High School Treachery | ✓

BONUS 3 | Rejected Hearts

B O N U S 3
Rejected Hearts

Malia Jafari-Carrington didn't cry.

Tears never saved her before, and they certainly wouldn't save her now.

She'd spent many nights and years shedding tears alone in her bedroom, but nothing ever changed. Nothing got better. So why bother now?

And besides, when you play a large part in bringing destruction into your own life, do you even have the right to cry about it?

You did this to yourself, Malia.

Despite how loud and clear his scolding was in her head, she knew it was simply that—in her head. He wasn't here. This might've been his beach house and his money used to throw the party, but he wasn't actually here, and that was a small blessing in itself.

Blessings like that rarely occurred in her life, and on the slight chance when they did, she surely always found a way to ruin it.

"You wanna go first?"

Jalen's low, deep voice broke her out of her thoughts. That was their usual question when leaving, both knowing going separately helped them escape their schoolmates' questioning. She breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that they finally graduated—they'd be done with all of this high school stuff.

But that heavy weight on her shoulders didn't lessen.

She shook her head, remaining on the bed and slowly reaching for her phone. She couldn't go out there now. Not like this. There was only so much inner turmoil she could hide.

"No, you go first. I'm gonna hang back for a few."

"Just long enough so it's not obvious, right? You're not gonna stay hauled up in here?"

She could hear the panic in his tone, and she silently thanked the universe for granting her another small blessing—a best friend who disliked talking about their problems as much as she did. Jalen knew enough already, and he must've known that this wasn't the place or time to get into it.

"I'll be out in ten minutes, like we always do."

The smile she sent didn't seem to ease his worries at all, but the blue eyed boy nodded his head and turned anyway. "Alright, I'll see you."

Her grip on her phone tightened, the sadness in Jalen's voice reaching her. She hated burdening him with her own issues—a main reason they never talked about it. They both had so much of their own mess going on, that the second their troubles were out in the open, it was too hard to sit there and psychoanalyze everything. Unless a new problem arose, there was no point in discussing what was already wrong when neither of them could offer a solution.

As badly as Malia wished she could solve every one of Jalen's issues, she knew she had no way of doing so. She'd choose to fix his problems before her own, simply because for the last seven years, he'd truly been all she had, and their bond was sometimes the only thing keeping her going.

"See you," she said in a low voice, unsure if he heard her or not.

The slightest pressure built behind her eyes, but Malia blinked hard. She wouldn't cry. Not here, not now, not like this.