Page 16 of Firefly
The room feels too quiet suddenly. Like the walls are watching me unravel. It’s bad enough I barely sleep at night. Every creak of the house makes me sit upright. Every shadow outside my window sends my pulse skyrocketing. Half of me is terrified. The other half… the other half wants it to be him so badly, but as I climb into my bed and close my eyes, I can’t help wishing that he would climb through that window and hold me while I cry from all the memories that haunt me each and every night.
By morning, exhaustion drags beneath my skin like wet cement, but I take the note and tuck it inside my nightstand before heading to my first day of senior year.
Brimstone High school looks exactly the same as always.
A massive brick building covered in ivy with wealth dripping from every polished hallway. Students laugh around me while pretending their lives aren’t built on corruption and blood money.
I feel disconnected from all of it. Like a ghost walking through someone else’s life. This isn’t me. This is not who I want to be.
I lost myself three years ago and still haven’t found my way… at least not within these walls.
At night, when I’m with B and the crew, that’s when I feel normal… or as normal as one can get.
I turn the dial on my locker and take a deep breath as Brayden comes to my side, kissing my cheek, making me roll my eyes.
“Baby,” he says as my skin crawls.
He leans against the locker beside me looking perfectly manicured. Blond hair styled flawlessly. Expensive watch gleaming beneath fluorescent lights. That arrogant smile permanently glued to his face.
I just want to vomit.
Everyone thinks Brayden Augustine is charming.
Nobody sees the ugliness underneath.
He grips my waist possessively and kisses my cheek again, making me stiffen. “You ignored my texts,” he states.
“I was sleeping,” I say, and his grip tightens.
“Liar,” he accuses. “You’re always in one of your moods,” he adds, and I force a fake smile, because that’s what I’ve trained myself to do.
Smile. Nod. Survive.
Then my world stops.
At the far end of the hallway, near the stairwell… a boy stands there wearing all black.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Long dirty blond hair but the eyes…
My breath catches.
Hayden.
The books slip from my hands and slam against the floor. Students glance over in annoyance but I can’t move. Can’t breathe.
It’s him. It has to be him.
He’s staring right at me.
My heart pounds so hard it hurts. “Hayden…” I whisper.
“What?” Brayden frowns, and I shove away from him and start moving through the crowded hallway.
“Effie?” Brayden calls after me, but I ignore him completely.
The closer I get, the more my chest tightens.
Tears blur my vision, but then someone walks between us and… he’s gone.
