Page 126 of Grown

Gab isn’t real. There is no Gab. I’m imagining this. I’m losing it just like Grandma. Why now? Why?

A hand grabs my hoodie, yanking me back.

“Don’t touch me,” I scream, swinging. “Get off me!”

“The hell? What’s gotten into you?”

Gab yokes my sleeve, eyes scanning the street. “Where are you going? Get back in the car! What if someone sees you?”

Even dressed down, Gab is gorgeous. Somehow, my mind made up the very opposite of myself. Everything I feared that I’m not.

I shove her away, crying. “You’re not real!”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’m real!”

“No one knew Korey called me Bright Eyes. I never told anyone that! Not even you.”

Gab frowns, flabbergasted, then lets out a chuckle before pinching my arm with a twist.

“Ow,” I shriek. “What the fuck?”

“Is that real enough for you?”

The sting burns. But can people who imagine other people FEEL them?

Gab measures my silence, rolling her eyes. “Oh my God! Are you serious? Korey calledallhis girls Bright Eyes. It said so in that report about Candy. Didn’t you read it?”

My knees jerk to flee but then I remember the woman who tried to kill me onstage. The wig, the way she called me Bright Eyes... she was one of us, another girl.

Damn, was anything we had real?

She shakes her head. “What’s gotten into you?”

“The cops told me... they said...”

“And you believed them?”

My shoulders slump. If Gab is real... that means everything that happened was real. He took me from my family and friends, he took my freedom, he took my heart, he took mysongs! Hot anger flashes through me.

“I didn’t kill Korey,” I say, hard. “You believe me, right?”

“Of course!”

“OK. I have an idea. But I’m going to need your help. And your car.”

She smirks. “As long as I don’t get killed, I’m down for whatever.”

Chapter 86

Group Chat

W&W Squad (w/o the Jones sisters)

Aisha:Y’all seen that open letter? Signed by the victims.

Sean:So it wasn’t just Enchanted? There were others.

Aisha:Has anyone heard from her yet?