Pandora's Box

CHAPTER 12

Pandora

Days pass swiftly, and Saturday arrives unnoticed. The day I will be subjected to the most embarrassing thing in my life. Probably everyone will be horrified at the sight of a girl in lingerie, standing in front of the church. Jaden messaged me the evening before to announce he had prepared the swimsuit. And that we would meet in the park.

I wondered what he would do if I didn't show up and blocked him. I could come up with the excuse that I had an epileptic seizure and lost all my memories from the last year.

Currently, I force my legs to move towards the exit door. Pressing the handle, I tell myself everything will be fine. But deep down, I know it's not true. Intuition tells me the day will end in tears.

I head to my bicycle but stand still for a few seconds. All my thoughts chaotically swirl through my mind.

Why does Jaden want to torment me so much? What have I done to him? Why did he change his decision about the location?

Deciding not to waste any more time, considering his threat not to be late, he made sure to mention that yesterday, through messages.

I start pedaling. I notice how my hands tremble as I grip the handlebar. When I arrive in front of the park, I'm a bundle of stress. My knees weaken as I get off the bike's saddle.

I take a deep breath, mentally preparing for what's about to happen. I head towards the place where I agreed to meet Jaden: in front of the restrooms.

I find him leaning against one of the doors. His arms are crossed over his chest. For the first time since we've known each other, I notice he's tied his hair back... and it suits him very well. I despise myself on the spot for thinking this.

He watches me as I cover the distance between us. His usual sadistic grin doesn't appear. He has a blank, lifeless expression. This makes me feel even more stressed.

"Hi!" I hear my faint voice.

"Hello!" he replies in a cold tone.

My gaze falls on the green swimsuit he's handing me. Our fingers touch as I take the swimsuit. The skin, traitorously, tingles pleasantly where it makes contact with his.

"Get changed," he orders.

My cheeks flush, but I obey. The last thing I see before he shuts me inside is his green eyes, beginning to gleam with sadistic sparkles.

The door can be locked from his side too, but I don't think he'd keep me locked in here, I think.

I forgot to turn on the light before entering. I force myself not to be afraid. I fumble in the darkness, trying to undress. I pull on the swim bottoms, which fit me in an extremely uncomfortable way.

I realize why he wanted to bring the swimsuit himself and didn't agree to let me bring my own, and a lump forms in my throat.

They are thong panties.

I also put on the top, which squeezes me. Probably that's the point, because I feel my breasts being pushed forward. I'm sure I look like a tramp now.

I clutch my clothes to my chest, then put them in the backpack, ready to leave, but the door won't open. My eyes bulge out, and I push with all my strength.

Nothing.

I realize with horror that exactly what I feared most has happened. The bastard locked me in the cabin.

"JADEN!" I yell as loud as I can, pounding on the door.

Desperation and bitter tears start to flow down my cheeks.

"Let me out! Jaden!"

No response comes.

I have claustrophobia, and my fear of the dark makes its presence known. I grab my head, feeling like pulling out all my hair.

I'm going insane.

"LET ME OUT, DAMN YOU!" I scream with all my might, hitting the door with all my strength.

The door opens the next second, and I fall to the ground. The outside sunbeams almost blind me. Jaden looks down at me with an amused expression.

"There's no need to get worked up, Panda."

"Go to hell!"

He laughs. He gestures for me to get up. I remember what I'm wearing and feel awful. Exposed.

I try to cover my breasts, so I cross my arms over my chest. Jaden's eyes immediately drift in that direction, almost instantaneously.

That expression I saw in his eyes, in a dream, now appears in real life. I shuffle uncomfortably.

He studies me, and I feel like I'm under a gigantic microscope. He looks at me with an embarrassing interest, scanning my body with a satisfied smile.

"Let the fun begin!" he declares, and I want to turn back into the cabin and wrap myself in the thickest clothes available, to forget this day.

He pulls me along. I feel like vomiting. Nausea hits me as we reach the busier part of the park, and several old ladies look at me in shock. They have scandalized expressions, and you can literally see how they criticize me with their gazes. Fortunately, I don't know any of them.

I've never felt so embarrassed in my life. Disgusting. Cheap. As we continue to walk, I feel the underwear digging in even more between my butt cheeks.

My eyes start to burn, and I lightly sniff.

Some boys our age pass by us and look at me as if I'm a piece of juicy meat.

I wish I could die when they whistle at me from behind. I turn towards them and see them ogling my butt and elbowing each other. Almost drooling, one shouts:

"Want to take a ride with me in bed, doll?"

Jaden's face suddenly darkens. He gives them a murderous look, pulling me along more forcefully. He yells at the boys in an aggressive tone:

"Want to lose your head?"

Although he put me in this situation, I appreciate his gesture, the fact that he threatened those jerks.

"Come on!" he immediately snaps at me.

We stop in front of a bench, and he indicates like to a dog for me to sit down. I swallow hard but obey.

I'd give anything to disappear from the face of the earth right now!

I feel humiliated. I feel like a bug.

"You'll sit here, with me, until it gets dark, and there's no one left to see you," he snickers.

A tear rolls down my cheek.

I want to die, I want to die, I want to die, is all I think as various people pass by us. Families, old ladies, other boys who stare at me. Yet all look strangely: some shocked, others amused, or interested, or disapproving, or disgusted.

I hate you, Jaden Kostas!