Wrong Place, Wrong Time ✔️

Chapter 13: Not again

"Who hurt you?"

"My own expectations."

Arya:

"Stop pacing, Ree, you're wearing a hole in the carpet."

I glared at Ethan and continued walking, practically reducing my nails to nothing.

"Yeah, seriously Arya, relax. Tiring yourself out won't help you." Caleb said.

"It's helping me plenty." I growled, fear and anxiety morphing into a deadly emotion. "This is really bad. Really, really, really bad."

"We know." Ethan said. Is that fucking amusement I detect in his tone?! "You've been saying this for more than twenty minutes now."

I threw my hands in the air. "Why aren't you guys getting mad at this?!"

"Because then there'd be more than one angry person in this conversation and we probably wouldn't get anywhere." Ethan explained calmly.

"Then what do we do?" I asked in a forced, calm tone.

"Nothing." Zac said, nodding like he'd come up with the plan of the century.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." He repeated seriously.

"Oh, so we do nothing while my crazy mother and her husband team up with my future husband to potentially come here and take me away?!" My voice steadily grew louder.

"Yes. It's what we've been saying in the time it took you to wear down the carpet." Ethan rolled his eyes. I ignored him, knowing that in my current state, I'd say or do something rash.

"I can't just sit here and- and do nothing though!" I burst out, hot panic swirling through me. It was getting harder to breathe and my heart was pounding.

"What're you getting so worked up about anyways, Arya?" Zac questioned.

"It's happened before." My throat felt like it was closing up and I couldn't swallow. "It's happened before." I stalked out of the room, shoving all my emotions in a tight box and locking it up.

I leaned my head against the cool granite of the kitchen counter, rocking back and forth slightly. A strangled sound gurgled from my throat. Taking several deep breaths, I tried to suppress the fear of impending doom as a few tears leaked from my eyes.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." I repeated over and over like a mantra. I wiped my eyes and inhaled shakily. I coughed and splotches of blood splattered on the smooth surface in front of me. Not again.

Gingerly, I touched my nose and flinched slightly at the warm red liquid oozing out of it. Grabbing several tissues, I pressed them desperately to my nose and breathed through my mouth. Iron exploded my taste-buds and bile rose to the back of my throat.

I sprinted upstairs and threw open my bathroom door, hunching over the toilet and retching violently. Blood stained the white ceramic and tears dripped down my nose.

After what felt like forever, I was finally done. Wiping my mouth, I flushed the bloody vomit, closing my eyes and taking a shuddering breath. I cleaned the bathroom and sprayed it with some perfume to get rid of the stench.

"I'm okay." I said loudly to the empty room. But I couldn't even convince myself. "I'm okay."

A knock on the door made me jump.

"Skittle? You okay?" Kit asked.

"Ever heard of privacy?" I called back, forcing some annoyance and humour in my voice.

"Sorry, sorry." He said, "You've been in there for more than an hour now. When you're done, come down in the living room. We have a new plan."

I looked in the mirror and faked a smile. The smile the world wanted to see. I opened the door and looped an arm around Kit's shoulders. "Let's go Idiot."

Downstairs, the others were discussing something quietly on the couch, but stopped abruptly when I came. A look of relief washed over all their faces- even Ethan's.

"Hey." I greeted, jumping on the couch and resting my feet over the armrest. "Whatcha talkin' about?"

"We have come up with a new plan." Zac said excitedly. "We're really sorry that we weren't more sympathetic before... I mean, we're not the ones being sold off like cattle-"

"Cheers." I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

"-And so, we have created a completely foolproof plan that will not only let you escape this whole marriage, but also humiliate Mantennii and your family."

"I'm in." I said instantly. "What is this great plan?"

"We send you back to your family." 

End of chapter 13. 

Questions of the chapter: 

What's wrong with Arya?

What did she mean by 'it's happened before?'

What do you guys think of Zac's 'foolproof plan'? 

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)