AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Enough seconds passed that I was starting to regret my words. Why the fuck had I thought I had any right to anything inside her head? Let alone her heart.
“Are you ever surrounded by people and you still feel alone?” she finally asked.
That was not what I was expecting.
“Huh… I’ve never really thought about it. Why? Do you?”
“More often than I used to,” she admitted. There was effort in her voice, but it was hesitation, not regret.
I thought about what to say to that. I could pull all sorts of arseholery out. I could make light of Little Miss Perfect and what the fuck did she have to worry about. I could have said a great number of things. What I went with was, “Is that why you bailed on the party tonight?”
She breathed in deeply. “Sometimes it’s easier to be alone without a whole bunch of people around. You know? Less effort.”
This was a side to her that I’d never heard of, let alone seen. I’d always suspected there was more behind her eyes, but I expected scathing wit she thought she was too polite to voice. I didn’t expect…depth. Layers. Something ever so human and relatable about her. I was fully invested in finding out more.
“Less effort how?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Like I don’t have to pretend everything’s okay. It gets tiring after a while.”
That seemed to have an obvious solution. One that had been my fall-back for years. “So, don’t pretend.”
She scoffed derisively as she sat up abruptly. “Yeah, because people would accept that Piper Barlow had issues.”
She had a point, but, “What does that make me, then?”
She turned her head to look at me. A moment passed between us. I realised I legitimately cared about what was bothering this girl so far out of my league that I could save a burning hospital full of orphans and I’d still never be good enough for her…if it was possible to change. I was unnecessarily relieved when she continued talking.
“Just because you haven’t actually voiced your disbelief out loud, doesn’t mean you don’t think I’m whining unnecessarily,” she pointed out. “I’m just waiting for the African orphan speech. Hell, you’ve got real issues with your niece. What right do I have to complain I feel a little down or a little alone sometimes?”
“Firstly, that’s bullshit.” I sat up beside her, my shoulder accidentally bumping hers. But neither of us moved. “No one else’s experiences should invalidate your own feelings, Barlow.”
It wasn’t a mantra I lived by, but it should apply to people like her.
“I have no reason for it–”
“So what? Feelings don’t listen to reason. I am perfectly happy to accept Piper Barlow has issues and, if you want to sit here and not talk about it, fine. You want to talk about it, fine. Let’s just share the peace and quiet and feel a little less alone together.”
It had all poured out of me in a vehement rush, and I looked out at the lake like the coolness of the water could soothe the sudden heat in me.
“You’re perfectly happy to accept Piper Barlow has issues?” she asked slowly. There was a hint of unintentional humour in her voice.
I couldn’t stop the slight smile that tugged at my lips, but I kept my nod as solemn as possible. “Yes. I’m very understanding that way.”
“About my having issues?”
My smile threatened to burst from its confines, but I held it at bay. “Yes.”
She laughed and I bit the inside of my cheek to stop me joining her. “Of course you are,” she said.
I grabbed a stone and skipped it along the surface of the lake as that comfortable silence settled over us again. With a breath, I leant my elbows on my knees as I watched the ripples in the lake’s surface. I was sure I could feel Piper looking at me now and then, but neither of us said anything.
Suddenly, her phone went off, sounding harsh and loud in the silence.
Piper pulled it from her pocket, and I watched her expression as the light highlighted her features. She smiled, she frowned, she smiled again, she looked confused. And the whole time, she looked beautiful.
It was an unequivocal fact that Piper Barlow was beautiful. Her smile fucking lit up whatever room she was in. Her laugh was in danger of being infectious. Her voice had this annoyingly musical quality to it. She was the kind of girl who never failed to…inspire.
I watched her fingers hover over the screen, but she didn’t type anything before putting her phone in her pocket.
