Chapter 11: Burned Bridges

I went to the sink and slowly washed my hands.

"What? You two want to try Derek’s hand, too?"

They shoved each other and fled, their footsteps echoing down the hall.

"Tch, what’s there to be proud of…"

I pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

The smoke drifted away in front of me.

Heh.

Derek is still the same Derek.

When he likes someone, he’ll spoil them to the ends of the earth.

Just yesterday,

he told me not to use my position to make things hard for Aubrey.

But in a blink, he used his power to push me down.

And this society—

what a fucking joke.

I leaned against the cracked countertop, staring at my reflection in the spotted mirror. The fluorescent lights made my skin look sallow, my eyes too bright with tears I refused to let fall again. The cigarette between my fingers was a small rebellion—one I’d promised myself I’d quit years ago. But tonight, I needed the burn, the way the smoke curled around my head and blurred the world for just a moment. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen the game rigged, but it was the first time I’d lost so much in one go. In America, they say you pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But what do you do when someone cuts the laces?