Chapter 117: Chapter 117: Quidditch Match?

TALIA

"I don't think I'm going," I say, folding my arms and stomping my foot.

"Don't be a baby," Parker says. "You said yourself you loved the first game."

"And then I got kidnapped and slapped around by a bunch of goons." I lift my chin at her and stand my ground.

But Parker gets up in my face, and then she pulls me into an awkward hug, my still-folded arms wedged between us. "I know you keep saying you're fine, but I don't think you're really fine, are you?"

I bury my head in my best friend's shoulder and cry. It's the first time I've allowed myself to break down. I've tried to convince myself I was fine, but she's right; I'm not fine. She doesn't ask me to talk about it. She knows what happened. She knows I'm having horrific nightmares and waking up terrified. She knows Boris saved me. She knows I pushed him away. There's no need to rehash it.

Parker just lets me cry for a very long time. Finally, when the tears subside, I pull away.