The Prince and The Wolf

LXIII

Chapter 63: Boy in a Fishbowl

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She left him after that. And after lunch ended, he didn't go to his English class. He stayed in the library, looking completely dazed. He had rejected the girl who had been by him all this time and instead of saying it politely, he questioned her feelings.

All because he couldn't move on from this stagnant point of "Who would ever truly love me?"

He wanted to scream, but he didn't.

She told him that Min still loved him.

She never did. Kade's mind snarled. She never ever liked a bastard like you. The girls who bullied her, they did it because of you. You made her life miserable, and she still tried to understand you. In the least, you should have been thankful.

He slammed the table, startling a few passersby and stormed out of the library.

He was skipping school. Why did it matter? He could buy his way into anything.

But you can't buy your way into happiness.

"Shut up." He hissed.

His mind was spinning, he felt like he was walking everywhere and nowhere at once. He was angry, livid, he was furious. But he was sad, pained, he could barely breathe because of her.

The absence of her laugh, her out-of-breath smile. It stung. It suffocated.

He felt like he was being asphyxiated.

Money can't buy a person back.

It can only buy you temporary fixes.

He laughed softly to himself, realizing he had gone mad. He picked up his phone and called someone.

"Angel... Can you come?"

"Kady?"

---

The siblings were on a drive in Angel's car. Kade was curled up in the backseat, listening to music. Angel watched him from the rearview mirror. She was concerned, and also astounded that he had called her for help. He usually was the one coming to help.

He suddenly took his earphones out of his ears. He was still facing the windows, but he spoke.

"What?" She asked.

"Thanks." He repeated.

She offered a small smile. "Anytime. Skipped out on a date to come rescue my Kady."

Kade made a face on instinct and scoffed.

"You look like a little boy in a fishbowl." She commented, smiling as she steered the car.

"A fishbowl." He echoed.

"Stuck, curled up, and drowning." She explained.

"Huh." He remarked, he shut his eyes. "A little boy."

"I'll give you the painting. Hang it on your wall." She continued. And when she comes back to your room again, she'll recognize it and remember that you have a sister who loves you very much. However long it takes for her to return, I know you will bring her back.

"Just drive." He whispered, putting his earphones back in.

"Whatever, Kady."

---

He plopped down onto his bed, rolling over and staring at the painting he had put onto his wall. He raked his eyes over the paint strokes. His son of a bitch of a sister drew him a metaphorical portrait.

"Sappy." He complained, closing his eyes. He was going to frame it later.

This time, he fell asleep easily, without pills.

---

Someone was pulling him out of the fishbowl, the water was shaking around him, splashing into his face. He cried out in fear and confusion. Who is doing this? It hurts.

Then, it stopped. He felt relieved, until he heard a sickening crack of a hammer breaking glass. He was thrown out of his fishbowl. Glass was in his skin, and he felt like he had been crying for years now. The glass hurts, the light hurts. No bowl was collecting his tears, and he could not hide in the protection of water.

Someone was pulling him up again.

They dragged him off the remnants of his broken bowl and began picking out the glass embedded in his body.

"Who are you?" He asked, scared.

"It's me."

Kade bolted upright in his bed, breathing heavily. He looked around in his darkened room and then checked the time. It was 11:27 at night. He touched his ears, and then his arms.

He looked around him, and then sank back into his bed.

"Min?" He whispered aloud.

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