𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 | ✓

30

Laughter echoes. I press my palms to my ears. The darkness throws gigantic shadows of the trees on the ground.

Mocking, howling laughter rings in the woods.

I sprint to get away from the sniggering, not knowing where I'm going but never slowing down.

I run until my feet hurt and my muscles scream in protest. My breath wheezes in and out of me, lower branches graze my skin, drawing blood. In the far distance, I catch glimpses of a highway. With more force, I dash towards it. But when I reach it, Alex, Everly, and Olivia are standing in a circle, pointing at me and laughing.

"Stop!" I cry out. No one hears me. Tears brim my eyes.

They snicker and sneer, pointing at me, doubling over with laughter. Tossing words like 'loser', 'nobody', 'worthless'.

"Everyone's better off without you," Everly sneers.

Alex drapes his arm around her. "We're so happy now that you're not here. You ruin anyone's life you get close to."

"You're a worthless failure left with nothing but misery. Obnoxious, self-serving pain in the ass," Olivia shouts.

"You even destroyed your brother's life," The three of them yell together.

I shake my head.

"You don't deserve anyone's love," Everly and Olivia say together as the trio begin walking around me. "You only ruin lives," the three of them say together. Mom, Dad, Mason join them out of nowhere.

"It's all your fault," they shout together.

I shake my head. "I'm sorry," I cry out searching for the familiar warm faces I've known, but glacial eyes stare me down.

"You ruined our lives," they roar.

My knees buckle and hit the uneven paved ground, gravel cuts into my skin.

Bright headlights cut through the darkness. Everyone disappears. A gigantic truck speeds down the lane.

Mason stands in the middle. "You ruined everything."

I push myself to my feet, shaking my head, tears streaming down my face. "No, no-no." I rush to him.

"Everyone hates you," Mason's monotonous voice echoes in the night. "It's your fault."

The truck screeches as it hits Mason a moment before I reach him.

I shriek, "No!"

"Gracie." Warm hands gently shake me.

I jolt awake, frantically taking in my unfamiliar surroundings, cowering away from the touch and voice, my bach hitting the headboard.

"Gracie, it was just a dream, it's over," the same well-known deep voice says. Panting, my eyes finally fall on Wright, our eyes locking.

He softly strokes the pad of his thumb over my cheek and that's when I realize I've been crying. "It was a nightmare, it's over," he murmurs. But I don't stop trembling.

Unfocused I nod, the events of the day crash down on me, quickening my heartbeat again.

I press my hand to my temple. The dream replays in my head. Just a nightmare. Not real.

Still, one hand holding my shoulder, Wright leans over and picks a glass of water, I feebly guide the glass as he holds up for me to take a sip.

Embarrassment tightens my chest as it settles at the pit of my stomach, churning it.