Hate That Blooms

Gabriela
He hates me for our parents cheating with each other. They left us, leaving us with broken homes, selfishly thinking only about themselves. All the hate he has for his mother he is taking out on me. Joaquín and his two friends are making my senior year miserable, the bullying leaving me feeling like nothing will ever get better. I have to be there for my sister. I’m all she has. Maybe if I’m lucky, he will forget me once we graduate and go to college?

Joaquín
Her father convinced my mother to leave us, and now whenever I look at her, I am torn in two. I see the girl I’ve loved since the third grade—the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on. But I also see the daughter of the man who tore my family apart. Gabriela is everything I’ve ever desired, and now all I want to do is hurt her.

Until the feelings become too much. Can I fight the feelings of hate and let love bloom in its place? Or will I let it destroy us both?