Page 92 of King

My life is a mess and that's all it ever will be.

Damien King said he'd ruin me, and I'm destroyed.

Twenty-Six

It’s dark.

The smell of burning wood is overwhelming and I can hear the crackles of the flames.

I’m trying to get to them but I can’t.

I scream and nothing comes out.

The flames burst through and I can’t breathe. I’m choking, gasping for air but my chest is closing in.

“Jo?” A voice comes out of the fire. One that seems as dangerous as the heat. “Jo is that you?”

A hand on my shoulder shakes me awake. When I lift my head, I’m back in the Glendale Library. Shaking my curls, my fingers come to my eyes, giving them a rub. The library’s emptier, tea cold in front of me.

“Well, damn! It is you!”

I look up to see a girl gazing down at me with wide brown eyes, straight black hair to her waist. She looks familiar but something’s off. I ask anyway, “Shauna?”

“Hey, bestie!” She wraps her arms around me and I hesitate to return the hug. I’m still in a daze from my dream. Still in a haze from what’s been happening. “Didn’t know you were back in town.”

I’m not sure if I should be happy to see her. Shauna and I grew up together. We were in the same foster home for six months and kept in touch after. That said, I wouldn’t exactly consider her a friend. Not the bestie she claims either.

Frenemies is more accurate. I'm used to Shauna always trying to outshine me. She went after the same people I did and always wanted to one-up whatever I was doing.

The Shauna looking at me now doesn’t look like what I'm used to. Her makeup isn't smeared on her face, no alcohol coming from her breath. I can even see a designer label on her furry jacket.

“How have you been?” I ask. Getting my bearings I pull my jacket around me.

“Me?” Shauna leans her butt on the end of the table. “I hear you’ve been kicking it with the uppity bitches in Eden.”

“Yeah well…” I sit up, sipping the cold tea because I’m parched. “Turns out that wasn’t for me.”

“Are you out? Of foster care I mean?”

“Mhm." I cut my answer off with another sip before asking, "Are you?"

She nods, wiggling a set of keys. “I'm an independent girl now. For the most part.” Shauna winks. “Not like when you and I used to be on the prowl.”

Rising off the desk, she does a twirl. Her beige pants fit her curvy body like a glove, pointy white shoes on her feet. It's a long way from a cut off t-shirt and baggy jeans.

“You look pretty damn good.” I smile, happy that she’s acknowledged our past.

“Thanks, Jo,” she says. “Where are you staying? We should hang out.”

I hesitate, not having an answer for her.

Okay, so I didn't think this through. The plan was to get back to The Grove and I did that. But now that I’m here…“Oh you know,” I respond. “Around.”

Shauna raises a skinny eyebrow. “You don’t have a place to stay do you?”

I laugh, surprised at how easy she can still read me. “No. No, I don’t.”

She lets out a hand. “Well, I have a sofa with your name on it if you’re down. Or we can slumber party in my bed like old times.”

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