Page 27 of Wicked Dreams

The past week, I’d done nothing but sleep, yet I was so tired, I couldn’t even dream. I missed him. I missed his soft lips on mine. I missed staring into his deep, midnight-colored eyes, and I missed his heat, always hot to the point of melting me when we touched.

I gathered my things from my desk and trudged down the stairs, toward the kitchen — intending on grabbing a quick breakfast and getting to school.

Mom was behind the counter, mixing up her famous fruit smoothie. “Good morning, hon. How are you feeling today?” she asked when her eyes locked on mine. She was dressed in her navy-blue nurse scrubs, and even though she’d worked until midnight, she still looked beautiful with her makeup perfect and her red hair pulled into a high ponytail with curls cascading down her back.

I shrugged as I dropped my bag onto the floor and moved about to make myself a piece of toast. “Wonderful as usual, Mom.”

The grind of the blender filled the kitchen, drowning out all other noise as I toasted the bread and snagged the jelly.

Once I put everything away, I leaned against the counter, nibbling, as Mom poured the smoothie into a glass and handed it over.

“I have a surprise for you!” she gushed with a wide smile and sparkling eyes.

Ihatedsurprises — usually because it was more of a shock than a surprise. “What?” I asked, my voice revealing how excited I wasn’t.

“Your birthday is next week!” she squealed.

A grin tugged at my lips. “That’s not much of a surprise.”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “That’s not the surprise, silly girl. I’m planning you a party! I’ve already rented out the dance hall!”

I groaned. “Whywould you do that? You know I hate surprises.”

“It’s your eighteenth birthday, Olivia. We have to celebrate!”

“No, we don’t. Please, just cancel it.” I threw away what was left of my toast, no longer interested in food.

“I can’t cancel. Besides, I’ve already invited your friends.”

I nearly choked on the last bite I was chewing. “What friends?” Honestly, the only friend I had was Anita. But she’d said friends:plural.

She stiffened as she turned to clean up her mess. Deftly, she grabbed the basket of strawberries and turned to put them away. While she was bent over with her head in the fridge, she said, “I may have logged into your old Facebook account and invited everyone on your friends list.” The words rushed out of her mouth faster than I could process.

My mouth dropped open. “What?” I rushed around the island to stand in front of her. “How could you do that, Mom? Those people arenotmy friends.”

It was stupid of me to even open the account. Everyone in school was on Facebook. And I wanted to see what it was all about. I was surprised when I started getting friend requests. Little did I know, they were all sent as just another way to bully me. When I figured it out, I logged out and never got back on. I was sure she probably read the endless string of messages that called me names or told me I was a waste of space and I should just kill myself.

“Olivia,” she stated my name flatly. “You’re my only child, and in a few short months, you’re going to be leaving for college.Please, let me throw you this party.”

Guilt ate at me, and my shoulders fell as I gave in to her wishes. “Fine.”

She smiled widely. “Thank you. It’ll be fun, you’ll see.” She beamed.

“I bet it will,” I mumbled as I turned to leave.

I drove myself to school in a daze. A mix of thoughts regarding the party and Donovan swirled.Having Donovan there might ease the sting of betrayal I was sure my tormentors were already planning.Why couldn’t he be real?

When I pulled into my usual parking space in the school parking lot, I saw Wes step out of his black, souped-up Mustang. His hands slid into his pockets, and his eyes locked on me.

I shut off my car and took a deep breath before stepping out and tugging my bag onto my shoulder.

“I’ve been talking to everyone over the past week,” he said, stepping up to me.

I rolled my eyes and pushed myself forward, refusing to let him slow me down. “And?”

He jogged up to my side. “And… they’ve all agreed to cut down on the shit they’ve been giving you.”

My brows skyrocketed as I came to an abrupt stop. “Did you have to sacrifice a virgin or something?” I half joked. I thought it’d take a miracle to get them off my back.

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