Chapter 45: "Lines We Cross"
Jasmine sat frozen for a moment, heart hammering in her chest. She had caught a glimpse of the message before Zariah shoved the phone away.
And it made her sick.
Slowly, she reached over and picked up the phone from where Zariah had dropped it.
Zariah didn't fight her this time. She just sat there, trembling, numb again.
Jasmine scrolled through the message, her hands clenching tighter with every cruel word.
Heard you finally snapped. Figures. You were always a freak.
There were more.
Whispers behind her back.
People calling her "crazy" at school.
Laughing about her breakdowns like it was all some twisted joke.
Tears filled Jasmine's eyes, but she blinked them away.
No.
Zariah had enough people making her feel small.
Jasmine wasn't going to be one of them.
Without thinking, she deleted the texts, blocking the number. She knew Zariah might be mad later, but she didn't care. She refused to let those words stay burned into Zariah's mind.
Then she did something she never thought she would.
She pulled out her own phone and took a picture — of Zariah's trembling hands, of the bloodstained bandages.
Not to shame her.
Not to betray her.
But because if this kept getting worse — if something happened — someone had to know the truth.
She tucked her phone away before Zariah noticed, her heart breaking at how small and lost her best friend looked sitting there.
"I'm sorry," Zariah croaked, voice cracking. "I'm ruining everything."
Jasmine immediately knelt in front of her. "You're not ruining anything. You're fighting, Z. And fighting looks messy sometimes."
"But I'm losing," Zariah whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Jasmine wiped them away gently. "Then I'll fight for you until you're strong enough to fight again."
For the first time that night, Zariah looked at her — really looked — and for a split second, something flickered behind her broken gaze.
Not hope.
But trust.
Fragile and battered, but real.
The weight of the night pressed down on both of them, but Jasmine refused to crumble.
Not here.
Not yet.
They didn't know what tomorrow would bring.
But tonight — at least for tonight — Zariah wasn't alone in the dark.