TORTURED SOUL | abby littman

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝘃𝗲.

      
      
     
     
     

chapter thirty five

{ unedited }

     
     
    
    
     

IT WAS THE LAST FRIDAY OF THE TERM BEFORE WINTER BREAK, the day slowly coming to an end. It had only been two days since the session with Paul about love but it was still on loop in Rowan's mind. At times it would make her feel lighter but at most it weighed her down and she couldn't quite place why. Paul hadn't said anything special, not really, and Rowan didn't believe a word he said about her but it still stuck with her. She had a feeling it would do so for the rest of her life.

That didn't mean Rowan wasn't hurt by Grace's actions and words anymore. She was. Sure, it wasn't enough to break her like she told Abby but it still hurt. Being abandoned and hearing excuses for it rather than the truth was not something that could easily be forgotten nor forgiven. Rowan didn't want to hold anger towards Grace, anger was an emotion that reminded her too much of her father and she never wanted to hold that sort of resentment towards anyone, but she couldn't stop the ugly feeling from making a home in her heart.

Grace wasn't the only one Rowan held anger for. There was also the person who was receiving her voicemails without correcting her that it was the wrong person. It wasn't like Rowan thought that was impossible, she always knew it was a possibility but she had a feeling she couldn't quite shake off that the person who was receiving them was the one Cameron was staying with. That was what made her angry. They knew everything but did nothing to help but now that everything went to hell, they would seem like Cameron's hero.

Of course, that was only an assumption but Rowan felt like it was the most likely.

Rowan pushed everything to the back of her mind when she saw someone leaning against her locker, their attention on her phone. She was hoping it was Abby but luck seemed to be against her side again today as the girl turned to face her, revealing to be none other than Ginny Miller.

"Hey," Ginny greeted as Rowan walked closer, turning her entire body to face Rowan with a hesitant smile on her face as she clutched onto her bag tightly. "Can we talk?" Rowan knew the responsible thing to do was to say no and go to her next class but she didn't for two reasons; she was not in the mood to deal with Gitten who seemed to be getting worse as the days passed and Ginny would not have waited by her locker if it wasn't something important.

"Sure."

The two were in the art room on the third floor, the one place Rowan knew they wouldn't get interrupted from whatever Ginny had to say. She was still waiting for the girl to talk as she sat on the chair, facing Ginny who insisted on staying standing by the door.

"I, um..." Ginny trailed off, her hand going to her wrist as she kept her gaze on her feet. Rowan's head tilted slightly when seeing the elastic band around her wrist, her brows furrowing when Ginny would flick it against her wrist repeatedly. Surely that could not be healthy. But Rowan did not point it out or ask, that was not her place. They weren't friends, knowledge was not a privilege between the two. "I heard what happened."

Rowan bit back the remark of how everyone had heard what happened to her, instead remaining silent as she waited for Ginny to continue. She wondered if Ginny had talked to any of her friends since she got back, specifically Abby. Then again, Abby would avoid her. Rowan knew that much. Abby was still annoyed at Ginny for throwing her into the eye of the hurricane which is Max's wrath.

"I'm sorry. For everything I said and how I acted. I didn't know but that's no excuse." Rowan leaned back in her chair, sighing as Ginny met her gaze. She took a guess of what to expect now; a repeat of apologies and excuses. She made sure to keep her face blank, void of any emotion. "I really am sorry. I don't blame you if you don't believe me but I am. Truth is, you're, like, really amazing and smart and kind and caring and Georgia loved you instantly and that scared me."