AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carter rushes over to me, wrapping me in his arms and trying to hold me. "I'm so sorry."
"She...she..." I can't even say it out loud.
It's too much.
Too real.
Too painful.
"Stop," I tell him. "Please."
He does as I ask and backs up. I try to calm myself down, feeling like I'm reaching a dangerous breaking point, but as I look around the room for something to focus on my eyes land on the framed picture of Davi and me on my nightstand.
We looked so happy. The smiles on our faces were so big, it was like we were on top of the world. That was the day her parents officially got custody of me. I wasn't being forced to go back to my mother who couldn't give a damn about me. I didn't have to stay half awake at night anymore. I was safe, and we were sisters.
But that stopped being enough for her.
And she threw it all away.
Anger boils inside of me as my hand tightens around the picture frame, and finally, I explode. I throw the picture across the room and watch as it shatters against the closet door. Carter doesn't even flinch as glass flies in all directions, but none coming anywhere close to us. I get off the bed and go toward the window, opening it and gripping the locket with her picture that's always around my neck. I pull it off with a snap, breaking the chain as I yank it off my neck and throw it right out the window.
"Tye, stop," Carter begs, wrapping his arms around me as I go for the diary.
"Why?" I scream. "Why should I? She left me!"
"I know," he says as he holds me even while I struggle in his hold.
Everything hurts. It's like emotion overload and it's too much to handle.
"She promised we would always be there for each other," I sob. "She promised! And then she went and killed herself!"
He sighs. "I know, baby. I know."
I shrug him off me harshly and push him back. "You don't know. You still have your best friend. Things might have gotten a little rough, but you still have him. I have no one!"
"You have me! Or is that not enough for you?"
"I don't have you," I say, shaking my head. "I can never have you. Not really, anyway. You're always going to be Davi's."
That strikes a nerve. "Fuck Davi."
My jaw hits the floor as his words deliver another blow to the chest.
"Don't give me that look," he snaps. "I'm so sick of that girl ruining my goddamn life! Damn me to hell if you want, I'm sorry, but I don't give a shit what Davi would have wanted."
His words are a harsh reminder of what I need to do. Using all the anger and pain, paired with the need to protect myself now more than ever, I train my expression into a flat line.
"Fine," I say. "I don't want you."
He scoffs. "You're a fucking liar."
"You're not listening!" I shout, poking him in the chest. "I don't want you, Carter! I didn't back then, and I don't now.”
I change my tone to something so sweet yet so deadly that I know he’ll hear me.
“The best revenge is the one you don’t see coming. Did you see this coming?"
His hand moves to his chest as he takes a step back. It's like his eyes are searching for any indication that I'm lying, but I’ve been an actress all my life, and I’m not about to lose my nerve now. Finally, he closes his eyes and shakes his head before turning and walking out the door.
As soon as I'm alone, I collapse to the floor. It's all so brutally painful. Being alone. Knowing that Davi didn't die from a tragic accident, but that she chose to leave me. To leave her family. And the final straw, pushing Carter away.
It was a selfish move, but a necessary one, because I’m not strong enough to keep doing this. It’s just one more reminder that everyone leaves eventually and that love is never without strings.
My father loved me for what I could do for him.
My mother chose alcohol and my pedophile father instead of me.
Davi loved me until she thought I stood in her way, and then she hated me enough to walk off a roof, just to keep me away from him. She left us all behind.
Carter would be no different.
