Page 27 of Apparently, I’m Torture

I shook my head, hot tears pricking my eyes. My phone buzzed and Stacey took it as her cue to exit.

The name on the screen was a tight burst of dread. It clawed at me as I answered. “Trevor, hi.”

“Lilly, I’m calling for an update. How’re things going at the fundraiser?”

I blinked, trying to ease the sting. “Okay so far. I guess.”

“You guess? Or you know?”

What could I say? If I told him the truth, he’d hold it over my head and beat me with it. If I lied, he’d find out eventually.

“Your silence isn’t exactly reassuring, Lilly. So things aren’t going well?”

I sniffed. My throat was clogged tight, my damp eyes burned.

“Lilly, I’m going to make this clear,” he drawled, and I pictured him shifting in his seat, patting a hairless cat. “If you mess up this fundraiser, you can forget about coming back to South Bronx after the summer break. Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” I breathed.

“Good. The next time I call you, I want to hear that you’re nailing this, got it?”

“Okay.”

He hung up without another word, and I folded my head into my arms.

Five Years Ago

Chapter 10

Shawn

Friday Evening

Tristy’s coffee shop

The entire day went by without her.

My body was wound tight, aching from a different kind of tension. I’d been on my feet all day, serving customers, cleaning, training and restocking.

It was a good day. Busy. Distracting. But not enough. Every movement rang hollow, everything I did seemed pointless.

It’d take a long time to get over Lilly, but I had to try. Because feeling like this wasn’t okay.

I still hadn’t called South Bronx. I hadn’t given them my answer. I wanted to move on. I knew I had to, even if it meant learning to live without hearing her laugh or seeing her face. But I couldn’t do it yet. I just… couldn’t.

Tristan and Nikki left the shop early. Nikki waddled in, her pregnancy slowing her usually quick-paced gait, and they left for a gallery show featuring Tristan’s latest piece. He said he’d stop painting until the burn on his hand healed, but I don’t think anything could’ve kept him from it. He was a man possessed, obsessed. I knew what that felt like now. I just never thought I’d feel this way over Lilly.

Uncle Henry was gone too, trusting me to close the shop without him. I was expecting a quiet night, so when the door chimed, my neck snapped toward it in surprise.

“See? It isn’t closed yet.”

“Oh good, are there any of those crullers left? I love a good cruller.”

I stiffened. Lilly and Mia.

“What’re you guys–”

They screamed, clutched their chests, and laughed.