Mason POV
I stared at her, unable to answer her question.
She wanted to talk? Why? What could she possibly say that would make me feel better?
“Mason?” she called me when I didn’t answer.
I blinked. I don’t want to talk to her. I don’t want to know why she left me. I don’t want her excuses.
“There is nothing to talk about.” I said and turned around.
“Yes, there is.” she said as she followed behind me.
“No, there isn’t.” I said, clenching my fists and gritting my teeth. “I don’t want to hear anything that you have to say.”
“Well, I want to hear what you have to say, Mason.” she said as she struggled to keep up with me.
I slowed down my pace. I didn’t want her to be left alone in the hallway.
Why would she want to hear what I have to say? Does she really want me to tell her how much I suffered? Does she really want to know about all the nights I couldn’t sleep because I missed her like crazy? Or about those nights I cried myself to sleep? Does she really want to know how I became cold and distant because she wasn’t there with me? Does she really want to know how alone I felt after my own twin, my best friend, abandoned me?
“Mason, please.” she said after a few silent moments. “I need to know why you hate me this much.”
I stopped abruptly, making her walk straight into me.
“Shit.” I heard her mumble under her breath as she caught my waist to stabilize herself.
Is she serious right now? She doesn’t know why I hate her? Is she mocking me?
My anger rose up rapidly and I wanted to punch a wall.
I turned around and looked down at her. She was looking up at me with sadness in her eyes, and I couldn’t help but wonder why she was sad. Did she think that I wouldn’t start hating her after what she did?
“Are you kidding me right now?” I finally spoke. “You don’t know?”
She shook her head. Tears started forming in her eyes.
I bent over and got into her face. I searched for a hint of a lie, but I couldn’t find it. She really didn’t think it would hurt me when she literally decided that she didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore?
“Mason, please, talk to me.” she said quietly as the first tear dropped on her cheek.
I chuckled darkly. “Why? So you can enjoy hearing about my pain?”
Her eyes widened in shock. More tears fell out of her eyes.
“Pain?” she mumbled quietly.
I sighed and stood back up. I looked around. There were just the two of us in the hallway, but it was only a matter of time before someone would walk past us. I didn’t want to do this in front of other people. I didn’t want to do this at all, but she insisted, and I decided to tell her. I would tell her all about my pain and, hopefully, she would feel some of it. I would hurt her, just like she hurt me.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the nearest classroom. I turned the light on and locked the door. I can’t have her running away now. She will hear everything I have to say.
I turned around and crossed my arms over my chest.
“You want to know why I hate you?” I asked coldly.
She nodded, fidgeting with her fingers.
“You left me.” I said. “You left your twin brother and you never looked back.”
Her eyes widened. “I had no choice, Mason. Mom took me away. I never wanted to leave you. You know that.”
“No choice?” I repeated and chuckled darkly. “You had no choice other than to abandon me completely?”
“Mason, you know I wanted to stay with you and dad.” she said quietly, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “You know I never wanted to leave with mom. But what could I have done, Mason? I was nine years old. It wasn’t my decision, and it wasn’t yours either.”
I clenched my fists and tightened my jaw. Every fucking piece of furniture in this room looked very punchable right now. I knew she had to leave. As much as it hurt me, I knew that she couldn’t stay with me and dad. But that is not what I was talking about, and she knew that.
“You could have called.” I said through my teeth. “You could have visited like we agreed to, but you never wanted to. You didn’t want to have anything to do with me, didn’t you?”
Her eyes widened. She stared at me in shock and confusion. Why is she shocked? Did she think that dad wouldn’t tell me?
“What are you talking about?” she asked me quietly.
“Oh, come on.” I sighed. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know. Dad told me everything.”
She furrowed her eyebrows. “Dad told you what?”
I sighed, running my hand through my hair.
“He told me what you said when you left.” I said, clenching my fists. “He told me that you never wanted to hear from me again. He told me that you never wanted to see me again. Did you really think I wouldn’t hate you after that? We’d promised that we would talk every day. We’d promised that we would see each other all the time. You hugged me, cried on my shoulder, and promised all those things, only to tell dad, not even 10 minutes later, that you never wanted to hear or see me again. That is why I fucking hate you, Emma!”
By the time I finished talking, I was screaming at her. I was pacing around, grabbing a fistful of my hair, and glaring at her with all the hate I could muster up.
She was staring at me wide-eyed. Tears were streaming down her cheeks in a continuous flow. She was shaking from top to bottom.
“What, you didn’t think dad would tell me?” I chuckled as I stopped pacing. “You thought that he would keep it between the two of you?”
A sob escaped her lips. She placed a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes.
A part of me wanted to hug her and take her pain away. Another part of me was happy because she finally felt the pain I felt when dad said those words to me.
She opened her eyes, moved the hand from her mouth, and took a deep breath.
“I never said that.” she said quietly, her voice trembling.
“Right.” I snorted. “Like I am going to believe you.”
She looked up at me and sobbed again. It felt like a knife went through my heart.
“I never said that, Mason.” she repeated, sobbing. “I tried calling you. I tried texting you. I even wrote you letters. The calls and messages didn’t go through. The letters came back because the recipient refused them. I still have them, Mason. I didn’t leave you, Mason. I would never do that. I could never do that. You were my best friend. I love you more than anything in the world. I could never leave you. I don’t know why dad said that, but it wasn’t true.”
My world stopped spinning.
She is lying. She has to be lying.
“I thought it was you who didn’t want to talk to me.” she continued, wrapping her arms around herself. “I begged mom to take me back so I could talk to you in person and find out what I did. She wouldn’t do that. I tried everything. I kept calling you, hoping that just one call would go through. I called dad. I called everyone I knew. When none of that worked, I started writing letters to you begging you to talk to me and tell me what I did wrong. I wrote at least a dozen letters. They all came back. I still have them. They are in my room.”
My heart was pounding like crazy.
I stared at her with my mouth wide open.
None of it made sense.
Is she lying?
Did dad lie? But why? Why would he do that? Why would he separate me from her when he knew how much I loved her?
She stepped toward me and wrapped her arms around my torso. She leaned her head on my chest and sobbed.
“I am sorry, Mason.” she managed to mumble out in between her sobs. “I am so sorry.”
I stared down at her, unable to move and unable to think clearly.
What the hell should I do?