AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We had everything and nothing all at the same time
My best friend, my heart, my partner in crime
She’s my lucky penny, my lucky penny
She’s my lucky penny, my lucky penny
Lucky, lucky, lucky, my lucky penny
I didn’t realize I was crying until Marissa pressed some tissue paper into the palm of my hand. Blinking down at it, I tried to swallow down the emotion lodged in my throat. To my relief, everyone was as entranced by Blake as I had been, and no one except Marissa noticed my emotional state.
Excusing myself, I made my way back to our cabin, the ghosts of my past weighing heavy on my shoulders.
I felt Blake’s gaze on me as I disappeared into the trees, but I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t.
* * *
Marissa didn’t follow me.
She had probably pieced together some more of our story after Blake’s song.
How could she not?
He’d weaved our entire relationship into his lyrics. I could hear his sixteen-year-old self singing every line to my sixteen-year-old self. Although I was pretty certain the sixteen-year-old Blake I’d known back then had no clue how to play the guitar.
After wiping the tears from my eyes, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. It was still early, but I couldn’t face going back out there, so I changed into my shorts and tank top and climbed into bed. Sleep would be impossible, but at least here, I was safe.
At least, here I could try and ignore the memories.
Most people felt lonely in solitude, but I welcomed the silence. Embraced it even. Something about the quiet, the knowledge that no one else was around, comforted me.
It made me different, I didn’t need a shrink to tell me that. But it didn’t change the fact that I found sanctuary in being alone.
I lay there, not really allowing myself to think. Thinking was dangerous; it led to remembering, and my memories were stained with pain and hurt and the kinds of things that made most people’s nightmares look like a walk in the park.
Instead, I traced my gaze over the uneven cabin ceiling, following the planes of the wood from one end to the other and back again, until my eyelids finally grew heavy.
A knock on the door startled me, sending my already restless heart into overdrive, and I sat up abruptly.
“Hello?” I called out, hoping to hear Marissa’s voice, but I knew it wasn’t her.
She wouldn’t have knocked; she would have barged right in and demanded answers.
“Penny,” Blake said softly, “it’s me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, but it didn’t stop his face from filling my mind. The lyrics of his song playing over and over in my head.
Another knock.
Another knife in my heart.
“Penny, come on, I know you’re in there.”
Forcing myself out of bed, I swung my legs over the edge and stood.
He wasn’t going away.
