The Trapped

40

40

- B L A I R E -

11.14.16 // 12:37 p.m.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

That seems to be the only word running around in my mind, over and over again until it is plastered on the inside walls of my skull.

How could I be so stupid?

The letter I first received that night when I came back from the awards ceremony. T had known my last name at the club that night. He had said his name was T and somehow, I couldn't put two and two together.

Stupid.

I should have been more careful, I should have seen the signs, I should have told someone about the letter, I should have...

The door opens to the bedroom and T steps in smoothly. My heart, as if on instinct, lights up into a frenzy of thumps. He doesn't say anything at first, just stands there with his head cocked to the side and his finger running over his bottom lip.

The soft sunlight glaring through the window cascades over his skin, taking form in every dip and shadow on his face. His blue eyes look dark against his pale skin as he saunters over to me, his footsteps hardly making any sound on the cement.

"You won't believe who I saw today," he starts off and my eyes flicker to his for a beat before I look away. I shrug my shoulders and he takes a deep breath through his nose. "Your ex-lover."

My heart stops, the blood in my veins lights on fire and I stop moving.

"You-you saw S-Sutter?" I stutter and he smiles wickedly and places a hand on my cheek. "What did you do to him?"

"I did nothing, Rose. He didn't even see me, like normal, no one ever sees me. I'm invisible," he whispers sadly and I gulp. "You shouldn't be concerned with ex-lovers anymore, Rose. I'm the only love you will ever need."

"I don't love you! This," I say, flicking a hand between the both of us," isn't love. This is ownership. You don't love me, you just make your twisted mind think you do."

T begins to shake slightly and he blinks down at me, offering no ongoing conversation and showing no kind of emotion on his face.

"You don't love me," I whisper slowly and just like the suspenseful moment before a glass you drops shatters on the ground, T breaks.

Just like that.

"I do love you! Why can't you see that!" He shouts, grabbing a fistful of my matted hair and bringing me up to his eye level. His blue eyes burn into me, the heat radiates off of him in waves and his hands tremble as he brings his fist up and punches me in the cheek. The sound is more displeasing than the actual blow and for the first time, I don't cry.

I take it.

I take every punch, and every slap, and every kick. I don't feel it, not anymore. I just let it happen, as if it is normal.

"This isn't love," I say through busted lips and he shakes as he forcefully grabs my chin and lifts it up to look at me. "Do you see what you do to me?"

His eyes sadden and he drops his hand from my face and rest it limply on his lap. For a minute, I think I have gotten to him. I think I have finally broken his rough surface.

I was wrong.

"This is about that Canton boy! You're still in love with him," he says, rage clear in his voice. I sigh and look down at my blue and black hands that rest on my lap. "It's true! You still love him."

He abruptly stands to his feet and paces around the room with his hands in his hair. I watch him, my eyes transfixed, waiting to see if he would speak, but he doesn't.

T looks on edge, his eyes lost and dazzled, his hands tucked away into his pin-striped pants, and his face twisted into a tight grimace.

He stops pacing, looks at me through hazy eyes, then walks to the door without an explanation.

"Someone must be punished," is the last thing T mumbles before the door locks shut behind him and my heart drops.

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-jayymckenziee