Chapter 28


    28. Letting go of past is important.


    Coraline instantly gets up from her seat and embraces me.


    “I’m sorry, Jace,” she says, squeezing me.


    I let her friendly warmthfort me and wrap my arms around her. I do not like the fact that my mother’s


    death makes me feel so out of depth. I feel like I’m weak for still getting this emotional over it after so


    many years. The rational part of my brain understands that losing a parent, especially a parent who


    entirely raised you is going to be hard, and that kind of wound cannot be healed easily. But the smaller,


    illogically macho part of me that still reels over the fact Stone managed to send me to the hospital urges


    me to man up and bottle all my feelings inside. It’s a constant battle to not give into that voice because


    I’m well-read enough to know bottling up feeling ultimately leads to a nasty climax. So, I force away


    those feelings and focus on the present, on the tickle of Coraline’s hair on my cheeks, and the pleasant


    smell of her body wash that still drifts.


    “It’s alright,” I say, “I mean, it’s sad and all, but I’vee to terms with it. It was a hit-and-run, and the


    driver of the car didn’t even stop to see if she was okay. She had been crossing the road, you see,” I feel


    the old anger rise, “that bastard left without even slowing down.”


    Coraline breaks away from me to give me a calcting look. “No one even saw the number te?”


    “Nope, no one did. Everyone was too busy trying to help my mother. She was…it hadn’t been pleasant.


    There was a lot of blood.”


    Coraline covers her mouth in her sympathy. “What happened to you afterward?”


    “Well, I was nearly eighteen, so I was given a choice to stay out of the foster system and get


    emancipated. Mom had a little money saved, and my father was willing to help as soon as I let him.”


    “But you did not let him,” she guesses, and I can’t help but huff augh.


    “I was angry, so angry at everything,” I whisper, “so I told him that I wanted nothing to do with him. I could


    live alone; I could survive alone. I didn’t need his money. Deep down, I med him for not choosing my


    mother over his wife. I irrationally thought that if we had been a family, mom would’ve never had to move


    away from him, and thus get killed by the hit and run.”


    I drag a hand over my face, my emotions tumultuous, “I wasn’t in a good headspace, so naturally, I came


    up with convoluted logic. In my hurt, Ished out all around me.”


    “I remember the funeral,” Coraline says, “I didn’t visit because I was out of state at the time. But my


    mother and father did.”


    “I honestly don’t remember much about it,” I confess, “I was under this sort of haze throughout, watching


    everything as I was underwater. School gave me some time off to get my head straight. It took me a


    month to gain a semnce of normalcy again.”


    “What did you do afterward? How did you survive?”


    “I made a n. The apartment my mom paid for was too much for me to afford on my own, so I moved to


    a smaller, more affordable one. Used up some of my mom’s savings until I could find a decent job. It


    wasn’t easy, the first few days. I was so worried about surviving that I only had two meals per day. But


    somehow, I found a bnce Had to work two jobs, though I also frenced on the inte, writing


    academic paperc and such. After I graduated, I applied to a bunch of schools. King’s College was not my


    choice, but Gerald always called me despite my protests and encouraged me to apply for the


    schrships there. I did it almost as a joke. I was going to go tomunity college.”


    “But you got the schrship,” Coraline provides, “I’m not surprised. Your grades were awesome back


    then, as I remember.”


    I manage a smile at that, “Thanks. So, yeah. Moved to Empire city, got a job and an apartment, and


    started college. And then Stone happened, and here we are.”


    “Here we are,” she repeats, “why did youe back?”


    “I don’t know,” I murmur, “maybe I got too tired of running and hiding. It was a particrly bad day when I


    decided that enough was enough, and I was letting my past anger ruin my life. So I sort of let go.”


    By now it is lunchtime, so Coraline and I decide to take a bit of a break and stretch our legs. We have an


    adequate cafeteria in Zelt Tech, but there were little cafes and food joints strewn all around, so most of


    the time we went out to eat. Today, we decided to visit a pizza joint we were both fond of


    As we wait for our order to arrive and chat amicably. I ask Coraline what happened to her after


    graduation.


    “Well, as you are aware, I’m still attending university as well,” she says, ” got selected to an elerated


    business studies program at the state university, and it’s going great. I only got one more year to


    graduate.”


    “Really?” I raise my brows, impressed, “and you manage to do this job while also studying for an


    elerated course?”


    Coraline shrugs with a smile, “I like keeping busy Besides, you’re the same as me ”


    “Not really, my program is a normal bachelor’s degree.” I point out, 1 got plenty of downtimepared to


    you.”


    Then almost hesitantly, I add, “how did Aiden happen?”


    She sighs, “Our college did this joint club fair with a bunch of other schools King’s College was one of


    them. Aiden was there, and he had the handsome, bad-boy thing going on I’m ashamed to say I fell head


    over heels almost instantly. At first, he was gracious, smart, funny, and sexy. But then things got rough,


    and he became aggressive.”


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    She is interrupted when our food arrived. Coraline was trying out a new topping today, her half of the


    pizzaprised some sort of mushrooms and meat. I’d opted for good old cheese and pepperoni for


    mine. With a sigh, Coraline takes a bite out of the pizza slice she picked, and chews.


    “The first one was after my birthday. We had a party, and I danced with some of my friends. One of these


    friends was a guy, and he didn’t like it. And then-”


    Her eyes narrow into slits as a blush rises to her cheeks.


    “It’s okay,” I assure her, “you don’t have to go into details…”


    But she’s shaking her head, her expression distressed.


    “No, I…I…something…” she chokes, and her eyes widen. Her hands fly to her neck, and she begins to


    gasp for breath.


    “Coraline, what’s wrong?!” I screech, gaining the attention of the pizza joint.


    Coraline chokes, “ALLERGY!”