Managing Boys

Managing Boys (32)

I hadn't even said anything and this was already awkward. I guess I should have expected this when it came to a conversation with Annabelle, after all the scowls and glares I had gotten from her.

"What do you want, Annabelle?" I asked her now. I hadn't meant to sound rude, but I knew it had come off that way. I just really didn't want to have to deal with her, of all people.

She frowned. "I just wanted to come here and apologize to you."

"Apologize?" I couldn't believe my ears. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry for all the rude things I've done," she explained, and I still couldn't believe that this was happening. Was I dreaming, or finally going crazy? "I let your relationship with my son change my judgment of you, and I know that that was wrong. And after learning about all the things that you've been through, I know that you didn't deserve to be treated the way I treated you."

I just stared at her. I still didn't believe that this was actually happening, because I assumed Annabelle hated me more than anything, and I didn't think that anything would ever change that. But something had changed it... and it was all because my secret had been revealed.

"You're only apologizing because of what happened to me," I snapped, not in the mood to deal with her. "That means you're really not sorry. You wouldn't be apologizing to me if I hadn't been raped and almost raped again."

Annabelle frowned. "Aria..."

"Just forget it." I laid back down and flipped around so my back was to her. "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Please get out of my room."

I didn't really want to be rude to her, but I didn't want an apology just because she felt bad for me. I did not want anyone's pity. What happened to me might have been horrible, but I didn't want anyone treating me differently. Unfortunately, that wasn't about to happen with anyone, including Annabelle.

She left my room without another word, because she knew there was nothing else she could say to me. I wasn't going to accept her apology when she was only saying she was sorry because she felt like she had to.

When there was another knock on my door, I didn't even say anything. It was most likely just my mother wanting to ask me if I wanted lunch, and silence usually meant yes. I was hungry, so I stayed silent and assumed she walked down the hall. But when the door opened, I sat up quickly to see who was now entering my room.

"Grim!" I gasped, covering myself with my blanket even though I was fully clothed. "What are you doing here?"

He raised his hands up in surrender after he shut the door behind him, and I continued to just gape at him. "I came here with my mother," he explained, but that still didn't explain why he was in my room. "She told me that you didn't want to talk to her, but I was hoping that you'd talk to me instead."

My mother had said that I had visitors, but Grim was the last person I wanted to see. I didn't know if there was anything I could even say to him, to be completely honest. I had been avoiding him over the last two weeks.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he demanded, his eyebrows furrowed as he took a seat at the foot of my bed. I curled up into a ball, my knees under my chin. "Aria..."

"I haven't been avoiding you," I excused, turning away from him. "I've been avoiding everyone."

That didn't make it sound any better, but it was the truth.

He still had scratches and bruises on his face. I could see stitches going down his right temple. I didn't even want to think about what kind of injuries he had under his clothes; I could only hope that it wasn't anything worse.