Cuts Run Deep by Amber Garza

day different. Sometimes I found it funny that they were friends. I thought it was more out of habit, to be honest. They’d been friends for so long it was almost like they didn’t know how not to be.
    Weeks went by before I could get Jackson to talk to me again. When we did finally hash things out, he told me that he expected that kind of behavior out of Zach, but not me. I understood what he was saying. I was the guy who used to be teased. Then again, that was a long time ago. Because of Jackson I was now part of the popular crowd. It’s not like I forgot what it felt like to be picked on. I just enjoyed being part of the group, and I easily went along with things. I was a follower, plain and simple.
    Eventually Jackson forgave me and we moved on. I never teased Jeff anymore though. Not that I had much opportunity to. Dude injured himself two games into the season and had to drop out.
    My cell buzzed in my pocket, jolting me back to the present. I dug my fingers down deep into my pocket and snatched the phone out. My stomach plummeted. It was Zach. Answering, I pressed it to my ear.
    “What’s up?” I asked.
    “Just checking on you. Are you doing okay, man?”
    “Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Did everybody see me as fragile?
    “Cause you were acting like you were on the verge of jumping off a cliff today, man.”
    “I’m fine,” I lied.
    “You don’t sound fine,” he said.
    Goddamn it, Zach. He was always a smug know-it-all. Jackson used to say that all the time too.
    “Well, do you blame me?” I finally asked.
    “Everything’s going to be fine,” Zach promised.
    “How can you be sure?” I glanced around the room, praying Mom wasn’t listening in.
    “Just trust me.”
    My stomach knotted. His words did nothing to make me feel better. In fact, they made me feel worse. The only person I’d ever trusted outside of my family was Jackson. And now he was gone. If my fate rested on Zach’s shoulders, I was pretty sure I was going down.
    “Tyler?”
    I sighed. “Fine. It’s not like I have any other choice but to trust you.”
    “Great.” He sounded relieved. “Just be cool, okay?”
    “Yeah. Cool.” Yeah, right.
    As I hung up, I assumed Zach was as skeptical as I was about my ability to stay cool and not buckle under the pressure.

Piper
     
    Jackson was patient. He held me in his arms waiting for me to tell him the story. Only I couldn’t do it. Or maybe I just didn’t want to. Either way, the words were stuck in my throat, lodged between my tonsils. I glanced around my parents’ room, my gaze landing on the safe where Jackson had locked the gun away. It was clear that Jackson was worried about me. Maybe he thought I was planning to use the gun on myself, but I wasn’t going to do that.
    Jackson’s hand moved down my arm, his fingers resting on my bracelets. My chest tightened. He was the only person, other than my parents, who knew what was under them.
    “Can we go into my room, please?” I asked in a small voice. “I can’t do this in here.” My parents’ room had always seemed sad to me, with its floral comforter and lacy doilies on the dresser. I knew Mom spent most nights alone in here, and it made my stomach ache.
    “Of course.” Jackson held on to me, helping me up.
    With our hands linked, we made our way to my bedroom. Once inside, Jackson crawled up on my bed, patting the spot on the comforter in front of him.
    Hugging myself, I stayed standing. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
    Hurt flashed in his eyes. “Okay.” He nodded. “That’s fine. I won’t force you.”
    His words pierced my heart. “You won’t?”
    “Nope. I’ll never force you to do anything, Piper.”
    My heart softened, the walls I carefully built around it crumbling. “He forced me,” I whispered.
    “What?”
    I held my breath, praying that I wouldn’t have to repeat it.
    “Did you just say ‘he forced me’?” Jackson’s face hardened.
    I nodded, rubbing my palms up and down