And so I had to believe that I was doing the right thing— that this was the only way to save her...
By making sure she never set foot in Forevermore.
Chapter Ten
Ava-Marie
Opening up to Charlie was so hard. At the same time, it was the easiest thing in the world.
I knew that my voices were starting to bleed over to him. I didn’t know how long it would be before he realized how fucked up my head was.
And in that moment of vulnerability, I’d shattered and told him my worst fear was that I would lose him, like I’d lost so many other people in my life.
Stupid. I’d learned to keep my guard up, but Charlie could take down my walls brick by brick. The more I tried to keep him out, the harder it was to avoid getting close to him. Some people in life could just chase away your shadows, no matter how desperately you tried to prevent them from seeing the darkness.
Charlie was that person for me. He made my soul quiet when it wanted to explode.
I was wavering somewhere between complete depression and total ecstasy when I sat down at lunch on Monday. I’d waited forever for Charlie, but he hadn’t shown up, so I’d given up and gotten a chickpea wrap for myself. I didn’t want to eat it, but Charlie was really working with me on eating well, and I wanted to try this time.
I took a seat on the other side of Ivy and Opal. Ivy was going on about how flaky angels could be when Ezekiel sat next to me. As he dug into his meal, he gingerly handled his fork, like it hurt to use.
I reached out and snagged his hand, turning it over. Ezekiel’s palm was full of blisters and bleeding sores. My mouth dropped open at the sight.
“They haven’t been letting us have breaks in the noxite mines,” he explained. “My hands aren’t as callused as everyone else’s yet.”
Ez wasn’t the kind of guy who could work for hours on end. Charlie had said mining was tough, but I didn’t know it was that bad. I was on laundry duty this semester, so I’d gotten off easy compared to this.
“We need to get you out of there. A medical exemption—”
“For what?” His tone was flat.
“Ancestors, Ez.” I rolled my eyes. We really needed to stop playing this game.
“If I get out of working in the mines, the other guys are going to get pissed, then I’ll become a target. It’s not that bad,” he insisted.
“Chancey said you almost fainted yesterday,” Ivy said, popping a fry into his mouth.
“I did not,” Ezekiel spat.
“Is that why Charlie had to catch you before you hit the dirt?” Ivy asked coyly.
“Ivy, shut up,” Ezekiel growled.
“Obviously you’ve been keeping shit from me,” I growled.
“I have not! Ancestors, I just have to get used to it,” Ezekiel mumbled.
Opal blinked and watched Ezekiel with concern. She didn’t speak up, but by the way her lips were pursed, she was thinking hard.
“You have no room to talk, by the way, becauseyou’rekeeping things fromme,” Ez pointed out, to redirect the conversation. “You’re clearly in love with Charlie.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Nobody said I wasin lovewith him,” I protested. “It’s… think of it as more of afriends-with-benefitssituation.”
“Hmm, let’s see. You go everywhere together, you do everything together, youdoeach other…” Ezekiel counted off on his fingers. “Yep, you’re definitely in love with him.”
“We’ve never had sex,” I seethed.
“But you’ve done other things, I’m sure,” Ez shot back at me. “I’m not that dumb.”
