Another Life, Another Me

86. The Impenetrable Fortress (Part 4)

Special: The Impenetrable Fortress (Part 4)

(A/N: Trigger Warning! Definitely do not read if you are sensitive to suicide themes. Gore is included too.)

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Cordelia POV

Alex Ward.

My first ever crush.

He was, quite literally, the only person who had treated me decently in this life.

Of course, it's not like Alex had ever treated me especially better than others though...he simply treated everyone equally, nothing more and nothing less.

"You seem happy for a person who just got beaten up," he said as his eyes never looked up from the book he held in his hands.

"...Why are you here?" I asked as I kept my voice steady and calm.

"I was on my way to the library but then got pulled over by a teacher, who dragged me all the way here to watch over you. But by the looks of things, you're doing alright, aren't you," Alex replied with an sigh.

"...No, it definitely hurts a lot," I murmured as I pointed to all the bruises on my body.

Alex had always been a strange kid.

Even if someone had their head chopped off in front of him, I doubt he would even blink in surprise.

"...I doubt someone like Zach Reaves would go as far as to beat you up like that. He might act try to act tough and violent but, in reality, he's just stupid and cowardly," Alex murmured expressionlessly.

Throughout the entire time, he did not turn up his head from his book to look at me once.

"And...? What are you trying to say?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"What I am trying to say is that...you, Clara Smith, framed Zach Reaves. Right?" Alex said without a single smirk on his face as his eyes darted across the lines of his book.

I clenched my hands into fists and sighed.

"So? What are you going to do about it?" I asked a little threateningly, "It's not like anyone would believe you, even if you said anything."

But Alex neither flinched nor seemed to care.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't plan on telling anybody. Zach deserved it anyway. Do you know, Clara? That you can only blame yourself if you fall into someone else's trap?" Alex asked without expecting an answer.

He was right.

Zach was the one who fell into my trap, so there was no one else he could blame besides himself.

After all, none of this would have happened if he had kept his hands to himself and left me alone.

"You're talking as if though you're an old man," I huffed as I shifted my body into a slightly more comfortable position.

"I am often told that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"..."

After that, there was a horribly awkward silence.

Honestly, in the past, I used to think I had a crush on this man.

After all, he was smart...

...And he treated me just like he would with anyone else.

And...