Chapter 12 A Friend in the Mirror
Maddie Pov
The bathroom door banged open. I jumped. Pressed my hand harder against my nose even though the bleeding had mostly stopped. My heart started racing again. What if it was Simone? What if she came to finish what Dawson started?
"Maddie?" It was Elara's voice. "Maddie I know you're in here."
I didn't answer. Couldn't. My throat was too tight. If I tried to talk I'd start crying again.
"I saw what happened," Elara said. Her footsteps got closer. Stopping at each stall. Checking. "That was messed up. Coach Brennan is an asshole for pairing you with Dawson."
She reached my stall. I could see her shoes under the door. Worn sneakers with drawn on stars.
"Open up," Elara said gently. "Please. Let me help."
"I'm fine," I managed to say. My voice was nasally from the broken nose. Thick from crying. "Just go away."
"Not happening," Elara said. "Come on Maddie. Open the door."
I didn't move.
"I'm not leaving," Elara said. "I'll sit out here all day if I have to. But I'd rather help you in there than talk to a door."
I sighed. Reached up. Unlocked the door with shaking fingers. It swung open. Elara stood there with her backpack over one shoulder. Her face went soft when she saw me.
"Oh Maddie," she said.
I probably looked awful. Blood all over my shirt. My face. My hands. Tears streaking through it. Sitting on a bathroom floor like some kind of disaster.
Elara came in. Shut the door behind her. Dropped her backpack. Knelt down next to me on the gross bathroom tile.
"Let me see," she said.
I moved my hand away from my nose. Fresh blood started dripping. Elara winced.
"Yeah that's definitely broken," she said. "Hold on."
She opened her backpack. Started pulling things out. Water bottle. Tissues. A small first aid kit. "I always carry this stuff," she explained. "You never know when someone's going to need help."
She wet some tissues. Started gently wiping the blood off my face. I flinched when she touched my nose.
"Sorry," Elara said. "I know it hurts. Just hold still."
I held still. Let her clean me up. The cool water felt good against my hot skin. She was being so careful. So gentle. Like I was made of glass.
"Why are you being nice to me?" I asked. My voice came out small.
Elara paused. Looked at me with those bright green eyes. "Because you need someone to be nice to you. And because you're my friend."
"We just met," I said.
"So?" Elara went back to wiping blood. "Friends don't have to know each other for years. Sometimes you just know."
She finished with my face. Started on my hands. My fingers. Getting all the dried blood off.
"Dawson's a dick," Elara said. "Everyone knows it. He likes hurting people. Gets off on it. Last year he put a first year in the hospital."
"Why doesn't anyone stop him?" I asked.
"His dad is friends with the Alpha," Elara said. "So he gets away with everything. It's not fair but that's how it is."
She balled up the bloody tissues. Threw them in the trash. Pulled out clean ones. Folded them. Handed them to me.
"Hold these against your nose," she said. "The bleeding should stop soon."
I pressed the tissues to my face. They were soft. Better than the scratchy toilet paper.
Elara sat back. Leaned against the stall wall. We sat there together in silence for a minute. Just breathing. Just being.
"I hate this place," I said finally. "I hate everything about it."
"Yeah," Elara said. "It's pretty awful sometimes."
"Everyone treats me like trash," I continued. Words started spilling out. Couldn't stop them. "Just because I'm wolfless. Like that makes me less than them. Less important. Less human."
"You're not less than anyone," Elara said firmly. "You're just different. Different doesn't mean less."
"Try telling them that," I said. "Try telling Simone. Or Dawson. Or anyone else here."
"Screw them," Elara said. "Seriously. Screw all of them. They're narrow minded idiots who can't see past their own prejudices."
I looked at her. She was staring at the stall door with this fierce expression. Like she was ready to fight anyone who disagreed.
"Why do you even care?" I asked. "You barely know me. Why waste your time on the wolfless freak?"
"Don't call yourself that," Elara said sharply. "Don't use their words. Don't let them define you."
"But that's what I am," I said. "A freak. An outsider. Someone who doesn't belong."
"You belong here as much as anyone else," Elara said. She turned to look at me again. "You got accepted didn't you? You're a student. You have every right to be here."
"Not according to everyone else."
"Everyone else can go to hell," Elara said. She smiled a little. "Look I know things are hard right now. I know you're going through stuff. But you're stronger than you think. I can see it."
"I don't feel strong," I whispered. "I feel broken."
"Broken people are the strongest ones," Elara said. "They've survived things that would destroy other people. They know pain. They know loss. And they're still here. Still fighting."
I felt my eyes fill with tears again. "I don't want to fight anymore. I'm tired of fighting."
"I know," Elara said softly. "But you don't have a choice. None of us do. We either fight or we give up. And I don't think you're the giving up type."
"How do you know?"
"Because you're still here," Elara said. "Still showing up to classes. Still trying. Even after everything that happened to you. That takes guts."
I didn't feel like I had guts. I felt like a coward who ran away. Who hid in bathrooms and cried.
"Whoever hurt you like this," Elara said. Her voice got hard. Serious. "And I don't just mean Dawson. I mean whoever hurt you before you came here. Whoever made you feel like you had to hide. Whoever broke your heart or your trust or whatever happened. They'll pay one day. I promise you that."
I looked at her. She meant it. I could see it in her eyes. The fierce protectiveness. The loyalty.
"You can't promise that," I said.
"Watch me," Elara said. "Karma's a bitch. And people who hurt good people? They always get what's coming to them eventually."