Pained (Bullied Series #2) (SAMPLE)

Chapter 1

Present

"Try not to get too drunk." I read Mateo's message and smiled.

"Same to you," I texted back, adding a smiley at the end of my message.

It was Saturday night, and Jessica and I were having a sleepover at Melissa's place. We were playing Truth or Dare on the floor of Mel's room, dressed in pajamas and drinking the beer her parents had left in the fridge. We were all alone in the house since Melissa's dad had stayed at his law firm to work on one of his cases, and her mom was on a business trip.

My phone beeped every once in a while, notifying me about a new message from Mateo, who was hanging out with his friends.

"Mateo told me not to get too drunk." Jessica and Melissa looked at each other and chuckled, clinking their cans.

"He's such a sweetheart, worrying about you. He's not able to breathe without you," Mel cooed, and I smacked her knee. "What? That's true! You saw each other earlier tonight, and he's already texting you. He misses you so much! Moreover, he cares about your alcohol intake. Such burning love! Such passion!" She stood on her knees and raised her arms in air, her expression overly dramatic.

I rolled my eyes and burst out laughing. She was already drunk, like Jessica and me, and more childish than usual.

I looked at them and felt a huge wave of gratitude. I loved spending time with Mel and Jess and acting like a normal teenager. It helped me forget about the problems in my life. It made me stronger and less anxious about the future. Life wasn't only about the darkness and pain, and I could finally relax and focus on the positive things that had eluded me for so long.

Almost three months ago I didn't have anyone by my side, but now I had Mateo, Jess, and Mel, and they were amazing. We were getting to know each other more each day, and I was becoming more comfortable around them.

They helped me believe in myself, which I struggled with even now. Sadly, my self-esteem and self-respect couldn't be developed that easily or quickly. I still distrusted people. I still had many scars, but I refused to be negative about them. I wanted to believe I would heal one day. I wanted to believe life had much more to offer me.

Kayden would be so happy to see me now, and he would definitely like my friends. He would say something like, "What did I tell you, dummy? You aren't as much of a weirdo as you thought, and you can do much better than you think." He'd always believed in me, no matter what.

"Well, it's normal he's all romantic now. They celebrated their one-month anniversary yesterday," Jess said and downed her can.

One month. I smiled at the thought. I remembered the cute bracelet I'd left on my desk, which he'd given me last night. It had small, heart-shaped charms of different sizes attached to the chain, and it was cute, just like him. Mateo Diaz was always thoughtful.

I couldn't believe I was dating him. Even when he asked me out on our first date, I had a feeling we would be over quickly, but here we were, celebrating a one-month anniversary. For some people, one month wasn't a big deal, but for me, who had never had a boyfriend before, this was huge, especially because of the way everything had started...

A few threads of an old, dark web caught me, and my smile dropped.

"What's wrong?" Jessica asked, noticing the change in me.

I tugged my hair and tightened my ponytail, which was one of the things I did when I was nervous. "Nothing. It's my turn to spin the bottle, right?" I said and spun the bottle.