123 Fear

"A-alex… I… I'm sorry…" she stammered as she tried to apologise and explain. "I… I didn't mean to be late. I… There was an –"  

"Abigail… I've already told you. Rules are rules," he cut through her, his voice merciless, without even a tiny trace of warmth. Abi felt like her heart was being squeezed tightly as she looked at his face. Her heart was thumping loudly in her ears, so loud that it was deafening. Was all this coldness simply the result of her breaking the rules? She couldn't make herself believe it. She just knew there was something else that was causing him to become like this.

She felt like crying, not because of fear or because she was scared of the punishment, but because she didn't like it when he became this scary. She didn't like seeing Alex looking so cold, as if he was heartless and soulless. This wasn't the Alex that she had come to know.