Chapter 2
Hazel's POV
I don't say anything. I just look up and hold his gaze.
Preston hesitates, like my eyes actually caught him off guard.
Then that same look, like the world owes him something, slides right back into place.
"Okay, enough. Go apologize to Vanessa tomorrow and we're done with this."
He turns and walks away. Doesn't look back. Doesn't say another word.
I push myself up off the floor.
I'm soaked through, and I smell awful.
The people around me are staring, stepping back, covering their noses as I pass.
I walk out of the auditorium one heavy step at a time.
When I get home, I lock myself in the bathroom.
I turn the shower on as hot as it goes.
The scalding water runs over me and I scrub with a brush, over and over, until my skin starts to go raw.
Red patches. Little beads of blood where I've gone too hard.
I don't feel any of it.
My chest is frozen solid, like something's got a fist around my heart and won't let go.
I look at the girl in the mirror. Pale. Wrecked. Like someone who fought hard and lost everything anyway.
And I almost laugh.
God, Hazel. You're so embarrassing.
I find the scissors. I cut off every inch of the long hair Preston always said he loved, chunk by chunk, until it's all on the floor.
It falls like the last seven years of my life. Every stupid, wasted minute of it.
The girl who loved Preston Maddox died in that tank. It's time to let her stay dead.
I go to school the next day like nothing happened.
Choppy, uneven hair. Face white as a sheet.
The moment I walk into the classroom, the noise cuts out completely.
Everyone stares at me like I've grown a second head.
"She actually showed up?"
"If I'd done that in front of the whole school, I would've just transferred."
The whispers swarm around me like flies.
I ignore every single one of them. I walk straight to my seat and start gathering my things.
A designer shopping bag lands hard on my desk.
I look up.
Preston is standing there, one hand in his pocket, a slight frown on his face.
"Why'd you cut your hair? You look terrible." His voice has that familiar edge of contempt. He tips his chin toward the bag. "There's a new bag in there, and fifteen grand. Consider it an apology for yesterday. Go treat yourself."
One slap, one piece of candy.
Seven years. That's how he's always kept me in line.
Vanessa steps out from behind him, soft and helpless as ever. "Hazel, I'm really sorry about yesterday. Preston just wanted everything to be perfect for me. He didn't realize it would be so hard on you. Can you just let it go, please?"
Every word out of her mouth is a quiet claim of ownership. And every word neatly unloads the blame somewhere else.
I look at the bag on my desk. Then I look at Preston's face, the total certainty on it, like this is already settled.
"So I almost died in that tank. My dignity got dragged through the mud in front of the entire school. And that's worth fifteen grand and a purse to you?"
Preston's expression goes cold.
"Hazel, don't push it. Are you serious right now? You swallowed some water. You're standing here just fine, aren't you?"
I pick up the bag and throw it straight at his face in front of the entire class.
"You think it was nothing. I almost died."
The cash spills out across the floor.
The whole room goes dead silent.
Preston's head snaps to the side from the impact. He turns back slowly, a vein rising at his temple.
"Hazel! What is your problem?!"
"Keep your apology." I hold his gaze. "Keep the money too. Starting today, I want nothing to do with you. Nothing to do with your family. We're done."
I grab my bag and walk.
"Don't you walk away from me!" Preston's voice explodes behind me. "You think you can just walk out? You can't even stay in school without me. Your dad drives for my family, remember? Go ahead and walk. See how that plays out."
He's using the one thing he knows I can't ignore.
I stop.
I turn around and look at him. This person I used to think hung the moon.
"Do whatever you want."
I walk out of the classroom and I don't look back.
