Chapter Seven
Iwake up, feeling bleary-eyed and stiff, and sit up from where I lie curled on the rug. I blink through grainy eyes and take in the destruction from the night before. The stiffness in my body is a stark reminder of last night, of just how much I’ve lost in the past month.
Once I showered, trying to scrub away the feel of them on me, denying how much I enjoyed their touch, I managed to get everything in one pile and even salvaged a few records. My band tees were completely unscathed, though I have no idea how. I found the duffel under my bed, so either someone knocked them under there by accident, or I shoved them under there and forgot about it. Everything else is gone.
I literally have nothing but the clothes on my back.
They destroyed everything else.
I cannot wait to get the fuck out of here. I’m tempted to set fire to the fucking pool house with everything in it on my way out, so I don’t have to see what they did to me anymore.
I stretch out my stiff limbs and climb to my feet before packing the few things that I salvaged in my duffel with my band tees. It doesn’t take long, and as soon as I’m finished, my phone buzzes away in my pocket.
Indi: Morning! I’m on my way. I’m bringing coffee, because shit.
Me: I’ll wait for you out front
Indi: Sure thing. I’m going to get you a floofy coffee, prepare yourself.
I can’t help but smile at her and her floofy coffee. At least something can still make me smile. Maybe I’m not beyond help after all. Something inside of me definitely broke all the way last night, though, and there’s no coming back. I am so done with these Echoes Cove assholes. But I decide to keep what happened with the guys to myself. Indi doesn’t need to know my shame. Telling her that I didn’t hate it, even admitting it to myself… I just can’t.
I’m keeping my head down and getting the fuck out of here the second I can. It’s not hard to see why both of my parents left this hellhole the second they got the chance. My phone buzzes just as I reach the gate at the side of the house.
Indi: Here!
Me: 2 secs
I don’t even bother going through the house. If I see Blair, I might smash her face in, and while she deserves the beating, my aunt and uncle would definitely press charges. No question. That’s just not something I want to deal with on top of everything else right now.
I jump into her Wrangler, throwing my one lonely duffel bag in the back. She looks at me, and I can tell the questions are on the tip of her tongue, so I shake my head and ask, “Coffee?”
“I got you the Java Chip Frappuccino. Not too floofy, considering you usually like a Mocha, but it is life.”
I laugh at her, shaking my head before buckling myself in. She peels out of the drive, whipping through the neighborhood. We drive in silence for a few minutes, but I can tell her curiosity is eating her up from the inside. She taps her fingers against the steering wheel and glances at me every few seconds. I sigh with a roll of my eyes but incline my head in her direction. I’ll have to tell her eventually, about some of it anyway.
Her silent questions are damn near suffocating. I take one long, deep breath before answering, “Blair and her bitch squad destroyed most of my shit, so that bag is all I have left.” The car swerves as she jerks her head in my direction, jaw slack.
She focuses back on the road quickly and straightens out, but her knuckles are white on the steering wheel. “Those fucking cunts,” she all but growls, and I can feel my eyebrow inching upward on its own accord. “Sorry, bitch just isn’t cutting it. Who the fuck even are they? Entitled little twats.”
“What the fuck is a twat?” I laugh.
“Girl, you and I need to watch Green Street. Charlie Hunnam, with a British accent, calling people a twat is a whole experience,” she gushes, and I can’t help but laugh at her. “A twat is basically a British insult that covers most things, and just sounds good. But at least now you’re smiling.”
I finish telling her about my evening and then realize I’m being a terrible friend. I shove down all of my misery and vow to be at least a little happy—I’m still getting out of my aunt and uncle’s house after all. I refuse to bring her down just because my shit is all kinds of fucked up at the moment. “Wait, screw my shitstorm of a night! How did your night go with Jackson?”
She grins, and I swear I can spot a sparkle in her eyes. Damn. Must’ve been good. “It was fun, nothing really happened, but it was fun to hang out. Him and Raleigh made sure I got home safe, and he was a perfect gentleman the entire time.”
“Uh-huh, if you say so.” I grin, and she sticks her tongue out at me before pulling into the Jaguar dealership. “So, we start here?”
I take a look at the cars on the lot and shake my head. “No way, this place just screams evil villain. I want something a little more me.” I pull up one of the car ads I found online and show it to her. “I’m thinking something more like this.”
She grins at me and nods, putting the car back in drive. “I know exactly where to go.”
She pulls out of the lot and jumps on the highway. We sing and dance around like idiots to “You Me at Six”, and I feel a little more like myself. This girl is literally the embodiment of sunshine and joy. I swear to God if anyone tries to take that from her, I’ll flay them alive.
She pulls off the highway, and it’s not long before she pulls to a stop in front of a showroom full of vintage cars.
Now this is what I’m talking about.