Page 14 of Run To You
“I had to get through college, Becca. That’s all I could focus on. I just wanted to be out of there, but I couldn’t fail, so I put all my energy into graduating. As soon as I got my diploma I moved back here, because I needed to be at home. I needed to start looking forward.”
“That’s so good to hear, Sloane.”
“I need you, Becca. I have no right to waltz back into your life, but I love you and I’m so sorry you got caught up in my problems.”
Becca snorts. “Girl, you’ll always be my sister, no matter what. I may have you buying me dinner until we’re old to make up for the ghosting, but trust me when I say I’m here for you. Always, Sloane.”
The waterworks kick back in again and we spend more time crying into each other’s shoulders.
Sufficiently cried out, we both take a second to rehydrate. Becca shoves a handful of chips into her mouth.It already feels like old times, and my heart sings a quiet, hopeful song.
“Enough about me for now. What about you?” I ask.
There is still plenty to talk about, and I could spend the entire afternoon filling Becca in on my treatment plan and therapy, but all that can wait. We have time.
I have time.
5
Eden
Jenna drags me upstairs the second lunch is over. We go to her room, which hasn’t changed very much from when she was a surly tween. There are, however, more pop band posters stuck to her walls than before. They hurt my eyes, to be honest. I said I would support her when she proclaimed her love for current music and cheerleading back when she was thirteen, but I’m regretting my promise now. She has terrible taste in music.
“So, this seems a little cloak and dagger.” I laugh as I fling myself onto her double bed. “Are you sure you’re not in trouble?”
“Not in the way you’re implying, no! I haven’t had sex yet, so there’s no way I’m pregnant.”
I’ll admit I feel better for her saying it out loud. I was just a little older than Jenna when I lost my virginity. Granted, barring immaculate conception, I was never at risk of gaining a bun in the oven.
“Alright then, care to spill? There’s another beer downstairs with my name on it.”
Jenna paces her room, which puts me on edge. What in the world could be wrong with her? Is she having second thoughts about college? Shit, is she going to tell me she wants to drop out of school?
“Jenna, seriously, what the fuck is wrong?”
“Sloane’s back!” she blurts, and my world shrinks.
There is a ringing in my ears as I try to process Jenna’s words. Sloane. Is. Back. My Sloane, the woman I’m still so deeply in love with it hurts to simply think her name. She’s back?
“Eden? Talk to me, you look like you’re about to vomit.”
“Back? She’s back?”
Jenna nods. “She came back last week.”
A lump forms in my throat. “Is she okay? Is she feeling better?” God, I hope she is. The last time I saw her stillhaunts me. Sloane looked a shadow of her former self, and it killed me, and I couldn’t do anything to help. I think that’s why I walked away when she asked, because it was the only thing I could give her.
Jenna walks over and sits by my side. “She’s good.”
Scratching the back of my neck, I turn to my sister. “How do you know?”
As far as I’m aware, Jenna got ghosted like the rest of us. Maybe she saw Sloane’s mum in the supermarket or something. It’s something I’ve worried about every time I’ve ventured out of my apartment. The Bishops are still a big deal around here, and I figured at some point I’d run into Sloane’s parents.
I watch Jenna take a steadying breath. “Okay, you might be angry at me once I tell you, but please remember I love you.”
“Jenna? What’s going on?”
“I’ve been in contact with Sloane for the past two years. I even visited her at Christmas.”
