AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s ok,” I say as we enter my room and get comfortable on the bed. “Tell me what’s been going on. How’s the band? Any new guys in your life?”
“You’re terrible at deflecting, but I’ll allow it,” she says as she shakes her head. That’s her way of telling me she’s waiting until I’m ready to talk, but I will have to talk about it. “Honestly, we’re not great. The last album we put out isn’t doing as well as the label hoped it would. This tour might be the end of the road for us.”
“What? You’re kidding. I hear your music on the radio all the time!” I’m so shocked, I just stare at Willa, catching flies with my mouth.
“You hear “Shattered Dreams.” Have you heard any other songs from us?”
“I’m sure I have,” I say immediately, but I don’t think that’s true.
“You haven’t. We’re just not the same without you and Ezra. The magic of us together is gone, and the label knows it. Honestly, I think they know they made a mistake agreeing to sign us without you two.” Willa stares down at her hands and shakes her head.
“I don’t know what to say.” Cal never told me any of this when I talked to him on the phone over the years.
“To answer your question about my dating life, no. No new guys in my life. I’ve been enjoying myself,” she says with a small smile.Talk about deflecting.“What about you? What’s your job like?”
“Oh. Um. Brad made me quit my job.” I avoid looking ather. The embarrassment that comes with this situation keeps hitting me, and I hate it.
“Hey. Look at me, Belle,” Willa insists. I chance a look and see the fire back in my friend’s eyes. “He was a manipulative piece of garbage. Stop feeling embarrassed about what he did to you. He should be embarrassed that he’s still breathing.”
“I know you’re right. I’m just having a hard time convincing myself. It feels like my fault. Like I let him do this to me,” I admit.
“Well, what were you doing before?”
“You know how my plan was to become a teacher?” She nods. “Well, after Ezra, I changed my major to Forensic Science. I wanted to, I don’t know, join the FBI or something. I initially thought about becoming a detective, but I didn’t think I could stomach the field work.”
“I’m guessing you’re not with the FBI?”
“No. I met Brad in college. We started dating senior year, and he convinced me to work for his mother’s financial firm. Well, until they both talked me into staying home and taking care of him instead.”
“That sounds like the most boring job in the world. I hate numbers. Math is the devil’s way of fucking with us,” Willa says so adamantly that I laugh.
We spend the rest of the night talking about the multiple boyfriends Willa has had and all the places she’s been. It helps me relax, not talking about myself or my past, and soon I’m drifting off to sleep.
I’m running and no matter how fast I go, he’s still on my heels. The sand from the beach is chilly against my feet. The roughness usually bothers me, but the cold has made me numb. I look over my shoulder, the freezing wind whips my hair across my face. It’s dark, but I can see him gaining on me.
He’s so close I can feel his hot breath on my neck. It sends chills down my spine.
“You think you can run from me?”
“Please!” I plead, but it falls on deaf ears.
He grabs my hair and throws me to the sand.
“You’re mine!” he yells in my face while straddling my waist. I try to fight him off, but he grabs my hands and holds them above my head.
“Brad, please!”
“Shut the fuck up! I’m going to kill you and anyone who helped keep you from me, you stupid waste of space!” His blue eyes are manic, and I know he means it. This time he’s going to do what I always knew he would. He’s going to kill me.
I scream. I scream with every last molecule of oxygen I have left in my lungs, hoping that someone will hear me and save me, but knowing in my heart they won’t. No one can save me. I’m all alone. I danced with the devil and now I’m going to pay.
“Belle! Wake up!”
My eyes fly open, and I see Willa leaning over me, her eyes wide with panic as she shakes my shoulders.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Cal asks as he bursts through my door and turns on the light. He’s in blue plaid pajama pants and a black t-shirt with the Shattered Halo logo on it. Which is predictably an image of a golden halo shattered into five pieces. His hair is sticking up allover the place.
I take a minute to calm down and take in my surroundings.
