Four Words

Prologue

They say that the person you trust most has the power to reduce you to nothing, with just a few words.

Well, that's true.

Who am I to say that, you ask?

My name is Phoebe and this is my story.

~♧☆¤☆♧~

Four words tore my world apart.

I sat in a red plastic chair at Burger King, looking at my half-eaten fish burger. I had been about to take another bite when I heard those four words. And now I just felt like hurling it at the wall, letting the mayonnaise and melted cheddar cheese and fish fillet decorate the painted walls in splatters.

My stomach squirmed just then. I forced myself to put on a neutral face. I couldn't let any emotion leak out. Jessy and Reina were both sitting opposite me, eyes intensely fixed on my face. But inside I was a raging, screaming mess. Which was totally understandable. How often do you hear gossip about you being creepy and disgusting?

Hot tears were prickling the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill out any moment. My lips began to tremble and my breath came in ragged gasps. I knew the warning signs well enough.

I'm out of here, I thought. Now.

I grabbed my bag and rushed out of the place, out into the mall. The noise hit me like a solid wall, all the thumping music from stereos, the chatter of people both young and old, the cries of 'Sale! Sale! Thirty percent off!'

I wanted to get away from everyone, everything. I fought the incoming wave of shoppers, desperately seeking the big exit doors, all the while trying to hold back the tears that were so close to falling. And I knew once I started they would not stop falling.

I. Will. Not. Cry. In. Public.

I got on the bus and headed home, earphones jammed into my ears, my shoulder slumped against the window.