Page 89 of The Other Side

“No, I think you should keep it,” he snarls, fury fueling his tone.

I wag my head, the air in my lungs disintegrating. “I don’t wa⁠—”

“This is really fucked up, you know that?” His brows dip, his murky gaze skating back and forth between my eyes with contempt. “Keep everything so you can realize what a huge fucking mistake this is. You’re really stupid, Callie.” His lips twitch into a spiteful smirk. “I know you’ll come back. You don’t have any friends willing to entertain you for that long.”

“Please. I just need to leave,” I breathe. “I can’t be with you after everything that’s happened.”

He stealthily raises himself off the door, straightening as he says, “I guess my instinct was right. You really are just a cold-hearted bitch, huh?”

He inhales as his tongue pokes out to wet his lips. Then he’s stabbing a long finger at me. “If you keep acting like a little bitch and disrespecting me, you’re not gonna hang around your little friend anymore.”

“You little bitch, get up!” Daddy hollers from his standing position.

My vision grows hazy as I keep my head turned from him. My whole face stings, bitten with the largest wounds Daddy’s ever painted me with.

My eyes snap shut as the heels of my palms lay on top of them. “No,” I mutter, barely audible. “No.” Nausea swirls in my stomach, elevating to my chest when I hear Jesse’s snicker.

“Yeah, this isn’t over,” he warns. “Good luck groveling when you crawl your way back to me.”

I’m wagging my head, mentally shooing him away until he strolls off. His Oxfords drift into the distance, and my breathing evens in sync.

I drop my hands, turning to open the driver’s-side door. My body stumbles inside from the frenzy, my free fingers swiping a lone tear from my cheek.

Daddy’s and Jesse’s words bang against my ears. They pound on them until pieces of my heart fall onto the floor of the car.

Their voices intertwine. I can’t decipher who is who in my mind.

I push the engine on, quickly shifting the Rover in reverse. My arms and hands tremble above the steering wheel, but I manage to maneuver the vehicle onto the street.

I press my foot further into the pedal, swiping another salty droplet as the car gains speed.

And I race away.

Not from Jesse, but from myself.

The woman who failed that little girl by agreeing to marry someone just like Daddy.

Just like Daddy.

“Uggghhh!”

I grunt out the hysteria, my palms slamming the steering wheel with brute force. My eyes gloss over in fright, but they stare down the dusky streets.

It turns out, the only person I’m scared of is me. And the person I’ve become.

I set out to escape Willowhart but somehow managed to replicate a life just like it here.

Somewhere through the clouds, I lost my path.

Because I was never meant to fly alone.

* * *

After cleaning my tears and face, I knock on Brant’s front door.

My head dips to the wood planks before it pops toward the frosted glass of the porch light. I linger on the golden yellow hue for a breath. Attempting to stabilize my breathing, my palms lay on my stomach.

The hinges of the door sing, and I jerk my head to land on Brant’s eyes. His hazel stare sparkles against the entryway light, and my nerves instantly untangle.