Page 118 of Love Me Not

Hands gripped me, forcing me up.Hands with cool rings that stung against my heated skin.

No.I hung onto the railing for dear life, but she was stronger than me.I was forced over, my eyes meeting the black water below.

Stop, please.Someone save me?—

And then I was falling.I had no control over it.The last of my strength had been used to hold onto the railing, and she had pried my hands from it.

I’m going to die.

Even in my stupor, I knew there was no way I would survive a swim in the river.

I’m going to drown.

No.Not here.Not now.Not when I still haven’t told her.

My arms flayed.I grabbed onto something rough.My nails dug into it, searing pain stemming from it.But I didn’t let go.

I looked up to see her mother in the light.She looked crazed, wide-eyed and breathing heavily.For the first time I saw her perfect mask crack.

Her hair was a mess, her shirt rumpled by the effort it took to push me off the bridge.

“Just fucking die, you useless?—”

I let out a cry as her heel crushed my fingers.I swung my other arm up, gripping the lip just as my other hand dropped.

She moved quickly to stomp on the other one.

“I’m not going to jail for this!”

No, she won’t.

I realized in that moment she would probably continue to get away with whatever she wanted, regardless of how bad the crime was.People like her always did.

She killed my parents, and now I was next.

I wish I had told Lux I love her.

My hand slipped from the ledge, and time slowed.I was falling again.And this time, there would be no stopping it.

She looked down at me with a vindictive gaze.She knew she had won.I closed my eyes, ready for the impact of hitting the water, but it never came.

Warm fingers grabbed my wrist and yanked, pulling me against the hard rock of the bridge.I gasped and looked up to see that someone’s arm had slipped through the bottom railing just in time to grab my wrist.

The person was lying on the ground, their shoulder hanging off the bridge as they held onto me.When their other hand came to grab me, I saw the beautiful brown eyes that changed my life.

The ones I fell in love with all those nights ago.The ones I saw when I went to sleep at night.

“Hang on, Juliette!”

“Lux!”I cried, my voice hoarse.

She came.

She gritted her teeth and began to pull me up.But she wasn’t alone.People had seen or heard me, and they were there too.Bystanders were helping pull me up.

Saving me.

A silly thought passed my mind as I was pulled back onto the bridge.

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