Prank Gone Wrong Chapter 13

Prank Gone Wrong Chapter 13

Discharge day. First snow of a Chicago winter.

Connor was there.

He stood outside the glass hospital doors. Arms full of expensive red roses. A prisoner begging for absolution.

He saw me coming with my walker. He rushed forward.

“Maya. I…”

The speech he’d rehearsed died in his throat when he saw my face. Still ruined. Still monstrous.

“I know you hate me.” He swallowed hard. His voice shook. “But if you don’t drop the charges, I’m finished. I’ll lose my college acceptance. I’ll have a felony record…”

“If I could do it over, I swear…”

“Life isn’t a video game.” My voice was ice. “No reset button.”

I looked at him. Perfect blond hair. Perfect blue eyes. Nothing behind them.

“Connor. You know what?”

Snow swirled between us. My voice didn’t waver.

“I used to believe that if I worked hard enough, if I was obedient enough, someday you’d see me.”

“But here’s the truth. In your world, I didn’t even deserve the basic dignity of being human.”

He shook his head violently. “No. You mattered so much to me…”

“Mattered?” I raised one eyebrow. Mocking.

“Enough to use me as bait to impress some other girl?”

“Enough to watch me nearly get beaten to death and your first thought was whether your prank was falling apart?”

Nothing. He had nothing.

I moved past him. Walker step by walker step.

His voice chased me through the snow.

“Maya! I’ll wait for you! I’ll prove it to you!”

I didn’t look back.

A shattered iPhone screen. You can replace the glass. The hardware inside is still broken forever.