The Day I Should've Died

Serena's POV

I thought back to past gatherings. How many times had this happened?

Adrian would remove my hearing aids and speak to me with tender eyes. I couldn't hear anything. I could only watch his lips move and see the knowing smiles on everyone's faces. When he put my hearing aids back in, everyone said he'd been whispering sweet promises to never betray me.

If I hadn't secretly gotten my hearing fixed.

If I hadn't heard his vile words tonight after he removed my hearing aids—words hidden beneath his gentle mask—I would have never known the truth.

Daniela dropped her arm from Adrian's shoulders. "Sorry, Serena. Adrian and I just joke around like this. Don't be jealous."

Her fingers had been tracing his shoulder. The gesture was too practiced.

Adrian laughed. "You act like such a dude. Where's your feminine side?"

They started chasing each other around the room. Everyone went back to drinking and chatting, as if I—the birthday girl—didn't exist.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The room reeked of perfume, cigars, and alcohol. My stomach turned. I headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Daniela blocked my path. Her red nails dug into my wrist. Annoyance flashed in her eyes. "Everyone came to celebrate your birthday. And you're just leaving?"

Adrian walked over and reached up to touch my hair—that gesture used to make my heart race, but now it just made me sick. He frowned, "You haven't even opened everyone's birthday gifts yet. Don't be difficult, okay?"

I stepped aside to avoid his hand.

"We're done." I said coldly, "Don't contact me again."

Then I pushed past Daniela and walked out of the room without looking back.

Behind me, voices erupted in shock and disbelief, but I didn't stop.

My phone wouldn't stop buzzing on the drive home.

Adrian's messages came one after another: [What's wong with you? Everyone came all this way to celebrate your birthday and brought you gifts, and you just leave them hanging like that?]

[Daniela was just excited, okay? That's how she is—fun and easygoing, not dramatic like other girls. So what if she had her arm around me? She let go right away and apologized to you, didn't she?]

Then the group chat exploded with messages from the others: [Serena, don't you think you're being ridiculous?]

[You just stormed off for no reason. What did we ever do to you?]

[Ungrateful much?]

I stared at those messages, and suddenly I started laughing.

I laughed so hard I could feel tears burning at the corners of my eyes.

I typed back just one line: [Who's really being ridiculous here?]

Then I blocked every single one of them and left all the group chats.

Thunder rumbled across the sky outside my car window.