Page 16 of From You to Me

All these torrential waves of emotions were too much for my weak heart. I wanted to burst out and tell him everything, not for the lack of trying on my part, though.

Because I did, and each time, the words were swallowed down my throat. Considering he barely tolerated my presence, the thought of admitting it all to him terrified me. He wouldn’t spare me a glance, and when he did, it was cold and ignorant, sending hurtful spikes down my heart every single time. So how was I supposed to tell him that our story had deviated because it was all orchestrated by an evil bitch?

A chill went down my spine every time I thought of her. I wondered what happened between her and Jay.

Actually, there were a lot of questions brewing inside my mind. Like why had the band moved to NYC? What happenedin LA? The media has been pretty tight-lipped. No word of the band other than them continuing their tour in a few weeks was mentioned.

Hmm, maybe I could ask Mikey. I was glad at least one person was on my side because my curious brain wanted answers.

“Emmie, guys! Why is no one picking up my calls?” a melodic voice called out, jolting me from my thoughts. A voice that I would recognize anywhere.

My heart stilled once again for the second time in less than an hour. I guess today was visiting day for everyone. My breathing quickened as the footsteps drew closer and closer.

“Emmie.” Lily stopped short, stunned. Her face grew pale, and her indigo-violet eyes widened as she took me in.

My heart tugged a little at seeing her again, a girl who once saw me as a sister. But to me, she always would be.

I’d seen the band grow throughout the years in media, but seeing Lily along with them was a rare sight. There have only been a couple of pictures of her, all of them blurry and papped. It’s been six years since I’d actually seen her, and wow, those years had only made her more beautiful.

Her shoulder-length hair, the exact shade of her brother's, was tucked behind her ears, her skin looked flawless against the rosy shade of her lips, and she was wearing black as always, a black summer dress and chunky black boots adorned her feet made her taller than her usual five foot three.

“Evy,” she whispered, shaking out of her stupor.

My eyes watered as I gave her a warm smile. I didn’t know how she was going to react, but I was so glad to see her. “Lily, how are you?” I asked softly.

She took a step toward me, dazed, and before I knew it, she crashed in on me and buried her face in my neck. I couldn’t help the sob that escaped me as I clutched her tighter. I couldn’t believe Mikey and her still saw me as a friend after all the havocI had wreaked on them. But those two were peas in a pod even though they were too blind to see it.

“Evy, what are you doing here?” Lily pushed back from our hug, peering at me with those wide violet eyes filled with unshed tears.

“I work here.” I shrugged. “But tell me, how have you been? It’s so good to see you again.”

“You work here?” Lily’s brow furrowed in confusion, but soon, her lips curved into a smile. “I’m good, more than good actually. I just moved here too, and I’ll be starting a new job soon.”

She circled her fingers around my wrist and dragged me to the couch. “But enough about me, tell me everything about you. I’ve missed you so much, Evy.” She hugged me once again, beaming as she peered at me.

The lump in my throat burned, and I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Aren’t you mad at me?”

Her gaze softened. “I heard what they said about you. And you destroyed Emmie, Evy. He was a shell of a man after you left him. It took years to bring my brother back to what he is today.”

The burn only increased as I thought about all of the damage that I’d caused to Jay. He had every right to be mad at me.

Her soft hand grasped mine. “But I also saw the way you looked at my brother. Even when you guys were fighting, you looked at him as if he was your whole world. And I was there when he left to tour with the Crash Riders, and I saw how distraught you were the whole time. It was like you couldn’t even live without him. I don’t know; something in me refused to believe that you cheated on him.”

The burn expanded to my chest as a single tear flowed out of my eye. “I didn’t cheat on him.”

Lily exhaled as she nodded. “I thought so, then why Evy?”

“It was because of…” A sudden loud buzz echoed through my ears.What?“Because of…”White, I wanted to say, but the burnovertook my entire body. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t speak it out loud. What was happening?

A hand gripped my shoulder, shaking me out of my daze. But the buzz wouldn’t stop. I blinked as the edges of my vision turned dark, flickering as I gazed at her. But I saw two of her. I blinked again, focusing my gaze elsewhere, but everything appeared in two. The floor-length windows, the skyscrapers, the kitchen—everything was doubled.What was happening to me?

Somewhere in the background, I could hear Lily calling out to me. “Evy, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”

But it was all too much, I didn’t think as I shot up to my feet and rushed to the terrace. My hands squeezed the frozen railings as I gasped for air.

“Evy!” Lily rushed to my side.

The cold fall air finally swept its way into my body, the burn fading away. I blinked as my vision started to clear once again, the buzz in my ear slowly disappearing.What just happened?

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