The Darkness Of Healing // Ruel // English

Chapter 7

June: "I know you probably don't want to think about this, but," June plops herself on the chair and rests her arms on the table I was just sitting at alone, alone in the school cafeteria, "I think you should know about this."

She wiggles around in her chair until she's comfortable, then leans forward. She makes me recoil. I have no idea what she's talking about. She clasps her hands together and looks at me seriously. She doesn't get more than a few frowning eyebrows from me. Somehow she scares me, but also arouses curiosity in me. Purely because it seems that she is going to tell me something with passion, something she is proud of. But I wouldn't know what that has to do with me.

June: "You remember the picture of Ruel and Grace, right?"

I nod my head, but my stomach is actually turning. Makes it throw coals on the fire and makes my heart beat faster. Let the smoke make me feel stuffy, as if soon a layer of ash would cover the inside of my lungs. That your fingers would go black if you scraped them.

June: "It is not what it seems and yet you will have to play the game, because there are major consequences." She tells mysteriously.

Yasmine: "June what are you talking about?" I ask with a sigh. It breaks the whole atmosphere of a secret meeting.

She drops her hands on the table. Yet it barely makes any sound.

June: "He didn't cheat. She made it look like that and I have the footage."

I can not believe it. Maybe it's more that I don't want to believe it. Not because I want him to cheat, but more because it makes me to blame for it all. It's a trap, and I got caught.

June: "You didn't think he was so unfaithful to you. Dude, that man loves you with all his heart. I've never seen him so happy, that's because of you and no one else."

Her words make me breathless for a moment. Like it's catching up on something. A truth that I have had a hard time seeing for myself. It stuffs my tears like it's nothing.

I've barely said a word to her and she's rambling on and on. I can see that proud look in her eyes. She researched it herself, out of sheer disbelief.

She slides her phone across the table in my direction. The screen is a bit too bright for my eyes but I get used to it. It's the video, exactly the one out of the screenshot. I try to listen to what is being said, but I see nothing more than the anger in Ruel's eyes. Exactly the same dark fire I saw when he yelled at the phone.

Apparently he had gotten so mad at her that he pushed her against the wall. Trapped in a cage she would rather not have been. But her anger and cunning turned into attraction. That little bit of self-control of his had vanished in the wind, just as she wanted to kiss him. And I can do nothing but turn my head when he slaps her in the face. I feel the pain thump through my own cheek.

It all stirs up emotions in me that I can't place. It's a relief, because I now really know how it went. That he would never let me down, but at the same time it scares me. Knowing how much power he possesses when he really gets blazing. I also don't manage to put all this in my brain in the right way, it's rather thrown into a heap that I haven't organized yet.

June: "I can tell you more. But really honey, if you fight back in this it's going to be your own downfall." It sounds worrisome. Almost like she has to protect me.

But the moment I want to open my mouth to answer, Liam joins. Knowing nothing about the situation. Surely aware of the fact that his friend has always remained loyal.

Yasmine: "You are going to come visit Ruel this afternoon, right?" I ask when Liam has taken a seat.

It seems smart to me to just move the other details to another time and now change the subject. A sensitive one, perhaps a painful one for all of us.