After one more kiss, he grabs his coat and slips it on and goes to shove his feet into his boots. With one more smirk, he raises the pick to his lips and gives it a kiss and is out my window a second later.
I flop back onto my bed, a sigh leaving my chest with my arms extended at my sides. My pillows and comforter billow around me like cotton candy before settling against my body. They smell like him.
Roman Hall is my boyfriend.
I'm on the cliff.
It's particularly dark today. Raging storm clouds swirl up above, like a tornado getting ready to pick me up and swallow me whole. The soft sand swirls around my ankles like bracelets, tickling at my skin and making me want to reach down and scratch the itch away.
The sand starts to pull me, and I step backward, away from the edge. The water crashes angrily against the side of the cliff, the noise loud as if I were inches away from the waves. The wind picks up, and I fall to my butt, the jagged rock beneath me scraping the back of my thighs.
That's when I look down and realize I'm in my leotard. My ballet slippers still on my feet.
What? How?
I get back up, running away from the edge, when a huge gust of wind picks me up and blows me right over.
I shoot up in bed, sweat running down my temples in terror as my dream comes back to haunt me, once again.
I told my mom about it, this recurring dream, years ago. She brought me to a psychologist, but they thought nothing of it. Blamed it on the move. But that was years ago, and I haven't seen them since.
It has to mean something, though, right?
I breathe deeply, feeling a weight between my collarbones. I lift my hand to my necklace, clutching it in my palm as I lie back down. Snuggling beneath my comforter, I close my eyes as tears flood my pillow.
This nightmare has tormented me for years, and it feels like at this point, it will never go away.
Maybe someday, though, I hope. When Roman takes me to where the mountains meet the sea.
CHAPTER NINE
ROMAN
"Have fun tonight. Don't do anything stupid. No drinking. No sex." My dad says with his arm around my mom as they head out the door.
Tonight is New Year’s Eve.
"We won't, Mr. Hall," Flynn says next to me, his hand coming up to slap my back. I shove his hand away, shaking my head in the same manner that my dad shakes his head at me before he shuts the door.
"You're an idiot." I shove him once my dad is gone. If they decided to stay here tonight, that would essentially ruin the damn night. It's just me and the guys tonight, and Nora invited Luna, even though everyone knows we're dating at this point. It only took a day.
One damn day.
From the looks on our faces when Luna's mom walked in, she instantly knew. She told my parents, who questioned me about it. Nora heard, and then blurted it to my friends.
Now everyone knows.
It doesn't matter. Not really, anyway.
Luna is my world. She's my entire life and signifying her as my girlfriend was inevitable. I need her in my life just as much as I need air. My heart doesn't beat for me. It beats for her. It beats with her. Nothing else matters.
And tonight, I finally get some alone time with her.
We're going to watch the ball drop. Nothing serious. Lonnie brought some beer, but I'm not letting Nora or Luna drink. Luna hates the smell of beer anyway, so I won't be drinking either.
When I hear giggling downstairs, I know Nora and Luna just arrived from Luna's house.
Flynn looks at me as he cracks open a beer. "Let's get this party started."