Bitter Heart √

Eight

I opened my eyes and tried not to look into his judgemental ones, still rubbing my head. I hadn't even noticed that I was rubbing my head with my injured hand until Caden's gaze slipped away from my face towards it.

I stopped then and pulled my hand away. Three tense seconds passed by as we both stared at each other. A small frown formed on his face. I felt my own face heating up in embarrassment before I sidestepped him and took a few steps backwards.

His eyes came back to my face and he opened his mouth to say something. I didn't hear it though, because my hand was throbbing so badly and my face felt too hot. Instead, I turned around and ran for the girl's restroom.

Once I reached the nearest cubicle, I stormed inside and closed the door shut behind me, fingers trembling as I locked it. Fortunately, there was no one else in the restroom apart from me. And unfortunately so, I was going to start crying any second now.

Especially when I pulled up my sleeve from my right hand and looked down at the bandage. I was a hundred per cent sure it had been white when I'd wrapped it around my palm this morning. Right now, however, it was just red.

A small shudder went through me and I gritted my teeth in pain, leaning back against the stall door as I started to unwrap the bandage. The gash was bleeding again and it looked really ugly right now. What do I do? I thought. God, what was I supposed to do?

I blinked rapidly when my vision started blurring with tears. I didn't want to see the nurse. I didn't want to see anyone. I wanted to go home and I wanted my parents and maybe just...forget about last night. How do I do that?

It was hurting so bad and I didn't know how long I could've stayed here without Alex or Mrs Jackson noticing my absence.

Sniffling, I bit onto my lower lip as I furrowed my brows and threw the bandage in the bin. My chin quivered and it wasn't just the pain. It was everything.

Just as I heard the restroom door opening up, I froze in my spot and my eyes widened, a few tears rolling down my cheeks. "What the hell is going on, Anderson?"

I didn't know what exactly I was more surprised about--Caden coming inside the girl's restroom, or him calling me by my last name in such kind of a situation.

I sealed my mouth shut, though. I didn't want him here. I didn't want anyone here. I didn't want him saying something offensive right when he'd see my miserable state. He already considered me a total fool, and I most definitely did not want him to laugh at my face once he saw me crying.

"I know you're in there." I heard his voice just outside my stall door.

I pursed my lips and frowned. My throat felt too tight with the tears that were brimming up in my eyes. I managed to wipe them from my other sleeve and waited for a whole minute. When I didn't hear the sound of his footsteps retreating, I finally opened the door.

His green eyes found mine almost instantly. I cringed a little when they travelled down to my hand, which felt strangely numb. I think I was so officially fucked right then.

"What--"

"Don't." I cut him off, shaking my head. "It's nothing. I'm fine." It wasn't fine. My hand wasn't fine. Anyone could've seen that.

Caden's gaze was stuck to my hand. "How did that happen?" He asked me as he took a step forward.

I wiped off the wetness from my cheeks with my other hand and almost winced when the cool air hit the exposed gash. It definitely didn't feel that numb, especially now that I could feel it stinging. It almost felt like I had that knife tearing the flesh of my palm all over again.

I wanted to scream out loud. But I stuck with letting out a small whimper, "It hurts."

I sounded like a child, now that I think about it. And really, that was another reason why I was expecting Caden to make a snark remark and leave me be. Maybe that's what I wanted--for him to leave.

When I managed to look at him though, I could've sworn that I saw the usual impassiveness in his eyes softening a bit. But then again, it might've just been my teary vision.

He made a move to take my hand and for some reason, I pulled away, my eyes still wide with fear. He looked back at me and narrowed his eyes, before taking hold of my wrist this time, even though it was totally gentle.

"It needs stitches. Why the hell did you even wrap it in a bandage?" The frown came back.

The answer to that was obvious enough. I had wanted to hide it from everyone. That's why I didn't say anything in response, just eyed him with surprise and fear, a bit of both.

"You need to go to the nurse's office." He muttered under his breath, his gaze still locked on my hand.

My eyes widened once again and I shook my head. "No, not the nurse's office. You know she'll tell my parents--"

"I wasn't asking you, Anderson." He cut me off with a glare, something that made me shut up almost instantly. Then he pulled out some tissues and placed them under my injured hand. "And after we go there, you'll tell me how the hell this happened."

I didn't even get the chance to mentally curse at myself, or think of any excuse, before his piercing gaze rooted me to my spot once again, the green in his eyes looking darker than usual.

"I mean it, Skylar." He said.

My heart raced, and I could swear it wasn't fear this time. Not because of how he'd just somehow known that I was trying to make up some sort of an excuse.

But because this was the first time he had ever said my actual name. 

______

Make sure to click the ★ below ↓ if you liked this chapter.

Xoxo,
Crystal 🌿