Playing Heart Games

Pre-Game 3: Get Your Heart Broken

VIOLET

I blinked, expecting the name on the jumper to change.

It didn't.

Mark must have forgotten it here. Of course.

But even as I thought it, my heartbeat started to speed and it became difficult to breathe.

My eyes slid back to the kissing couple.

I almost laughed at myself. It couldn't—

The boy pulled away for a moment and my heart stopped working.

I knew his features so well.

The way his cheeks bloomed red when we kissed. Like they were right now. The way his eyes got all dazed. Like they were right now. The way he looked at me—

Like he was looking at her right now.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe.

It was as if the world had stopped.

Slowly, my eyes slid to the girl he was kissing.

And everything got worse.

Seated on the teacher's desk was Alissa Dawson. My stepsister.

And suddenly I was trembling, my lungs struggling to pull in air. No, no, no—

I was misunderstanding something. He couldn't. They wouldn't—

But then his lips were on her neck, hands sliding over her thighs, beneath her skirt—

My phone hit the ground. Mark's head whipped towards the door.

Rapidly, I snatched my phone off the floor, then I was sprinting down the hall, trying to get as far away from the room as possible. From Mark and Alissa—

Vomit rose up my throat.

Hide. I needed to hide.

I shoved into a random classroom, panting for breath. The door slammed shut behind me.

His lips on her skin—

A choked sound left my mouth. My legs gave way, cold tiles meeting my thighs.

His fingers on her skin—

I couldn't breathe.

I could hear the sound of my heart shattering in two.

Mark and Alissa. Mark and Alissa. Mark and Alissa—

A choked sob left my lips.

The sound of a voice made my head jerk up.

Deep, and simmering with anger, "Who the hell is that?"