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I jerked back and looked into Luna’s grey irises. My mouth was slack, words trying and failing to come as tears filled my eyes. I collapsed against her.
“Holy shit, babe,” she said. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head. “No. The nightmares won’t stop.”
She continued to comb her fingers through my hair, rocking me back and forth. “Shh. It’s okay. You’re awake now. It’s over.”
“Until tonight. It’ll start all over.”
She pulled back. “Do you want to stay the night with me? Or I can stay here. We can invite Justin over if you want. We can talk shit about people and eat a bunch of chocolate until we pass out.”
I smiled and nodded. “That would be nice. Let me see how I feel after school. I have a feeling it’s going to be a rough day. It’s starting outgreat.” I paused and looked up at her with obvious confusion. “Wait a minute. How are you in here?”
Her lips pursed. “Well, there are a few reasons for that. Uh, some not so great.”
My face fell. “Oh, hell. What now? What time is it?”
“It’s six-thirty. Time to get up. I woke up early and grabbed all your uniforms. I finished them last night. They were super quick to fix once I was alone and wasn’t talking.” She laughed. “Took like two hours. Anyway, I wanted to bring them to you this morning. However…”
She sighed and looked down as she pulled her phone from her skirt pocket.
“What happened?” I asked.
“I checked my phone while having breakfast in my room, and I saw a post on Crestchat, the school app.”
“There’s a school app?” I asked. “They didn’t tell me about it when I signed up.”
“That’s because a student made it last year as a temporary project that just kind of stuck. It’s not regulated by the school, so students can post pretty much whatever they want.” That didn’t sound good. She handed me her phone. “I saw this, and I grabbed your stuff and ran over here as fast as I could. When I got to your door, I heard you scream, so I picked the lock and ran in.”
Looking down at her phone, I saw a grainy photo of me pinned against the gym wall. Asher biting my neck. Someone had followed us.
“Who the hell posted this?” I asked.
She shook her head. “There’s an option to post things anonymously. Only the app creator can access what accounts post what. That was posted this morning.”
“‘Temperance Wilder getting wild with the second guy in one day! Busy, busy girl!’” I read the caption out loud. “What a fucking joke.”
“I didn’t want to show you, but then I figured… no. I had to. Otherwise, you’d be walking into that shit storm with no knowledge. So, I ran over here. I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be. You did the right thing. You’re completely right. Had you not come over here, I would have walked blindly into that mess and had no idea it was coming. At least now I can prepare.” I sighed. “Oh, and thanks for the B&E. I can normally wake myself, but that one was different.”
She reached out and squeezed my hand. “No problem. Look, don’t let those bastards get the best of you. This shit happens all the time. They focus on a single person, do their best to destroy their lives, and then get bored and move on.”
“Oh, I know how bullies work,” I said. “I’m not afraid of them. If Harper wants me gone, she’s going to have to try a lot harder than this.”
As confident as my words sounded, I didn’t feel it. Damian had specifically said yesterday had been easy. He’d said let the games begin. I had no idea what was to come, but I knew it wasn’t going to be anything good. All I could do was prepare myself.
“You’re tough—I’ll give you that. It’ll come in handy around here, that’s for sure. Just don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it,” she said.
I smiled. “Thanks. I will.”
As I handed back her phone, my dream came back full force. I’d had the same nightmare for two months. Not every single night, but most. Every last detail was exactly the same. My true memories replayed, and I was forced to relive it over and over again.
That one, however, was different.
That was the first time the dream had jumped around like that. It was also the first time I’d seen anything before I’d woken up on the church floor, impaled and laying in a pile of debris from an explosion I couldn’t remember.
I remembered arriving at the church and walking in. I even vaguely remembered sitting down, but anything after that was darkness. That whole conversation with my dad was brand new, and while it didn’t feel like a memory—because it felt like a dream—I still couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t worth exploring.
