Chapter 84
Kieran's POV
"Who's out there?" Ms. Thompson's voice, sharp and suspicious.
I looked up and saw teachers coming through the woods, probably drawn by the noise. And behind them—
Summer.
She was wearing her coat over pajamas, her hair messy like she'd just woken up. Her eyes were red-rimmed, like she'd been crying.
And she was staring right at me.
Everything stopped.
I'd been about to show them Tyler's phone. Show them the camera. Explain what he'd tried to do. Let the evidence speak for itself.
But Summer was here.
And suddenly, I saw a different path. A better one.
Tyler scrambled to his feet, his voice high and panicked.
"He's fucking insane!" Tyler screamed, pointing at me with a shaking hand. "This psycho attacked me! Look at him—he cut himself! He's fucking crazy!"
I let my shoulders slump. Let my body sway slightly.
Ms. Thompson's flashlight swept over my face, my arms, the blood dripping onto the mud. Her expression shifted from anger to alarm.
"Mr. Ashford, step back—"
"I didn't do anything!" Tyler's voice cracked. "I was just walking and this fuck—this idiot just jumped me! He did that to himself! I swear to God, I didn't touch him!"
He was backing away, hands up, eyes wild. "You have to believe me—I didn't—"
"Tyler, calm down—"
"I'm not going down for this!" Tyler's voice rose to a shriek. "He's insane! He needs to be locked up!"
Ms. Thompson knelt beside me, her hand hovering near my shoulder. "Kieran, can you hear me? We need to get you to a hospital—"
I looked past her, directly at Summer.
Her face was white. Her whole body was trembling.
"You fucking asshole!" Summer's voice cut through the chaos like a knife. She lunged forward, and Mia barely caught her arm in time. "What did you do to him?!"
"Summer, don't—" Mia tried to pull her back.
"Let me go!" Summer's voice broke. "Tyler, you piece of shit—what did you do?!"
Tyler flinched. "I didn't—"
"Bullshit!" Tears were streaming down Summer's face now, her voice raw and uncontrolled. "You did this! You always do this! You fucking—"
"Ms. Hayes!" Ms. Thompson's voice was sharp. "That's enough!"
But Summer wasn't listening. She was crying and screaming at the same time, her whole body shaking with rage and grief. "I'm going to kill you—I swear to God, Tyler—"
I swayed on my knees.
Everything was spinning. The flashlights. The voices. Summer's face, twisted with fury and pain.
"Kieran—" Ms. Thompson's voice sounded far away. "Stay with me—"
I looked at Summer one more time.
Her eyes were huge and wet, and she looked like she wanted to run to me, to hold me, to make everything stop.
I mouthed silently: I'm sorry.
Then I let my eyes roll back and collapsed forward.
The last thing I heard was Summer screaming my name.
---
I woke up in the back of Ms. Thompson's car, wrapped in someone's jacket. My head was in someone's lap—soft, warm, smelling like vanilla and strawberry.
Summer.
Her hand was in my hair, stroking gently. She was crying, quiet and broken, her tears dripping onto my forehead.
"Please be okay," she whispered. "Please, please be okay."
I kept my eyes closed.
I'd learned a long time ago that survival mattered more than pride.
My mom used to say it after bad nights, when my dad finally passed out and the apartment went quiet. Kieran, baby, staying alive is more important than dignity. People like us don't get to care about dignity.
I'd had all the evidence. Tyler's phone. The camera. Timestamps. Chat logs. A clear motive.
I could have destroyed him.
But then I saw Summer in that crowd, and something in my brain shifted.
She always showed up when I was at my lowest. In the restaurant parking lot with the drunk asshole. In the school hallway when I was bleeding. In the library when I had nowhere else to go.
And every time, she looked at me like I was worth saving.
Like I was someone who deserved protection.
What if I leaned into that? What if I made myself even more pathetic, more helpless, more in need of rescue?
Would she lower her boundaries even further?
Would she give me even more?
I thought about the way she'd touched my scars. The way she'd fought for me against the cafeteria manager. The way she'd waited for me outside the physics lab like I was someone worth waiting for.
She had this look in her eyes sometimes—like she owed me something. Like she was responsible for me.
If I played this right, I could use that.
I could make her need to save me.
And maybe, if I was pathetic enough, broken enough, she'd never leave.
Summer's fingers trembled in my hair. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I won't let anyone hurt you again. I promise."
I felt her tears on my face.
And I hated myself.
But I didn't stop.