He Crushed My Hearing Aid to Keep Me, Not Knowing I Just Heard His Confession Chapter 02

He Crushed My Hearing Aid to Keep Me, Not Knowing I Just Heard His Confession Chapter 02

They closed the case almost as soon as they opened it. When they placed the report in my hands, my vision blurred.

By the time the final bell rang, I was already standing outside the school gates.

When the exam let out, Silas was the first one through the doors. Blair was right behind him. A camera crew was waiting. Silas smiled for them as if he’d won something.

“We always said we’d get into Alden together.”

Blair tilted her head toward the camera, playful and sweet. “Someone else was supposed to get the spot, but she backed out of the exam at the last minute. Lucky me, I guess.”

“Honestly? I should send her a thank-you card. Now it’s just me and Silas.”

I watched their faces on the screen and felt something go dead behind my eyes.

Silas and I grew up together. When we were little, everyone used to joke that he was my knight — and I was his princess.

Somewhere along the way, the joke stopped being a joke. He made it his job to protect me.

When puberty hit and I started filling out, the other girls came for me. Silas stepped in. Right in front of the whole school, he got in their faces and tore them apart.

“Touch Clara again and see what happens.”

Looking back now, the whole thing felt like a sick joke.

The same boy who’d fought for me threw me away the second Blair showed up — and stood by while my parents bled out on the road. Then he crushed my hearing aids right before the exam, just to make sure I had nothing left.

Fine. I didn’t need a knight like that.

The camera shut off. They walked straight toward me.

“Clara, seriously? You’re still here?” Blair’s eyes flicked down and back up. “Exam’s over. And you still don’t have new hearing aids?”

Blair was glowing — drunk on her own victory. I could read lips. Even without hearing aids, I could catch enough.

I didn’t answer her. My eyes went to Silas.

None of it added up. If he wanted me that badly, why give Blair everything that was supposed to be mine?

He pulled me aside. His hands came up — his signs sharp and deliberate.

“Why are you out here?”

“You skipping the exam made Blair look bad. Was that the point?”

“If it matters that much, I’ll take a gap year with you. We’ll retake it. So stop looking at me like that.”

Blood rushed into my head so fast my vision blurred.

He knew. He knew every sleepless night, every hour I’d spent fighting for Alden.

He knew how much losing my parents had destroyed me. On the worst nights — the ones where the grief swallowed me whole — he was the one who stayed.

He handled the funeral. All of it.

And late one night, he looked me in the eyes and said, “You’ve got me. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll take care of everything.”

Turns out the person who kept me from falling apart was the same one tearing me apart.

I didn’t say a word. His thoughts rushed in to fill the silence.

“God, she’s so helpless. It’s adorable. Come on — beg. Just beg, and I’ll redo the whole year with you.”

“Blair’s a knockoff anyway — a pale imitation of the real thing. She can wait for me at Alden for a year. No big deal.”

I walked away without opening my mouth. Silas trailed behind me in silence.

That night, someone threw a class party. My teacher had texted me, practically begging me to get out of the house, so I did.

Truth or dare. When Silas’s turn came up, someone issued a dare: kiss the girl you like.

Every pair of eyes in the room swung to me.

“Blair,” he said.

He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.

And then his thoughts crashed through again.

“Her lips look exactly like Clara’s.”

“God, they’re soft.”

“Why won’t she look at me? Is she jealous?”

My phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen and slipped outside.

It was a voicemail from the officer. I converted it to text.

[There’s a gap in the surveillance footage. All we can confirm is that two students called 911 — long after the incident.]

[We weren’t able to identify the driver.]