AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fiona and I walk in silence while I try to make sense of what just happened, the scene from a moment ago running through my head on a loop more repetitive than Daft Punk lyrics.
“Did Link just admit he loves me?” I blurt. “Wait, never mind, don’t answer that.” I shake my head. “Why was he at your dorm, Fi?”
We hunch together against the cold as we shuffle toward the gate to Main Street, our breath escaping our lips in hazy puffs.
Fiona bites her lip, considering her answer.
“Don’t bullshit me,” I warn.
She sighs. “He was checking up on you.”
“Checking up on me?”
“Yes, the adorable little stalker has been grilling me for information ever since winter break.”
I stop, causing Fi to stumble as our arms are still linked. “You’re a double agent?”
“I guess? Sort of?”
“Why?”
She pulls me back into motion. “Do you really need to ask?”
“What did you tell him?” I ask apprehensively, remembering when I called her on New Year’s Eve well before the ball dropped. She came back up to Vancouver and found Sebastian and me wasted after I’d polished off Marcus’s fancy vodka. You’d think I would’ve been a crying mess in that state, but I was angry, and I just wanted someone else to understand why. So I told Fieverythingthat night.Every. Smutty. Detail.Then I passed out.
“I only answered his questions, Charlie. He wanted to know what you were up to, your mental state, that you’re safe. He’s just worried, I think. And I couldn’t tell him no—not when I knew it was because he cared,” she says with a sad smile.
I nod as we approach the coffee shop. Serenity is standing outside, bouncing from one Ugg to the other and blowing into her purple mittens.
“Hey,” I say as we walk up. Her long blonde hair is tangled around her shoulders in loose curls, and her cheeks and nose are pink from the cold. “You okay?” She opens her mouth, but I hold my hand up quickly. “Actually, let’s go in and get some warm drinks first.”
We walk inside the coffee shop, and I shiver when I look over at the booth where I sat with Matt. It seems like forever ago now. I realize that it was a mistake to let him back into my life at all. I knew something was off with him, and when I consider it, I think I knew even before he cheated. I was just too scared to leave until he forced my hand.
After ordering drinks, we sit at one of the round tables by the window.
Serenity looks down at her coffee, then up again. “I know I don’t deserve your friendship—from either of you—but I don’t have a lot of girlfriends anymore.” She gives a small smile and pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. “Lincoln is pretty patientwith me—we’ve been friends forever—but I think he’s tired of being my only real confidant.”
“Not that I don’t want to be your friend, Seren, but aren’t you leaving soon?” I ask.
“I am at the end of the year, but I like you, Charlie. Despite the fact that I’m in love with one of your boyfriends and was a straight-up bitch to you when we met, you’ve still shown me kindness. And to be honest, I’ve never seen Link and Trey this happy. At least not since we were kids.” She scrunches her nose and gives me an apologetic look. “I’m just lonely, and I was hoping you guys would want to hang out.”
Fiona glances at me, and I smile. Then she looks back at Serenity with a smirk. “You must have a lot of dirt on the boys.”
Serenity laughs. “I could probably tell you a few stories.”
I give her a serious look. “But can you tell me why Link’s so scared? I know he wants to be with me and Trey.” I stumble over the sentence because I keep waiting to see judgment when I refer to the three of us being together, but Serenity’s ice-blue eyes shine with empathy.
“I assume I can trust you both won’t say anything if I tell you something personal,” she starts haltingly.
We both nod.
Serenity takes a deep breath. “I went to a really dark place in high school. My mom is a perfectionist and she wanted me to be perfect, too. As a ballet dancer, I was under a lot of pressure, and I….” Her breath catches in her throat, and she looks up at the ceiling before she pushes on. “I started throwing up to keep my weight low. I felt like it was the only thing in my life I could control.” Her eyes are glassy and her voice trembles. “It got really bad, and one night Link saved me. He found me passed out on my bathroom floor and called 9-1-1. I was so malnourished, my heart was barely beating.” She wrings her hands together anxiously. “He was so angry at my motherthat he threatened to call Child Protective Services—I was only 17. My mom pulled back after that, and I kept dancing, but less competitively, and I started to love it again like I did when I was a little girl.”
I stare at her in shock. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shit,” Fi whispers. “That’s heavy.”
Serenity swallows thickly, and her brows furrow as if she’s struggling to say more. “I just want you to understand that Lincoln Evans comes across as a black knight sometimes, but he was my white knight once. He loves hard, but he doesn’t think he deserves love in return. And we both know that’s not true.”
