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I watch while he gets in. I watch their car pull away from the curb and head toward the nearest airport. I keep my eyes on the distance, until I can no longer picture what the road looks like in front of them. I have to remind myself over and over, he’s worth the wait. Even if my heart breaks, he is worth it.
One month….
TMZ reports The Kid was out today in New York City. Is there big news for his next album on the way?
My heart jumps then freezes in my chest when I see the headline on the news. I turn the volume up, despite my mom’s preference for silence in the living room, just in time to see his image flash on the screen. He’s wearing his signature black hoodie and jeans. There’s a mischievous smirk on his lips, while he fields questions from the paparazzi. Tears form in my eyes when I see how relaxed he looks getting into a car and driving away. I pick up my phone and then it hits me…we haven’t talked since he left.
The tears I was holding fall silently down my cheeks and I set my phone back down. I could reach out, but I refuse to do more, when he hasn’t answered my previous messages. I want to believe him, and maybe he just can’t use his phone. I thought maybe he was hurting, broken, sad, just like me. He was smiling though. And he still hasn’t called me.
“Jade?” My mom leans down and turns the TV off. “Honey, food is ready.”
I follow her into the kitchen and we sit down to eat. I wipe the tears from my eyes, but she doesn’t notice. She’s spaced out, eating, watching the clock tick down until she can be back in her room. My phone vibrates and I see a text from Harper pop up. I ignore it. Loneliness fills my chest and everything feels cold.
Two months...
“I’m worried about you,” Harper says silently next to me at lunch. I can’t meet her eyes, because I feel weak. I loved a boy and he lied. It’s been two months since Onyx left and every message has gone unanswered. I tried calling and it went to voicemail or his phone was off. I promised myself I would be okay, but there is an emptiness in my soul now.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her, trying to lift my lips in a smile, while pushing my salad around my plate.
“He could still call.” She squeezes my arm. “Maybe his phone was taken or he’s being watched.”
Maybe. Or maybe he finally realized the world is a lot bigger than this town. Maybe he was just wasting time here, with me.
“Hey, check it out.” Gage holds up his phone, and our eyes connect. When he sees the emptiness in mine, his smile falters. “Uh, ah, Onyx signed.”
Vocal Artist Syndicate announced today that they have officially signed Onyx The Kid Kiddrick. Kid has been making waves in the music industry in the past few years as an independent artist. Born and raised in New York, he stated, “I’m happy to be at home where I can create music and do what I love.”
The ache in my chest is unbearable. My cheeks flame red and I can feel Corey’s eyes on me. I want to sink into the floor and disappear. I need to get out of here. I need to dance until I feel numb. I want to be numb and forget the way Onyx Kiddrick has ruined my heart completely.
Three months…
“What do you mean he’s back?”
“Girl, you didn’t hear?” Harper glances at me around my locker door. “Someone saw him at Patti Tango’s.”
I slam the locker door shut and hitch my backpack up on my shoulder. I haven’t skipped in months, but today is a good day for it. I haven’t seen Onyx since he left three months ago. He never called and I stopped trying before I looked like a pathetic stalker. His whole class is set to graduate soon and he hasn’t been back.
Fire burns in my veins. He promised. He hasn’t texted at all, without any indication of why. I know the term ‘being ghosted,’ but this feels so much more than that. I won’t beg him to stay with me, but I would at least like him to acknowledge if we’re over. I’ve been steeling my heart since I last saw him. I’m desperately hoping there is something I’m missing. That he didn’t leave me without a word. That everything we felt was real. How much I loved him wasn’t a game to him.
I race to my car and drive as fast as I can to Patti’s. It's the middle of the day, and only her early birds should be using the studios. If he’s anywhere in the building, I know it will be in the recording studio.
“Hi Carlene,” I call to the receptionist and ignore the confused look she gives me, knowing I should be in school.
I take the stairs two at a time to the basement. No sound is coming from the area but a light is on. My heart hammers against my rib cage. I lift my hand to push the door open then freeze before knocking instead. Right now, I don’t know if I have the right to walk in like I used to. I hear a chair scrape on the floor and footsteps. My pulse flutters. The door opens and my smile instantly drops.
He looks cold. Calculated. Angry. Onyx is no longer the man who left here a few months ago. This guy is a stranger.
ChapterSixteen
Onyx
She looks broken. This version of Jade is not the girl I walked away from that night. I hardly recognize her, except her eyes light up when she first sees me. That light slowly fades the longer we stand and stare at each other and she slowly starts to realize I’m not here for her. I actually want to kill whoever it was that leaked that they saw me. I never wanted to see Jade on this trip back. My flight came in late and I managed to sneak under the radar. I’m leaving again, but I needed to square up with Patti. My old debt to her and the use of the studio needed to be wiped clean.
Jade takes in a shuddering breath. That noise is a chip in the armor I’ve built around myself. “Are you back?” Her voice cracks. My muscles physically ache to hold her.
“I forgot a few things. I’m leaving again in a couple hours.” I manage to keep my voice bland, icy. The type I use with paparazzi and lately with my family.
The color drains from her face, her lips form a tight line. “Not even a goodbye this time?”
