Breaking free - Gracie Abrams

011 Face It

Face It
011

sun crept through the window, the ceiling fan above was spinning lazily, its rhythmic clicking far too loud for her liking. a soft blanket over her bare skin. her eyes stared forward, glassy and distant, unfocused as if her body and mind existed in separate planes.

awake but unwilling to move, her mind stuck on an endless loop of last night—the slap, the yelling, gracie's voice. every detail replayed, each word louder than the last, refusing to let her rest. beside her, charlotte shifted unaware. eventually, charlotte sighed and pushed herself up, grabbing her panties from the floor. gabriella's eyes followed her as she padded silently to the restroom, the soft click of the door closing behind her leaving gabriella alone with her thoughts once more.

she exhaled shakily and rolled onto her side, pulling the blanket tighter around her. but it didn't help—nothing did. all she could see was gracie's face, angry and hurt, and her own words coming back to haunt her.

she felt numb. not in the comforting, painless way, but in the suffocating, empty sense of nothingness that left her paralyzed. she didn't cry; the tears had dried hours ago. now, there was only exhaustion—bone-deep and unshakable. her fingers twitched as if reaching for something she couldn't name, couldn't hold onto.

a burning candle flickered softly on the nightstand, a scent of vanilla. gabriella heard the water run briefly from the bathroom before it stopped. charlotte reappeared, padding silently across the floor. she rummaged through gabriella's drawer and pulled out an oversized t-shirt, slipping it on before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"hey," charlotte said, glancing over her shoulder. "you okay?"

gabriella shifted slightly under the blanket, her voice hoarse when she finally responded. "i'm fine," she croaked. "what time is it?"

"4 in the afternoon," charlotte replied. "you've been sleeping a lot."

gabriella pressed a hand to her forehead, wincing as a dull throb pulsed through her skull. "my head is killing me."

"yeah, well, last night was tough." charlotte sighed and laid down beside her.

gabriella didn't respond. instead, she stared at the ceiling. tough didn't even begin to describe it. tough was a bad rehearsal or a missed line in a script. last night was something else entirely, something that had clawed at her insides and left her hollow.

"last night didn't change anything between us, right?" charlotte asked.

gabriella turned her head to look at her.

"yes," gabriella said softly, her throat dry. "still friends."

charlotte stayed quiet for a moment, her fingers toying with the edge of the blanket. "you ever think about it, though?" she asked.

gabriella frowned. "think about what?"

"us. what it would've been like if we weren't... whatever this is," charlotte said, her eyes fixed on gabriella, studying her reaction.

gabriella shifted uncomfortably, pulling the blanket higher over her chest. "there's no point thinking about something that doesn't make sense."

"we keep ending up like this, no matter how much we pretend we're just friends."

gabriella sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "we work better as friends."

"right." charlotte sighed, leaning back against the headboard. "have you checked your phone?"

"no," gabriella said flatly. "and i'm not going to. i want to forget about everything and wake up in november."

but her mind was anything but blank. she wished she could escape her own head, peel away the parts of herself that felt too raw, too exposed.