AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, what’s the plan?” Carter asks, looking non-phased by everything, but I know him, and the crinkle in his brow shows he’s not one hundred percent on board with any of this either.
“Where’s Dom?” Ash asks, and I shrug.
“We got here late thanks to family bullshit,” I grumble, and Ash nods. He knows all about dickhead parents and how they don’t give a shit about us. Well, my mom does, but my dad has majority custody, so she has to pay him alimony.
He didn’t like that his heiress’ wife wanted to divorce him, so he took me. The thing she loves more than anything. But now that I’m eighteen, I’m just a burden. I can’t wait to join the Airforce and get the fuck out of dodge.
I have siblings now, so my mom will be okay, and my dad will probably drink himself to death anyway.
“Let’s go find him and get this shit on the road,” Ash barks, looking excited. Manically so, but happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him react like this.
I just pray it doesn’t end with another grave.
Ashton
I’m headed to the locker room when I see her again. The one person I despise most but still crave. She hasn't noticed me yet. Seeming to be lost in a daydream while staring at the Halloween dance posters on the walls. I wonder if she's remembering last year's dance. When she and I went dressed in the most ridiculous couple’s costumes.
She was Hermione Granger fromHarry Potter, and I dressed up as Ron Weasley. She seriously went all out: itchy robes, annoying wands, and she even dyed my gorgeous dirty-blond hair red.
She swore it was temporary, but I was a redhead for six weeks. Man, I would’ve done anything for her back then. I’d have followed her anywhere. Whenever she looked at me after Halloween, she would burst out laughing. It wasn't all bad, though; it got me a lot of one-on-one attention, with her being so apologetic.
Lots of late nights sneaking around. Steaming up the windows of my car or finding an abandoned classroom after school before cheerleading and football practice. She was a total nerd with her HP obsession, but I loved her.
We were so different, but it didn’t seem to matter. We just seemed to fit like some fucked up puzzle.
She was always an avid reader. Happy to just blur everything out around her and get lost in whatever world or drama she was reading that day. Hell, if she wasn't on the cheerleading squad, she probably never would have even watched my football games.
Gracie could spend hours curled up with a book, or if we were in the car, she was reading on the Kindle app on her phone. When she had her appendix removed, I spent hours curled up with her, taking turns reading to each other.
I internally groan and run my hand over my face trying not to think about what she promised we’d go as this year. She would have looked so hot dressed as Khaleesi, and I know I could have pulled off Drogo. I’ve got abs for days. Kinda comes with the package of being the school’s quarterback.
Too bad she had to fuck everything up. Our plans for the future are gone now. All because of a stupid pact between her and my sister. I still just don't understand why? That's really all I want to fucking know. Why did she want to leave me? What was so miserable about her life that she wanted to escape it, and why drag Mia with her?
Supposedly, the police questioned her at the hospital when she woke from the coma, but she couldn’t help with the investigation because of her brain damage. I’m still not sure what to think about it all, but I visited her every day until she woke up.
Walkinginto this hospital room was one of the hardest things I've ever done, even considering I had to identify my sister’s body since my parents weren't answering their phones like normal. Seeing my doll lying there so bloody and broken, I’m not sure I can do this. At least her monitors are beeping, proof that she's still alive.
“Tristan, is that you?” I hear Gracie’s dad ask from the corner. Tristan is my middle name and what everyone calls me unless they are Gracie, Dom, or my friends. They call me Ash.
“Yeah, Grant, is she… is she okay?” I ask, holding back the tears threatening to fall.
“Come here, son.”
Walking into his open arms, I collapse. Only his strength keeps me from falling to the hospital floor. I sob for what feels like hours when it’s probably only been thirty minutes. I just lost my sister and possibly my future wife. Gracie is my whole world and has been since the day I met her.
Once I get myself under control, I notice that we’re the only two people here. “Where is Christine? And Grayson?”
“Grayson wasn't able to handle seeing Gracie like this, and her mom went to call my parents with an update.”
“What did the doctors say?”
He lets out a breath filled with the emotions he’s holding back. “The next seventy-two hours are critical. She suffered immense damage to her neo-cortex and sustained small cuts and abrasions. She looks worse than she is since we haven't been able to wash her up yet. But they said if she wakes up, then she’ll be okay. But I don't know, Tristan, it’s all a waiting game now.”
I was thereby her side for days. I wouldn't have abandoned her if the police hadn’t shown up with the note. I never thought my stomach could bottom out the way it did. My ears rang, and I almost puked.How could they both have been so dumb?
That's when everything changed. I’ll never be the same. None of us will be. We all have to live with the aftermath of their decision.
I’m still not buying that she has amnesia. And I have too many questions to not find answers, but I'm going to get to the truth. One way or another.
