My Other Half

Chapter Twenty-One

"Uh, nothing." She took her backpack straps off her shoulders, unzipping it.

"Bella, what are these marks?"

She froze.

She looked down to where his hand was holding her and saw a red and bluish bruise around her upper arm that she had gotten a couple of weeks ago.

Shit, my sweater sleeve fell!

Isabella pulled away from him instantly and fixed the shoulder of her sweater, covering the bruise. "N-Nothing," she stammered.

"Isabella, what happened?" he asked sternly. His eyes urged her to be honest.

"I'm fine. I-I accidentally burned myself when I was cooking this morning." She inwardly cringed at her lie.

Aiden stepped closer and pulled down the sweater sleeve to see the bruise again.

"These don't look like burns." He shifted his eyes to Isabella's.

Before she could respond, she heard someone call her.

"Bella!"

Isabella turned around and saw the boy with those dark eyes. Matthew rushed behind her and cupped his hands on her shoulders, smiling.

"Hey, babe." He kissed her cheek, making her shudder.

"Hey, what's up, man," he greeted Aiden, who had stark confusion written on his face.

"I'm doing great. How are you guys doing?" he replied in a clipped tone.

"We're doing great too," Matthew gushed.

It was funny how he acted normal around Aiden and other people, but he was malicious when he and Isabella were alone.

"That's good." Aiden looked skeptical, maintaining eye contact with Isabella. She did everything in her power to keep her mouth shut.

"Babe, can we talk for a second?" Matthew squeezed her shoulders roughly.

She knew it would not be a pleasant conversation.

"Sure." She smiled weakly.

"We'll see you later, dude." Matthew smiled as he dragged Isabella away.

Isabella turned over her shoulder, seeing Aiden watching her—concerned.

Matthew led them inside a random janitor's closet, and he slammed the door closed.

The room was pitch black but was lit up when Matthew turned on the light switch.

Before she could say anything, Isabella's head swung to the side, her cheek burning after Matthew slapped her across the face.

Even though she had grown accustomed to his slaps, they still stung like hell every time.

"What did you tell him?" he snapped.

Isabella turned towards him, a few loose hair strands falling across her face.

"I didn't tell him anything," she whispered.

"Oh, sure you didn't. What was that face he fucking made back there, huh? It looked like he found out something he wasn't supposed to know."

Matthew looked like he was about to explode at any minute, and she was not ready for the outcome of that explosion.

"Matthew, I swear I didn't tell him anything," she murmured, flustered. "He saw one of my bruises, but I told him I burned myself by accident."

He shook his head, not believing a word she was saying.

"No, you were about to tell him something. You can't keep your promises, can you?"