Falling Apart (GANG Series)

Chapter 1

Aria's POV

My heart is beating out of my chest. I don't know whether to run or stay put. I look at Jacob again. I can feel how tense he is from here. He can't be any more anxious than I am.

"Jacob?" I ask him to explain all this confusion.

"You were worth a lot." Zac says to me. "Twenty fucking grand. I thought it went on a little too long, but he fell for you or something."

"What went on a little too long?" I turn to Zac and Reagan. They seem to be the only ones with the ability to talk.

The guys seem like they're silently panicking, trying to magically makes themselves disappear.

"Why, the game of course. The only reason you're standing here in this moment right now. This whole relationship is just a crazy turn of events." Reagan adds in a puzzle piece. "A joke."

"What?" A game? "Jacob, what is she talking about?"

"Aria, I'll explain everything. Just come with me. Please." He begs.

Zac and Reagan just laugh.

"What lies are you gonna come up with now?" Zac shakes his head with that evil smirk.

"Aria, I promise I will tell you everything."

I subconsciously take a small step back from him. He looks hurt at my action. All of a sudden I've gone mute. Too many questions are flowing in my brain, I can't get one out.

"Just tell me what they're talking about right now." I manage to say. I feel so lost and insecure. He takes a deep breath.

"Remember the first party you ever came to?" He asks me. I just nod.

How could I forget?

"Well, Zac, Jace, me, and some other guys had this thing. A game." He's speaking so cautiously. No matter how careful he is I still feel a little sick. "One guy would bet another that he couldn't get a girl a sleep with him."

Oh god. Please, no. I feel the pricking at my eyes.

"That night I made a bet with Jace and Zac . . . On you."

I feel my heart drop to my stomach. I think I might actually empty out my stomach. The pain hits me too fast and too hard.

"You were just a bet, princess." Reagan says the nickname in a disgusted manner. "Nothing more."

"Is that true?" My voice breaks. Jacob comes closer to me and I back farther away. The bile starts to rise so much, I start suffocating.

"You know it's not." I don't believe him.

I turn to the guys. "And you all knew?"

Aaron nods his head in shame. Jace and Jake just stare at me. I can feel the tears streaming down my face but I'm not conscious about crying. All I can hear is my heart pounding in my ears and in my throat. Jacobs eyes on me just breaks me further. I need to get out of here. I can't be here. The room is getting too small and my heart feels like it's shrinking, tightening into the most excruciating knot. I just use my head instead of my heart for once and get the hell out of there, running outside into the rain.

"Aria! Aria!" Jacob comes outside after me. I reach my car but he gets in front of me. "Please, just listen to me."

"No! I wanna go, just let me go."

"I can't. You have to listen to me. It's not like that, like what they said."

"Why should I listen to anything you say? You're just gonna lie again." My tears pour. "I actually believed that you-"