Page 76 of Curvy Nerdy Omega

I should just call it what it was.

This was still me trying to procrastinate.

Anything Liam would have considered valuable wouldn’t be in this trunk or my closet. My vanity didn’t have much he might want either unless he’d found one of my sketchbooks.

I didn’t bother putting anything back and went straight to my vanity, yanking open the drawers from top to bottom. Everything in my jewelry box was still there and so were all my sketchbooks.

Even my drawer full of hard drives was untouched.

Nothing from my vanity was missing.

I turned to my dresser and felt my heart rate start to pick up. Not that I really had anything in there a normal person would consider worth taking, but Liam wasn’t even the slightest bit normal.

Opening the top drawer first, I did my best to see if there was any missing underwear, but I didn’t pay close enough attention to them to really notice if one suddenly disappeared.

The only thing that told me he hadn’t rummaged through here was that the smell of oranges wasn’t clinging to the fabric. Not even a hint of them wafted up to tickle my nose. All I could smell was my laundry detergent.

The top four dresser drawers were left untouched. My pajamas, underwear, bras, and pants were all exactly the way they’d been when I’d put them away.

Which only left the bottom two drawers and my closet.

Kneeling on the fluffy black rug, I wiped my hands on my sweats and tried not to freak the fuck out about how clammy they already were.

My heart started pounding hard and fast, thumping against my chest like a wild animal as I reached for the bottom left drawer, hoping he’d taken something stupid like an enamel pin or a sticker.

I stared down at the various jewelry trays I’d used to store all my different treasures over the years. They were still stacked the way I had originally set them up, but instead of jewelry nestled in that purple velvet, there were rocks and leaves, dried flowers, enamel pins, little ribbons from various marathons I’d done with Frankie, and pictures.

Lifting the top layer, I studied each square and the small stickers to indicate the year and the memory.

My graduation tassel was tucked in one square along with a picture of Frankie standing with me, wearing my graduation gown with the Valedictorian stole. Inside that square was the small box with the necklace Francisco had sent me as a graduation present.

I opened the box and found the antique diamond necklace still in there, looking as perfect as it had the day he’d sent it to me. I’ve never worn it, but maybe it was finally time.

Setting that on top of my dresser, I wiped my sweaty hands off again and pulled out the next layer of trays to see the ones on the bottom.

Aluminum can tabs from when Frankie and I were in high school when I’d had a Dr. Spice addiction and drank one every single day, along with a picture of us during the one year we’d attended the same school.

When she went off to college by herself, I’d decided to graduate early and follow after her like I always did.

Before that, we were homeschooled. Francisco had wanted us to have privacy while everything died down after my father was sent to prison. I didn’t have much from that time other than the silly notes Frankie had written me.

Shells filled most of the other squares. I’d gathered them at every beach we went to and then tied them all together with string. That was only the first tray though.

The rest of them were from before my father had been arrested for murder.

My hands shook as I reached for the one with my mother’s jewelry.

The gold wedding band was smaller than I remembered.

I pushed that to the side and studied the tiny gold, hoop earrings he’d given her for one of their anniversaries. My mother hadn’t liked to wear jewelry, but the few pieces she did wear were ones my father gave her.

My father was the one who liked jewelry. He had so many sparkly pieces that they took up almost two full trays. Underneath the glittering diamonds and gold was my original birth certificate.

None of his jewelry looked like it had been disturbed, but I pushed it aside anyway to make sure my birth certificate was still there.

Did Liam see it?

And so what if he had? The jerk was still following me around, wasn’t he?

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