𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 18+

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒

*LAKE IN IMAGE*

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ADA
LOVE
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Secrets. Lies. So many secrets and lies. I was a different person in every setting. I wore a mask, one for each place, each moment. I was a liar, carrying the burden of secrets so heavy they bent my spine. My body had bruises no one had ever seen. My mind was waging wars that no one could read. My life? It was a disaster—chaotic, messy, spiraling.

I was doomed for disaster, destined for it, forever.

I, Ada—the "happy" girl everyone thought they knew—was secretly a walking nightmare. Always smiling, always laughing, the ray of sunshine in our group. But inside, I was a storm, raging and violent. Nowhere was safe for me except in the arms of my friends. Only with them could I pretend that everything was okay, even though deep down, I knew it wasn't.

They had no idea who I really was. They couldn't see the cracks underneath. They didn't know about the bruises, the ones I had learned to hide so well. They couldn't know about the nights I stayed up, screaming silently into my pillow, trying to escape the hell in my own mind.

But I was running out of time. Lies can't hold forever. Secrets are like pressure, building and building until they explode.

And I could feel mine were about to burst.

Because this year, I got myself into trouble right from the start. Aiden Ivesok's family was the reason my life fell apart when I was a child. His father and older brother were my ultimate break.

Elijah Ivesok assaulted me when I was only twelve years old.

Their father killed my mother in front of my father and little brother.

Yet I never got an apology. I don't know if he knew—he was just as young as me then—but I decided that day I hated him. He scared me. He terrified me.

And now, it killed me to even look into his eyes and remember his brother's face when he... did what he did.

My heart raced as I tried to sit with my friends, to act normal, but when Aiden accidentally bumped into me and grabbed my arm to steady me, everything came crashing back.

My eyes widened. My heart raced. I felt like I was frozen in time, trapped in that moment of terror. I wanted to move, to leave the room, to escape the memories, but I couldn't. I was afraid if I moved, if I tried to break away, something worse would happen.

His hand. Aidens hand was rough and scarred around my arm. Would he hurt me with those hands?

Finally, I felt Ares' hands on my shoulders, pulling me out of the room and away from Aiden. He led me into the hallway, and I collapsed against the lockers, gasping for air, my heart pounding as if it might burst out of my chest.

"What the hell happened back there, Ada?" Ares demanded. Of course he'd ask. He was always trying to play the protective friend, trying to be the one who would save me from whatever he thought was wrong.

I hated it. I didn't want anyone to worry about me. I didn't want anyone, especially Ares, to see past the mask I wore.

"Nothing," I breathed, trying to calm myself. "Just panicked. His reputation isn't the best, you know." A half-truth, a lie mixed with just enough reality to make it believable. I couldn't tell him the real reason—the truth about Elijah, about Aiden, about everything.

"That was the look of horror, Ada. I'm not stupid," Ares pressed, his voice firm but soft.

I forced a laugh, playing it off as if it were nothing. "Ooo! Horror!" I gasped dramatically. "Trust me, I'm fine. I'm like a ray of sunshine, remember?" I said, slipping my arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. "And you're my moon—the moody one. I'm the happy one."