✓ | PRIMAL, jacob black ²

chapter fourteen

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Aniya had tried her best to stay positive, to convince herself that everything would be fine, but the constant questions from Maya and Juliet made it impossible. Ever since she showed them her sketches, their behaviour had changed. They were relentless, always asking if she'd had another dream or discovered something new.

It wasn't supportive—it was suffocating.

"Wait, Aniya!" she heard them shout in unison, their voices echoing across the school parking lot. She didn't slow down. If anything, her pace quickened, her frustration bubbling just beneath the surface.

"Aniya, please wait!" Juliet's voice came again, but she was already fuming.

She groaned loudly, spinning on her heel to face them. Her glare was sharp enough to stop them in their tracks. "I honestly thought you two would tell me that it's nothing to worry about!" she snapped, her voice loud enough to draw the attention of a few students nearby. She didn't care. "Instead, you act like I'm crazy! Do you even hear yourselves? You really think I'm insane, don't you?"

Juliet flinched, her voice small and trembling as she tried to reason with her. "Aniya, it's not like that. Please—"

But her attempt at an explanation only fueled Aniya's anger. "No!" she shouted, the bitterness in her voice startling even herself. "God, I feel like showing you my sketches was the worst mistake I've ever made." She let out a harsh, humourless laugh. "A girl who draws stuff she sees in her dreams? Then suddenly sketches people she's never met? Yeah, that doesn't sound insane at all!"

Maya stepped forward cautiously, her expression apologetic. "No, Aniya. It's not like that—"

But Aniya wasn't finished. She sneered, her voice dripping with frustration. "I don't need this right now, Maya. Seriously." She licked her lips, trying to steady the anger threatening to boil over. "I thought you two would tell me something. Anything. Even a lie. Instead, you just sit there, staring at me like I'm a science experiment gone wrong!"

Juliet inhaled sharply, her brows furrowing. "What are you talking about?"

Aniya let out another bitter laugh, shaking her head. "Oh, come on, Juliet. Do you think I didn't notice? The way you two share those little looks when you think I'm not paying attention? Or the way Maya almost slipped up last time?" She clenched her fists, hating the way the words tumbled out of her mouth, hating how vulnerable it made her feel to finally voice her suspicions.

"You're hiding something," she said, her voice trembling but firm. "I don't know what it is, and maybe it's not even your secret to tell. But do you have any idea how much it sucks being the one left out? To feel like I'm standing in the middle of this puzzle, and everyone else has the pieces but refuses to let me see them?"

She paused, taking a shaky breath, her voice lowering into something almost fragile. "Those dreams, the legend your parents told us, and then them just... leaving you behind, Juliet. I know your parents wouldn't just up and move without you unless there was a damn good reason."

Her words hung in the air, the weight of them making both girls look down, unable to meet her gaze.

"It all adds up," she continued, her voice soft but resolute. "But then there's this massive wall keeping me from seeing the final piece. And I'm tired of being shut out."

"Aniya," Maya began cautiously, her tone gentle. "Please, you have to understand. There's more going on than you realize."

Aniya exhaled sharply, her shoulders sagging slightly. "I know," she admitted softly, her eyes meeting Maya's. "I know there's more. But I also know neither of you is going to tell me."

The silence that followed was deafening. The girls looked down again, and Aniya let out a soft scoff, her anger ebbing into something more like resignation. "I get it," she said quietly. "Some secrets are better left unsaid. But at the very least, I expected you to reassure me. To tell me that everything's going to be okay." She paused, her voice trembling. "Instead, you just... look at me like I'm crazy. And that's what I can't handle."

Juliet's voice cracked as she stepped forward, grabbing Aniya's hand. "Aniya, we're sorry. Please—"

"I know," Aniya said, cutting her off gently. She looked at Juliet, her expression softening despite the storm still brewing inside her. "I know you are. And I don't hate you for it. I couldn't if I tried. But right now, I need some space. I need time to think... on my own."

She pulled her hand away, ignoring the ache in her chest as she turned and walked away. She didn't look back, even as she felt their eyes on her, fighting every urge to stop and forgive them on the spot. Right now, she needed to clear her head, even if it meant walking away from the people she trusted most.

Aniya sat slumped in her car, parked in some random lot miles away from school. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles white as she stared blankly out the windshield. Her chest felt heavy, weighed down by an overwhelming mix of guilt, frustration, and confusion. She hated herself in that moment—hated the way she had let her anger spill over onto Maya and Juliet. They didn't deserve that.

She leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes as she tried to steady her breathing. But it wasn't working. The memories of her shouting at them in the school parking lot replayed over and over in her mind, each time making her stomach twist with regret.

"They're my best friends," she muttered to herself, her voice barely above a whisper. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

Her head felt like it was about to explode, so full of thoughts and emotions she couldn't even begin to untangle. The dreams, the sketches, the secrets she knew they were keeping—it was all too much. And instead of dealing with it rationally, she'd lashed out at the two people who had always been there for her.

Tears pricked at her eyes, but she blinked them away, refusing to let herself cry. Not here. Not now. She gritted her teeth and hit the steering wheel lightly, letting out a frustrated groan. "Why does everything have to be so damn complicated?"

Her mind raced back to what she had said to them, the bitterness in her voice still lingering in her memory. She had wanted answers, but what had she really expected? For them to suddenly break down and tell her everything? For some magical explanation to make everything make sense?

Deep down, she knew that whatever they were hiding wasn't entirely their fault. Maybe they weren't even allowed to tell her. But that didn't make the sting of being left in the dark hurt any less.

Sighing heavily, Aniya tilted her head back again, staring up at the car's ceiling. She needed to calm down, to sort through her thoughts before she did something else she'd regret. But the more she tried, the more it all felt like too much.

"I'm such an idiot," she muttered, her voice breaking slightly. "They were just trying to help. And I... I pushed them away."

The thought of going back to school now felt impossible. She couldn't face them, not yet. So, instead, she stayed parked, letting the minutes tick by as she sat in silence, trying to figure out what the hell she was supposed to do next.