𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎; 𝚓𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚛

𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢. 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞

Jaden

my hands tremble as yet another post about the arrest makes its way onto my explore page. The entire week has been filled with management and the fans bashing me as if I don't know that I fucked up. Bryce has gone back into his party animals habits, seemingly not giving a crap about the arrest. The entire Internet has basically excused him because he 'took the fall for Josh' which by the way, is 100% false.

so basically, I'm getting all the hate here.

and Cora.

I didn't realize how bad it was until she asked me to check who was emailing her. I had opened up the email only to see she had been taken out of her tour with other artists due to 'excessive drama in her personal life'.

in other words, she was removed because I'm a complete dumbass.

Cora tried to hide how upset she was, taking frequent bathroom breaks and leaving the room at random times. It didn't work. I know that girl better than I know myself and I can tell she's hurting. This was the tour that would've elevated her career to the next level (though she's already rocked the entire music industry).

I can tell she's trying to mask her own sadness just to try and make me feel better about myself, but if anything, it's making it worse.

Cora's POV:

"Cora, he's not left his room all week"

"can you blame him?"

"Bryce isn't holed up in his-"

"Bryce doesn't have the whole fanbase's disapproval on his shoulders. People are praising him for helping Josh, which we both know never happened. He needs this time, Blake."

"it's not healthy for him to be all by himself"

"it's not healthy for Bryce to be avoiding his own consequences which will definitely resurface at some point."

"eXcUsE mE?" we turn to see Bryce staggering towards us, probably still hungover from the hype house party last night. "You know what Cora, if you're gonna talk shit about me behind my back we might as well settle this, man to woman"

"alright Bryce, let's go" the three of us shuffle towards each other, probably looking like idiots to anyone coming up the stairs. "SQUARE UP!" Blake bellows.

"this is as squared up as I can possibly get!" Bryce puffs out his chest, arms at 90° angles by his sides.

"yeah? still look like a sphere to me"

"YOU LITTLE-" Bryce bolts towards the two of us, sending Blake and I shrieking in opposite directions. The tall boy follows his friend as I scuttle off towards Jaden's room.

"Hey, Jae?"

no response.

frowning to myself, I open the door and slide in. The first place is look at is his bed, but he isn't laying there like what I expected. Then I check in the bathroom, which is also missing his presence. As I stare around the room, I remember him telling me about how he liked to hide out in the garage because nobody ever went there. Quickly scrambling down the stairs I make my way into the garage.

Nothing could've prepared me for what I saw next.

Jaden, sitting in the middle of hundreds of little glass shards, broken alcohol bottles smashed up against the adjacent wall. His shirt is hanging onto his body by thin strips of fabric, cuts visible along his chest and biceps. I instinctively lurch forward, ignoring the glass on the floor. The pieces cut into my feet, but my only mission is to get to the broken boy sitting against the wall.