The Ruels of My Heart

chapter fourteen - ruel's perspective

"What?" Zac demands, his arms wrapped protectively around Leo. His face is pale, and his eyes are wide. I feel terrible already.
"I said, I think I'm in love with Leo," I reply, my voice quivering and shaky.
"What?" Zac repeats, shouting, as if the louder he is the faster the truth will disappear. If only.
"And Leo said she has feelings for me as well," I say.
"Is this true, Leo?" Zac asks. But he knows it is.
She nods her head, her head hanging low, silent rivers streaming down her perfect face.
"I'm sorry," her beautiful voice says, so delicately. I feel absolutely awful. Zac lets go of her. His eyes are brimming with tears, he usually never cries. I can see his heart breaking.

He runs off, into the pitch black darkness, and I've never felt worse in my life. I think I just lost my best friend.
"Leo," I say, grabbing her arm. She is shaking, so overwhelmed. I hate to see her like this. I hate that it's my fault why she's crying. I messed up big time.
"Leave me alone!" She shouts.
"I'm sorry," She adds, her voice much softer.
I stare into her alluring dark eyes that I have fallen in love with.
"Please stay," I beg.
"I'm sorry," she calls out again, but this time she's running off into the distance.

I just ruined everything. I'm a terrible person. Leo was right. And I fucking kissed her. I hate myself so much. How could I let this happen? I let my feelings overpower everything else. And now I have to face the consequences. Which means losing Zac.

I really want to fix things with him. I need to make it up to him. What should I do? I fucked up, and I know it's going to take a long time to fix what I did. I bury myself under my duvet, trying to hide from this awful situation I have got myself into. I can't stop thinking about it though. What could I do that Zac would appreciate? What would make him not hate me as much as he does right now? After ages, I finally come up with a plan. It mightn't work, but I'm willing to try it. I'm willing to try anything. Tomorrow I will start making things right. I have to.

The next morning I wake up when my phone rings. It's on my bedside table, I've been trying to avoid it. I pick it up, and instantly a shiver runs down my spine when I see the contact name of who's calling me. It's Stella. One of the lifeguards that Zac works with. Zac asked me if I could be one of his emergency contacts a few summers ago when he just started lifesaving because his parents aren't a part of his life. I quickly realise what's happening. The only reason that Stella would be calling me would be if it was an emergency. With Zac.

"Hello?" I say. My voice is filled with anxiety. Zac has been an amazing friend to me over the years and I care about him heaps. Even though I let him down big time. Even though he hates me. I hate me too.
"Ruel?" Stella replies. I've only talked to her a few times, but immediately I know something is wrong from the tone of her voice. Really wrong. My brain starts jumping to the worst case senarios. Lifesaving can be extremely dangerous, even if you're as experienced as Zac. My hand is shaking as my fingers grip my phone.
"Yes, is everything okay?" I ask. Now I'm really worried.
"How fast can you get to the beach?"
"Probably in about ten minutes. Why? What happened?"
"It's Zac. There was an accident."