Page 125 of Grown

“It was like, a real nightmare. I don’t know how they got my phone number, but they kept calling me, saying if I went to the police or told anybody what I saw, they would kill me AND Jay. It was scary, like they knew everything about me!”

“Think that’s my fault,” I confess. “I told Korey about you two.”

Gab sighs. “Yeah, I figured. After they got to Jay, then they called my dad.”

“OMG! What happened?”

“They told him that I was still seeing Jay and lying about it. My dad flipped and took me out of Parkwood. Said he wasn’tpaying all this money to send me to school to be some slut for a college kid.”

Tears fill her eyes. She wipes them on her hoodie.

“Gab, I’m so sorry.”

She waves her hand. “It’s fine. Anyway, I kept quiet, because I didn’t want those assholes to fuck with my life any more than they did. Changed my number and promised to keep my mouth shut. Then I saw you on the news. The way that lady attacked you... felt like it was all my fault. If I never convinced you to audition... you would’ve never met that monster.”

“It’s not your fault. None of it!”

She takes a deep breath. “Still, I couldn’t let you think... you were alone.”

“Thanks.”

She nods as another question hits me.

“Hey, how’d you know where to find me?”

“That open letter! I reached out to them, told them everything. They said that you might come, so I hid outside to make sure you weren’t followed.”

“Followed?”

“They know they did wrong, Chant. They wouldn’t be trying this hard to shut me up if they didn’t.”

Gabriela looks like she hasn’t slept in days. Maybe months. She coughs out a laugh. “Jay told me you came by his job.”

“Yeah, he played it off good,” I chuckle.

“He was just trying to protect me. That guy, I swear it’s stupid the way he loves me.”

A tinge of jealousy bites my stomach. “I wish...”

“Don’t say it. He wasn’t worth it. He tried to separate us! All that ‘Bright Eyes’ bullshit...”

I blink. “What did you say?”

She cocks her head to the side. “What?”

A fog lifts and sharp clarity crashes into me. I press into the door.

“You’re not real.”

“What?”

“Oh God,” I mumble. “Oh God!”

I swing open the door, stumbling away from the car.

“Chant! Where are you going?”

My thoughts spin counter clockwise.