Page 157 of Collided

I enter the library being a mess.

Luckily no one is around.

I shuffle to my corner in the back. I hide behind a book rack and bring my knees to my chest.

Marie’s call lights up my phone screen but I ignore it.

32

Heath

September 25th is the last day I want to spend in the living. The day consists of twenty-four hours, but it might as well be a thousand hours with how many memories it carries with it.

I hate how this day holds so much power over me.

My mind feels like it’s trapped in a labyrinth of memories from the past. I escape one and enter another. Every passage has ten more. I can’t look at something without thinking about my sister.

This town reminds me of her. Part of me desperately wants to abandon this place. Never return here. But the other part knows I’ll hate being away from my sister, or whatever is left of her now.

Sitting on the hill, I look down at the town that shimmers with lights.

It’s beautiful.I’ve lost my goddamn mind. I’ve smoked more than four cigarettes. I’m not sure just how many.

I’m out of my senses tonight. Too much calm. Too many chemicals in my veins.

I used to do weed but Sebastian got me to lay off of it. Now it’s just nicotine for me which works like shit but at least it’s something. A year ago, I also consumed alcohol, too much of it, until I saw Sebastian go to rehab for it. I stopped after that, deciding that rehab was the last place I wanted to be.

My phone rings for the tenth time. With a groan, I pick it up.

“Where the fuck are you?!” Sebastian roars.

“What do you need?”

“The list is long, but I’ll start withget your ass home right fucking now.”

Fuck. He’s raging.

“I’ll be there,” I murmur.

“Don’t make me wait or I swear I’ll—”

I hang up.

I start driving to my house. My hands tighten around the steering wheel in tension as I speed through the roads. For once, not even the rumble of the engine or the speed affects my mood.

When I reach home, I see Marie’s car in the driveway, and I already know they’re waiting for me inside.

Fuck.

I walk into the living room and find Marie and Sebastian cuddled up on the couch with a cake on the table.

Marie quickly sits up and looks behind me. “Uh, where’s Hope?”

My stomach rolls in uneasiness. “Why would she be with me?”

Marie arches an eyebrow. “She had plans for you.”

Right. Of course. Her boring plans.

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