Chapter 5
I was about to head back to my room to continue packing when I found Madison sitting on my bed.
She raised her eyebrows at me.
“Tony, show me around your room, okay?”
Looking at the bedsheet that I had smoothed out without a single wrinkle, now with Madison sitting on it, a surge of anger rose in my heart.
I turned around and shouted at Antonio, “How could you bring her into my room?”
His indifferent gaze swept over my face.
“Madison just wanted to look at the photos of us when we were kids. Why are you being so petty?”
I was stunned.
I looked at the drawer that had been pulled open nearby.
My gaze fixed on the photo album in Madison’s hands. I rushed forward, snatching it away.
I said, “Who allowed you to touch this?
“Didn’t your parent ever tell you that it’s very rude to enter other’s room and touch their belongings without permission?”
As my words fell, Antonio’s eyes, which had been soft when
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Chapter 5
looking at Madison, dimmed.
“Grace, is this the way how you speak to guests?
“Do you think you’re very well–mannered?”
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Looking into the coldness in his eyes, I bit my lower lip tightly.
I couldn’t hold back the redness in my eyes anymore.
Antonio walked forward a few steps and stopped in front of me. He stretched out his hand.
With a commanding tone, he said, “Give me the album!”
I stubbornly held the album behind my back. My eyes were
red.
I felt upset. My voice unconsciously lowered, “This is my album…”
Before I could finish my sentence, he leaned down, wrapped his arm around my back, and tightly grasped the album.
I had been holding on tightly and suddenly let go, so he stumbled back a few steps.
The photos in the album were scattered all over the floor.
Looking at the photos scattered on the ground like confetti, I felt empty.
It was all over.
Those photos recorded the time that Antonio and I had spent together since we were young.
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Suddenly, Madison pointed at one of the photos and screamed.
“What is this?”
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Upon seeing that photo, I squatted down in some panic.
Just as my fingertips were about to touch it, she stepped it again.
The heart–piercing pain made me frown.
After a while, Madison pretended to be surprised and pulled her foot back.
She said, “I’m sorry, Grace. I didn’t expect you to lunge at me.”
While I was rubbing my hand, Antonio, who had bent down, snatched the photo away.
After looking at it, he looked down at me with some disbelief and said, “Grace! You…”
My breath hitched.
That photo…
Seventeen–year–old Antonio passed out at his desk, and I kissed his stubbled cheek in stolen twilight.
That was the same day Mom’s pearl necklace vanished in the Brookville High pool.
He dove for hours that afternoon, turning the pool floor inside out until his fingers pruned.
He collapsed asleep in calculus.
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Madison’s gaze volleyed between us.
“Tony… you and Grace… This is-”
He yanked me forward, grip fracturing my wrist.
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“Madison, I can explain! Grace, tell Madison that we have nothing going on!”
Seeing his cold and distant look, I mustered all my strength and forcefully shook off his hand.
“Let. Go.” I wrenched free, voice shaking.
Furious, he tore the photo and threw it in my face.
“Crushing on your family?” His laugh cut glass. “Fucking psycho.”
The velvety photo turned into sharp knives in an instant, grazing my cheeks and piercing my heart, drawing blood.
I met his glare with bared teeth.
“Says the guy who fucked his sister.”
Antonio gasped.
That’s when I saw it–the brittle cowardice beneath his lacrosse–captain swagger.
Kneeling, I gathered every photo shard.
Antonio lounged against the lockers, smug as ever.
He knew I’d kept these in mint condition inside my SAT prep books.
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Then I flicked my Zippo.
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Flames licked at the memory of his hair against my shoulder.
The smoke spiraled toward the rooftop as I told Madison, “Loved him once. Not anymore.”
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