𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐘 ~ 𝒄𝒎𝒃

Chapter Eight: They're gonna pay for it

At the exact same time as the night before, I open the gigantic door of the library. I can already see Corbyn waiting for me, and his face lights up when he notices me. I can't help smiling back, his laugh is too infectious.

"So, final review?" he says with interrogative eyes, as I take a seat next to him and hand him the borrowed book. The other one, about the dome, I'm gonna keep for a little while longer. I might need it again.

"Beautiful. I was completely consumed by the story, I thought I found myself in a different world." I smile.

"Well, good thing you can start straight away with these ones." He pushed a huge pile of books towards me, and my mouth drops.

"I officially state I love books," I mumble, taking the first one of the pile and reading the back, as Corbyn starts laughing.

"Well, I guess you know what to do for the next few weeks. Reading." He chuckled.

For the next hours, Corbyn and I go through every single one of the books he chose out for me. He tells a little something about each one of them, and I find myself laughing more in the short amount of time I've spent with him, than I've ever laughed in my whole entire life. He's so incredibly funny, and really knows what he's talking about. His patience never runs out, and he happily answers all my questions, without giving me the feeling I'm bothering him.

Too bad I have to break his heart. If he was from the dome, I would love to hang out with him more.

After we finally finish the gigantic pile, a comfortable silence arises. I really enjoy being in his company, it makes me feel some type of way.

"You know, you're different than every girl I've ever met," he suddenly interrupts my thoughts.

"I hope you're meaning in a good way, because I'm not gonna let you offend me again," I joke.

"Of course I mean in a good way." He smiled. "You live life so perceptive, you never seem to take anything for granted. That really intrigues me."

"That may have something to do with growing up in such a lonely place like the dome. I'm just trying to enjoy every single moment of living here, because something inside me keeps telling me this isn't gonna last," I open up. I know it's not gonna last, but he can't know the reason why.

He grabs my hand, and brushes his thumb over my fingers. His eyes connect with mine, holding a soft and caring glance. "I promise you, Liz, from now on, your life is gonna be so much better than it was before. You'll never have to leave again. Ever." The words leave his mouth in a whisper.

I feel myself starting to blush because of the intimate gesture, and quickly turn my head away. He notices, takes my chin between in his hands, demanding me to look at him again. "No one will ever treat you again the way they used to treat you. Not on my watch," he whispered with an even softer voice.

I wanna nod, I wanna respond, but I can't. I'm too lost in his eyes, too lost to even say a word. Without even thinking about what I'm doing I start leaning in a little, reducing the space between us, as he does the same. His face keeps coming closer to mine, and I close my eyes.

Until a sudden voice interrupts our moment.

"Corbyn, what the hell are you doing here?" A mysterious man storms through the doors, anger radiating from him.

"I'm sorry, I was.." Corbyn starts muttering, but the man interrupts him again.

"It's two A.M, you should be in your room, sleeping. I've been looking everywhere for you," he yelled furiously.

The man finally notices my presence, or at least acts like he just noticed me, and gives me a weird look, making me feel extremely uncomfortable.

Corbyn becomes aware of the man staring at me. "Uhm, Dad, this is Eliza Clark, one of the new students. Liz, this is my dad. Ray Besson," he introduced us to each other.

So this is Ray Besson. Interesting.

His father realizes who I am, and his face expression immediately clears up, until there's nothing left of the furious face he made before. "Miss Clark, I'm so happy to finally be able to meet you!" He shakes my hand, and my confidence starts growing again. This is what I'm good at. Manipulating people.

"So nice to meet you as well, Mister Besson. And I'm sorry for your son being here, that's all my fault. I asked him to meet up, so he could explain me some stuff about this school. This is all very new, you see." I put on the brightest fake smile on my face. "We lost track of time, so that's why we're still here. I'm very sorry."

"No problem, I'm glad my son's helping people. But maybe it's a good idea to continue your conversation any further tomorrow? It's getting really late," he says with a friendly, but demanding voice. This guy knows he has authority, and isn't afraid to use it.

"Of course, Mister Besson. I'll go back to my room. See you tomorrow, Corbyn." I get up and take as much books in my arms as I can carry.

I can see the dirty blond guy wanting to protest, but realizing there's no point in arguing. "See you tomorrow, Liz."

I make my way to the door, but stop around the corner, right when I'm out of their sight, but still in hearing distance.

"Corbyn, what the hell was that? You were about to kiss that girl!" I hear the man whispering, clearly furious.

"So what I if was? Would it matter?" Corbyn answered, sounding as mad as his father does.

"Of course it would! She's the daughter of the biggest criminal in our country, the daughter of a serial killer. She doesn't have one good bone in her body, she's rotten to the core. The only reason she's here, is to make us look better as a town."

Tears leap into my eyes, and I bite my lip not to avoid bursting into sobs. So this is how he truly feels about me. No surprise, but still.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that. Liz is kind, caring and incredibly smart. What does it matter her mother did something unforgivable? She isn't her, she's her own person. Liz would never do something like that."

"Can you even hear yourself, Corbyn? Defending a nobody from the dome? You don't even know her, she's probably just as bad as anyone else from that place. You're better than this, son. You can get so much better than a girl like her."

I can't hear the rest of his words anymore, because I'm running to my room, blood rushing in my ears. No way I'm gonna listen to him tearing me down. Tears well up in my eyes again, but I refuse to let them flow down. I won't cry. Not because of something I already knew.

I knew how everybody thought of me, but hearing him say it, after acting so nice in my face, makes me wanna vomit. I can't believe someone would be this mean, but I should've known.

This is a good thing, it's a wake-up call. I was way too naive, believing people would actually look at me without seeing the part of my mom my body is carrying. People will always judge me, no matter what I do. But they're gonna pay for it. Watch me.