump in my throat.

I could hear slamming and raised voices coming from his table, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. It was for the better, really. My heart was already broken beyond repair anyway.

“Oh, shit.” Hazel mumbled. “Why would he do that, Emma?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “The last memory I have of him is us hugging and promising each other we would talk on the phone every day. I don’t know what I did for him to hate me this much.”

“Probably nothing.” Hazel sighed. “The guy is a dick.”

I looked at her disapprovingly.

“Shit, sorry, Em.” she mumbled.

“It’s okay.” I gave her a small, forced smile.

My heart was broken. The last thing I wanted to do was smile.

I miss my Massy. I miss my twin brother.

“What will you do?” Hazel asked me.

“Avoid him at all costs.” I said, my voice trembling. “He obviously doesn’t want me close. I don’t want to anger him any further.”

I will try to talk to my mom at some point and beg her to let me go back home. I can’t stay here. I can’t be close to him and not be able to talk to him. I can’t stand the way he looks at me.

This morning I had hope that we would be able to talk about what went wrong. But after I saw the hateful look in his eyes, all that hope vanished.

“You do know that we all have classes together?” Hazel asked. “This isn’t a big school.”

“I know.” I nodded. “I will lay low in class. That won’t be hard for me. I survived the last three years of high school like that.”

“I just hope that his two little errand boys won’t give you any trouble.” she said, glancing at them over my shoulder.

“Errand boys?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Your brother is an unofficial leader of the group.” she said, sipping her water. “He has two best friends, Chris and Jax. Chris seems like an okay guy compared to the other two. He isn’t such a big fuckboy like your brother and Jax, but he is one, nonetheless. Jax is the prankster and the loudest of the three of them. I think your brother gets most girls, but Jax is the bragger, so everyone thinks he hooks up the most.”

“I really do hope they won’t give me any trouble.” I sighed.

“Jax will try to get into your pants.” Hazel chuckled. “Unless Mason told him not to.”

“I don’t think he cares.” I sighed, playing with the label on my water bottle.

“He is leaving the hall.” Hazel said quietly, looking over my shoulder.

It took everything in me not to turn around and look at him. A few moments later, I heard the door slam shut, and I breathed out in small relief.

Everyone in the hall looked at me. Great, there goes my quiet senior year. I will be known as the girl who pissed off the most popular guy in school.

“Come on, Em.” Hazel said, picking her tray up. “Let’s go back to our room.”

I followed her back to the counter so she could leave the tray. I didn’t eat anything. I couldn’t.

“Where do they even get the girls?” I asked Hazel as we were leaving the dining hall. “There is a limited amount at this school.”

“A lot of high school and college students come here to party on the weekends.” she explained. “Maybe we could go sometimes?”

“I thought you said you were a nerd who loves to read?” I asked her, frowning. “I was kind of counting on that.”

“I am.” she laughed. “But I’ve never really had anyone to go to these parties with. Maybe it could be fun. You could use a little bit of fun after the first day you just had.”

“Maybe.” I sighed.

“I will ask you again on Friday.” she said as she unlocked the door to our dorm room. “You know, after the whole week of sitting in the room with your brother.”

I groaned. “Okay. Ask me again on Friday.”