Free Hopelessly Imperfect (Imperfect #1) by Gabriela Cabezut

the sound of his voice. He watched us warily. “Is there something wrong?”
    We must have looked odd standing there. Anne was picking up her books as Marissa towered over me and Farah. My friend looked ready to punch Marissa, and Marissa’s minions were sending daggers our way.
    “Nope,” Farah answered without taking her eyes off Marissa. “We’re just making new friends, right?” At that, Marissa glanced at Farah, her eyes full of loathing.
    Damn. My stomach clenched, but I didn’t move an inch. I didn’t want to be the one backing away. Even if all I wanted to do was run the other way. However, I wasn’t giving up on my friends. Not again.
    Marissa glared at me before she bobbed her head toward her minions. They walked away. Farah and I followed her with our eyes as she disappeared down the hallway. A relived breath left my lips. Thank God she left.
    Chris stepped closer to us, and I noticed he wasn’t alone. Nathan was right behind him. They were both carrying their backpacks, probably on their way to class when they saw us.
    Someone pushed me from behind, and Farah grabbed my arm to prevent me from falling. Frowning, I turned around to see who had shoved me. Anne was right behind me, her jaw quivering and her eyes blazing. “Fuck you, Cassandra! I don’t need your help! You are so much worse than her! You’re a hypocrite and a liar!” Her hands were trembling and her eyes were scorching as she added, “ And I hate you! ”
    Each word felt like a blow to my stomach. She walked away as my eyes dropped to the floor, brimming with tears as my breath hitched and all the fear, darkness, and self-hate inside me intensified.
    I heard Farah ask if I was okay, but I was already running away from them.
    Tears were falling freely as I sprinted out of school. My chest felt so tight that I couldn’t keep running. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I held on to the railing of the staircase with both hands as my breathing came out ragged.
    She’s right. I’m the worst person in the world. I abandoned her, even though I knew she was my friend, and I never once stood up for her when someone called her names. Not once.
    I’m such a hypocrite.
    A moment later, strong arms encased me. I tried to struggle away, but they held me tighter. “It’s okay, Cassie. It’s okay,” Nathan whispered as he rocked me.
    Tired of pulling away, I clenched his shirt as his grip tightened. In that moment, I felt like the whole world was crashing in on me again. I lost it. I sobbed out of despair, anger, fear, but mostly because I felt hopeless.
    We stayed like that for the longest time. At some point, I realized I was sitting on his lap and leaning on his chest, hugging him hard as he rubbed his hands on my back. I loosened my grip and slowly pulled away while rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.
    His gray eyes pierced me as his warm breath caressed my skin. He cupped my chin as my lips parted. His thumb brushed one tear away as I studied the blue flecks in his eyes. “She was mad, Cassie. She didn’t mean those things.”
    I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. Pulling away from him, I looked to the side before standing up. “She did. She’s right too.” My voice sounded as broken as I felt.
    I’m the worst person ever.
    He pushed himself up. “Do you want me to take you home?” He sounded concerned.
    Lost in my thoughts, I shook my head and started to walk away. Heavy footsteps followed me. His hand encased my wrist, and I felt as if my stomach plopped to the ground. Panic swelled over me. I was completely frozen as my heart thumped loudly inside my rib cage. Even though I was wearing bracelets, I knew he could feel the bumpy scar on my wrist.
    He turned it around as my heart felt tight. His thumb dabbed my scar while his eyes bored into me. My breath heaved as his other hand grabbed my left wrist. He trailed a finger across my other scar without breaking eye contact. All I could think was that I was broken and he would