fragile

12

"I'm sorry."

Mick stood beside her, in the quiet part of the library where no one usually went to. Mira's fists clenched as she stared down at the book she was reading instead.

She found herself frequently skipping classes and hiding out in the library during lunch breaks. The looks and rumours were too much for only herself to bear and she could feel herself slowly shutting down.

"Mira, please look at me. I'm so—"

"Go away," she spat with as much venom as she could. Her body was shivering with the animosity that was directed at none other than the one who tried to break her.

"I just wanna apologise," he said softly.

"Apologise?" She gritted her teeth. "After everything you did, all the lies you fed Willow and all the pain that you've caused me, now you've come to apologise? You hurt me. You broke me. And you think saying a simple sorry will make it all OK?"

Mick simply watched her with wide eyes. He looked like he had been punched in the gut; eyes glazed and face pink with regret and shame.

"I know it doesn't make it OK, but...I kind of hoped it would."

"Just shut up."

He raised his hands up, eyes frantic. "Okay, okay. I was just trying to be nice."

She scoffed. "Right. Well, then where's Willow? She has to apologise, too."

He went quiet.

Mira shook her head slowly in disbelief. "Wow."

"I'm apologising on behalf of her as well."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Well, it should, Mira." He scoffed, looking at her as if he didn't understand why she was being so difficult. "What more do you want?"

"I want you to tell me why you did what you did. I want everyone to know the truth. I want Willow to know the truth, too."

She stared hard at Mick; he knew what she was talking about, she was positive. And the way he dragged his gaze regrettably away confirmed it.

"You know I can't do that," he whispered.

"And why not?" she snapped back. Mira inwardly laughed at how pathetic he was. His apologies weren't even sincere; he wasn't trying to make things right.

He was just pretending to be righteous when he clearly wasn't. He didn't even mean anything. It was all just empty words.

Mick shook his head, refusing to answer and Mira had to resist the urge to scratch his eyeballs out.

"Just get lost before I do something I don't regret, Mick," she warned.

This time, he let out a strangled laugh but more out of surprise. "Wow, you really do hate me, huh? Look, I admit I did a lot of shitty things but I'm saying sorry. Just take it or leave it."

Mira had had enough. She slammed the book down and stood up, chair scraping along the floor like nails on a chalkboard.

She leaned in towards Mick, noses inches away from him. But there was no attraction; just anger and the urge to punch him until he bled.

The hatred for the world and for him was too much to hold back and so she exploded in a way she never ever had before.

"I'll take the latter option, thanks and you know why? Because you're pathetic. I hate you so fucking much that I'm this far from breaking your nose," she spat, enjoying the way he winced at her tone and proximity.

"If you really want to make things up to me then tell your stupid girlfriend that everything you told her was a lie because you're an insecure asshole who, because he wanted to desperately fit in, decided to ruin someone else's life because he doesn't have one himself. Now if you want to know what'll make me happy, then why don't you all just go to hell and burn while you're there?"

With that, not only did a huge weight lift off her shoulders, but she was finally satisfied with the way she stood up to him.

She was most definitely satisfied by the look of fear that flashed across his eyes, and given the chance, she would do it again.

As she walked out of the library proudly, for the first time in months, something strange happened.

She smiled.

***

"You fucking happy, now?"

Colton tore his gaze away from Mira's disappearing figure and turned his head. His eyes met Mick's as he scowled at him, eyes dripping with an animosity that he was amused by.

He pushed himself off the side wall of the library and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Did you apologise?"

"What do you think?"

"Well, I don't know if I can trust you, Micky."

Mick shot him a sharp glare. "Don't fucking call me that," he hissed.

Colton shrugged, his mouth tilting up into a small, humourless smile.

"Too bad. I just did."

"Whatever, dick. Now, give me the photos or...or delete them." His eyes were frantic, fear etched across his pale face.

Colton resisted the urge to snicker. He was having fun taunting him. Even though he had promised himself that he wouldn't get involved in any way, he needed to do this one thing.

For himself.

But most of all, for Mira. He didn't know why he was doing all this, but he didn't question it.

He never did because he was afraid of the answer.

Even if Mick only apologised because Colton had threatened to send out photos he captured of Mick having sex with some other chick in an empty classroom on the teachers desk, he hoped it would be enough.

He wanted it to be enough for her to have some sort of closure, even if it was him behind it.

Guilt for doing what he did rose up and churned within his stomach but he shoved it down.

The boy grinned and focused on the matter at hand instead. "You're an idiot, you know that. You should know that you always get the person to delete the photos or give them to you before you actually do something."

Mick blanched. "W-what do you mean?"

All the confidence and the macho act vanished in an instant and Colton smirked. He walked up to him and leaned down, noses inches away.

"It means you're fucked, bro."

He dug his phone out of his pockets and clicked Willow's name. It wasn't hard getting her number, either. They were both shit-heads, it seemed like.

Mick's eyes widened as he shoved it in his face.

He had sent the images of him cheating to Willow just minutes before he had finished talking to Mira and then posted it onto FB through an anonymous account.

Colton snickered meanly and leaned away, a smirk curving his lips.

"That's what you get for being a dick, man. You don't have the name Mick the Dick for no reason, you know."

"P-people actually call me that?"

"Nope. I made that up but hey, I wasn't wrong, now was I?" he grinned.

Mick growled and took a menacing step forward. Colton shook his head as if he was looking at a child.

"Ah ah ah, I'd save your breath if I were you. You got a lot of explaining to do to your girlfriend and the school principal."

He turned and stalked casually away, whistling, leaving a sickly pale Mick behind to pick up his own mess.

Mick had started the whole shit in the first place, so it was only fair if he had gotten some of his own medicine, even if Mira didn't know about it.

It was pretty damn satisfying, too.