Listen to Look what you made me do by Taylor Swift

I walked into Tristan's pitch-black room. I searched for the light switch and turned it on. His room lacked color. The gray painted walls looked dull to me. I'd read on the internet that the color of your room matched your mood. It was spacious and had a good view of the yard from the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. I could hear the birds chirping outside. I imagined they were rooting for me.

I searched for his closet and found it next to the bathroom. It was a huge walk-in closet that could fit a hundred people. I walked in with a malicious grin on my face. They said actions spoke louder than words.

I brought out my phone—the one I'd told Tristan I would give to charity, but I'd kept it for myself. I guessed he had seen me using it and refused to fix my old phone. I blasted "IDGAF" by Dua Lipa and stretched my arms. His clothes were neatly arranged, ranging from different colors, brands, and styles.

I ran the tip of the knife through the walls as I walked around the large room, as if I were marking my territory. This was going to take a long time. I held the knife in my hand and thought of where to start—his suits.

I sang along to the lyrics as I ran the knife through his crisp shirt. I danced and took shots from the bottle of vodka as I let out my anger on his clothes. I cursed when a few drops of the alcohol spilled on my shirt.

I ripped his clothes with the knife. Not all of them because I got tired. I slumped on the floor in the walk-in closet and sobbed. I could still feel Ralph's hands on me. I could still hear Erin and Claire's voices in my head.

After a while, I wiped my tears away and stood up. If there were an easy way to rip out Tristan's heart, I would have done it. I could use this knife and slice his heart into tiny pieces, spice it, cook it, and give it to his family as a gift.

I stripped and grabbed one neatly folded sweatshirt. I tossed my stained shirt to the floor and put on the sweatshirt. I was tempted to inhale his intoxicating scent. The red sweatshirt was comfy. I walked out of the closet with the bottle of vodka. I sat down on the floor and leaned on the wall.

I opened the drink and took big gulps. Grabbing my phone, I browsed YouTube. The video was still trending, and it seemed to be the latest gossip. I braced myself and went through the comments. I needed to drown my sorrows. There were over ten thousand comments.

I had been called a whore, a big disappointment to my family, a greedy bitch, and some insults I hadn't even known existed. I was surprised to see some people hyping me up and telling me to go get the money and ignore the haters.

I took more gulps and laughed at some of the comments. They were so stupid. Had these people had any breast milk when they were little?

"Chloe!" I heard Adrian scream my name as the door rattled open.

I was scared the glass walls would break. Tristan rushed in with Adrian behind him.

"Thank God," Tristan said, relief lacing his worried voice.

They were both panting with their hands placed on their chests.

I guessed Morris had told them. I glared at them and took another swig. Adrian ran his palm down his face and walked past Tristan, who was leaning on the wall and staring at the ceiling.

I sipped more of the vodka, and I was starting to feel the effect in my body. I stood up with the knife and my eyes on Tristan.

"This is all your fault!" I screamed, running toward him with the knife but Adrian held me back.

"Let me go, Adrian!" I struggled in his arms.

"Chloe, calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do. He ruined everything for me. Just let me kill him. Please."

"You're drunk. You don't know what you're doing," Adrian said, tightening his arms around me as I struggled to break free.

"I don't care! I want him dead!" I yelled, clenching my facial muscles, but Tristan just stared at me blankly and stayed still.

"I hate you and your whole existence!" I said, yet Tristan still looked unfazed. I stopped struggling as the alcohol had my brain all tied up.

"Are you okay?" Adrian checked my body.

I forgot I was only wearing Tristan's sweatshirt, and from the way I had been struggling earlier, I was pretty sure they'd both seen the color of my underwear.

"Yeah," I slurred, still glaring at Tristan.

"You're sure you didn't hurt yourself?" Adrian asked, still looking for any sign of injury. "Give me the knife." He collected it from my hand.

I was starting to feel dizzy.

Tristan walked into his closet and returned with one ripped shirt to show Adrian. I giggled and picked up the bottle to take a gulp, but Adrian snatched it.

"That's enough."

I wanted to argue, but I slowly blacked out.

I woke up with a stubborn headache and a groan. Adrian and Tristan were sitting on the couch in front of me, staring at me with a look my parents would give me when I did something bad.

I sat up, trying to recall what had happened. I rubbed my temple to ease the pain.

"How are you feeling?" Adrian asked.

I pulled the blanket to my waist and moved my long hair back, so I could see clearly.

"My head hurts." I hugged my legs and stared at them with my head resting on my knees.

Their suit jackets were nowhere to be seen. Tristan's sleeves were folded at the elbows while Adrian's first three buttons were undone.

"I will get you some aspirin," Adrian offered and left.

Tristan sat back with his arms folded, giving me a scrutinizing stare with narrowed eyes that were focused on me. Images of me ripping his clothes and running toward him with a knife replayed in my head.

"What happened at school?" He looked calm.

I didn't know if he was mad about his clothes, but if he was, then he was doing a good job of hiding it.

I thought of what had happened in the hallway. It still sent a chill through my body. I imagined if Grey had never shown up to stop that psychopath.

"Chloe," Tristan called, sounding concerned. "What happened?" he asked, but now, his voice was laced with solace.

"What do you think happened? Did you think everything was going to be fine? I could feel everyone judging me like I was a mistake. To sum it all up, some moron harassed me in the hallway," I screamed, tears tumbling down my tiresome cheeks as my headache tore me apart.

"Give me the name of that moron."

"It's Sofia's younger brother."

"Ralph," he acknowledged. "I'm pressing charges against him. Don't worry about him."

"Everything is so easy for you, isn't it?"

His jaw clenched at my words, and he avoided my eyes.

"If it were, you wouldn't be here," he said softly under his breath.

I sensed sadness.

Adrian entered the room with a glass of water and two pills.

"Thanks." I smiled.

Tristan and Adrian talked in a hushed tone while I took the pills. Adrian turned to look at me after they were done conversing in a low tone.

"So, are you going back?" Adrian asked.

"No. I thought I could handle it, but it's too much," I admitted.

"How about signing up for online classes? I will take care of the payment," Tristan suggested.

"I will have to check if late registrations are still open for online classes." I sighed. I couldn't bring myself to drop all my classes though. I was afraid I might not graduate early. It would be my first time taking online classes. I didn't know what to expect.

"I will look it up and see what I can do," I said.

"I will help you with that tomorrow if you want."

I smiled weakly at Adrian. He was too sweet.

"I'm really sorry, Chloe," Tristan said and left the room.

The expression on his face had been hard to read, but I knew he felt bad about what had happened.

"Did he hurt you?" Adrian asked.

"A little." I rolled up the hand of the sweatshirt and showed him the mark Ralph had left with his fingers.

"Tristan is going to kill him."

"I don't know what he would've done to me if Grey hadn't stopped him."

"Your ex?"

"Yeah, I was shocked too. But he didn't even look at me. I can't believe he still thinks all this is true," I said with a frown.

"At least he still cares."

"I guess so," I mumbled.

"Try and get some rest. I will see you tomorrow." He moved to the bed and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Bye."

He left the room, and I stared into space, lost in my thoughts.

Adrian showed up the next day when I was having breakfast at the dining room. He wore a white T-shirt above his gray sweatpants. He only had two of his large rings on today and one thin gold chain around his neck.

He approached me with a small smile. I wanted to poke his dimples so bad.

"You're early," I said.

"I couldn't wait to see you," he said, walking behind me and hugging my back.

I inhaled his cologne and fought the smile tugging at my lips.

"How are you?" he asked close to my ear before pulling away.

"Bored." I frowned.

He brushed his full hair back and took a seat in front of me. He waited for me to finish eating before I went upstairs to get my laptop. We sat on the large sofa with my laptop on my lap while Adrian took the space next to me.

I was lucky to find a few spots in three classes. I had to email the instructors. I signed up for Sociology, Math, and Art. I didn't know how they offered Math online. I only hoped I could catch up with the lectures.

"Your classes start next week," Adrian said when we finished.

"Thanks for helping."

Not like it was anything difficult, but I needed his company.

"It was nothing," he said, waving it off with his hand.

"I will get some snacks. What drink would you like?"

"Water. I'm not a fan of sugar," he replied.

I rolled my eyes at his answer.

I went to the kitchen. Morris was out, and Tristan had not left his room today. Morris had taken his breakfast upstairs, and Adrian didn't seem worried, so I assumed he was okay.

Adrian was laughing uncontrollably when I returned with the snacks. I screamed when I realized what he was watching. I threw the snacks on the couch and grabbed my laptop. I had never felt more embarrassed in my life.

It was the first twerk video I'd made when I was sixteen. It was awful, horrible, and an eyesore. I still didn't know why I'd kept it. My butt didn't even shake. I resembled a mother hen in labor.

"Oh my God, was that really you?"

"No." I gave him a dirty look, clutching the laptop to my chest.

"Can I watch it again?"

"No. And that was an intrusion of my privacy."

"Sorry," he apologized, laughter slipping out of his lips.

"Stop laughing," I groaned.

He nodded, putting on a straight face. It didn't take five seconds before he started laughing again.

"I hate you." I threw the snacks at him.

We spent the afternoon together, watching a movie on my laptop. He left when it started to get dark.

Morris was already back and was fixing dinner. I texted Vina as I waited at the dining table. She had been worried sick about me yesterday, enough that she wanted to come over. She sent a hundred laughing emojis when I told her Adrian had seen my disastrous twerk video.

"Miss Simpson?"

"Yes, Morris?"

"Do you mind going up to call Mr. Sanchester while I set the table?"

"Don't worry about it. I will call him right away." I smiled.

"Thank you."

I skipped up the stairs to his room. I knocked on the door, but no one answered.

"Tristan?"

No answer.

"Are you in there? Can I come in?"

He didn't answer.

I opened the door and peeped inside; the room was dim. Only the light from the bathroom brightened the room a bit. I heard a grunt, then a bang, another grunt, and more banging.

"Tristan?" I moved slowly toward the direction of the bathroom. My heart was beating so hard.

I froze at the sight in front of me. Terrified wasn't close to what I felt at that moment.