Inessa felt a wave of something dark and confident take over, her expression shifting into a smug smile. It contrasted with the colorful clothes she wore, a bright quilted vest over a white long-sleeve shirt, her shorts barely peeking out. Her eyes, once sparkling, darkened as if some unseen power had taken hold. She hated that this side of her was emerging, but a part of her liked it. There was power in this, she knew it. It was a power she discovered over the summer, and now it pulsed through her veins. She was stronger like this, though it wasn’t really her, was it? No one would believe it even if Tae told someone. Not Nessa. Not the girl everyone thought of as warm and kind, like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day.
Tae’s words cut through the moment, but they didn’t faze her as much as they should have. “The car accident that left me permanently disabled with a lot of trauma?” he said, throwing it back at her. Her eyes didn’t soften; instead, they narrowed slightly. “Don’t we all though?” she replied, her voice cool, distant, as if his trauma was just another line on a checklist everyone had to carry.
Inessa felt the heat rise inside her but kept her composure. Her jaw tightened as she forced herself to stay calm, though she wanted to say so much more. Did he not hear her the first time? She already said she couldn’t control Renlin’s idiocy. But since he wanted it spelled out, she’d give it to him.
“I believe I already said his immaturity and impulsiveness are not in my control,” she said, her tone sharp. Her fingers fiddled with the strap of her bag again, but her eyes were locked on his now, a clear challenge in them. As much as she hated being in this situation, as much as she despised having to explain her brother’s actions, there was a part of her that felt satisfaction in standing her ground. It was this dark, unfamiliar version of herself, and she wasn’t sure if she hated it or embraced it.
“don’t expect my sympathy because my brother’s too stupid to keep his mouth shut.” Her words were sharp, dripping with passive aggression. She didn’t break eye contact, letting the silence between them grow heavy, knowing she was testing the limits. But that’s what power felt like, didn’t it? Testing how far you could push before someone pushed back. And right now, she wasn’t afraid of pushing.
Inessa let her hand rest on the door, glancing back at Tae. “makes me laugh though. For all the blame you want to place on my brother, it’s not like you didn’t have a part in it. Things don’t just happen out of nowhere, Tae. Maybe if you didn’t push buttons, there wouldn’t have been a fight in the first place.”
She adjusted her bag strap again, fingers still tracing that familiar circular pattern. She gave him a last tight smile, her eyes cold for one last split second and boom, the Inessa eveyone knew and loved was back“Anyway, I’ve done what I came here to do. don’t forget to use the cream I gave you. You’ll want those bruises to heal quickly, right? Wouldn’t want any reminders lingering.”
@Caticorn Tae Tae