My Childhood Friend Pretended to Love Me, Not Knowing I Could Hear His Thoughts Chapter 02

My Childhood Friend Pretended to Love Me, Not Knowing I Could Hear His Thoughts Chapter 02

Jacob’s expression froze.

“Elena… why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?” His voice sounded dry.

Three years ago, I came home late from SAT prep. When I pushed open the door, Skylar and her mother were sitting on our living room sofa.

My mother was lying on the floor, her hand stretched toward the coffee table. Her nitroglycerin pills should have been there. But that day, the bottle was filled with jelly beans.

Skylar was holding up her phone, recording my mother’s body convulsing in pain, and laughing. “Come on, stop fighting it. Just let my mom have her place. It’ll be easier for everyone.”

By the time I got to her, my mother had stopped breathing.

The coroner later said that if her pills hadn’t been switched, she could have held on until the ambulance arrived.

That night, Jacob stayed with me outside the county coroner’s office. He held me as I cried until I passed out, his voice raw as he shouted, “Elena, I’ll help you get revenge. I’ll make them pay.”

For six months, he helped me through the worst of it, shielding me from my dad, Skylar, and her mother. He even stopped me from hurting myself. I thought he was my only light in the darkness.

“Elena.” Jacob’s voice pulled me back. He grabbed my wrist, his eyes red, his voice breaking. “Stop thinking about it. It’s over.”

“Diane was so good to me. I will never forget her. Skylar and her mother are murderers, and they will get what’s coming to them.”

He tried to pull me into a hug, but I turned away. His thoughts stabbed into me, sharp and cruel.

[Why is she bringing this up again? It’s been ages. Get over it.]

[Skylar was only fourteen. She didn’t know any better. It was just a stupid prank that went too far. Elena’s mom had a heart condition. She was going to die sooner or later anyway.]

[God, this is so annoying. Every time Elena mentions this, Skylar has nightmares. I need to shut this down.]

Absurd. Disgusting.

The grief I would carry for a lifetime was, to him, less important than a few fake tears from Skylar.

The study hall went quiet. Jacob slid a binder full of math worksheets toward me.

“I put together some of the problems I got wrong. Take a look.”

I looked down. My eyes landed on his wrist. A light blue braided friendship bracelet with a small silver heart charm.

I recognized it. Skylar had posted a picture of the same one on her Instagram last week. The caption read: [Made this for someone special.]

My chest tightened.

He was swearing loyalty to me while wearing a matching bracelet from her. He was saying he hated her while treating my pain like a joke.

I gripped my pen so hard my knuckles went white.

In my past life, I felt guilty over that debt for a lifetime. Only now did I understand. He was never sorry. He was just planning to push me deeper into the abyss.

Jacob noticed me staring at his wrist. His expression flickered, and he quickly hid his hand behind his back.

Then he smiled naturally and pulled an identical bracelet from his pencil pouch. Same light blue, same small charm.

“Oh, this. I was going to wait until after the SAT to surprise you. One for each of us. I spent two weeks making them.”

He held the bracelet out to me, his eyes full of sincerity.

I smiled coldly on the inside.

[Damn, forgot to take it off. I was literally just in the storage closet switching bracelets with Skylar. Almost got caught by the hall monitor.]

[This is the matching one she gave me. It’s a problem if people see it. I’ll just lie for now. I can make her a new one later.]