Page 45 of Swallow Your Sorries

Breathe.

Breathe—

“SHIT!”I shriek as the hot water shuts off and Aria Dupont’s unamused face floats in between the shower curtain and the wall.

“ARIA!” a voice outside the bathroom chastises and a second later the bedroom door slams shut and Stassi appears. “Leave her alone. Don’t you think she’s gone through enough?”

“I’ll say. At least fifty gallons of hot water.”

I grab the shower curtain, hiding my nakedness as best as I can. Although neither girl seems to notice my discomfort as Aria slides crossed-legged onto the marble top vanity, while Stassi leans against the doorframe, her expression somewhere between pity, and accusation.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were Gant’s target?” she asks finally.

So much for“Leave her alone.”

“H-how was I supposed to know?” I mumble, my confusion doubling. I’m already ping-ponging about Gant. The ass had grotesquely violated me,assaulted me, and yet my conscience is desperately prodding me to get answers from him. To understand.

What the hell happened to Madame?

His mother…

The cold air streaming through the bathroom door makes my skin scream and prickle in protest. It makes me hyper-aware of how vulnerable I am if either girl tried to…sicme right here and now on Gant’s behalf. Whilst I’m butt-ass naked in the slippery tub.

I lift my chin, trying to appear far braver than I feel with two potential enemies caging me in the nude.

Don’t cower.

Don’t cower.

We don’t cower anymore.

“Can you hand me that towel?” I ask Aria, whose hip is next to my Maldives beach towel. Of course, I’d never actually been. Mum found it at a thrift store and it’s the nicest towel we have. However, seeing it next to Aria and Stassi’s plush linens in their respective caddies makes it look like a dishcloth. The disposable kind.

“How could you not know?” Stassi asks as Aria tosses it at me. It socks me right in the face. “You’re all Gant thinks about.”

Dread crawls each vertebra of my spine as I wrap the towel around myself and climb out of the shower.So she and AriaareGant’s friends. They have to be downright besties if they know I’ve been Gant’s fixation for all these years. He doesn’t strike me as the type to spill his guts to just anyone. Then again, he had to the entire auditorium. But that’s different. That’s because he needs their help to destroy me. It wasn’t just for the sake of it.

“I can’t believe you’re the girl that leaked Gant’s mum’s sex tape,” Aria says, studying me as I scroll to the vanity with all the composure I can muster. “Fromhisemail. The audacity...”

From her tone, I can’t tell if she’s disgusted or impressed.

“The stupidity,” Stassi adds. “Why on earth would you show up at Gant’s school after pulling that stunt?”

“That email was three years ago,” I whisper, reaching for a hairbrush with shaky fingers. The steam’s hiding my reflection, but I don’t need to see it to know my hair’s a heap of matted wand curls, in desperate need of conditioner. I ran out last week. “I thought it was ancient history. A terrible mistake.”

Liar!Nightmare Gant, who visited me every few months when my conscience was at its peak, wasn’t letting shit go anytime soon. Truthfully, I knew he wouldn’t get over it easily, but selfishly I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.

“Wait a second. Did you just sayGant’s school?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady as I rake through the tangles. Broken strands fall into the filled sink where my white polyester uniform shirt is soaking in bleach. I hope it’s salvageable. I can’t ask Mum to send me another one. Not yet.

Yet? Or ever?

How could I still stay here after everything?

Then again, how could I leave?

Despite everything, Beaulieu is my dream, the opportunity of a lifetime. I can’t let one boy change that.Right?

You don’t belong here, Elle.Mum’s earlier words flood my ears and I swallow the thought because I want it to be a lie. And yet, after Gant’s declaration, they only point further towards the harsh truth.

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