Page 28 of Back to Willow

After the almost heart attack we had when the condom broke once before, Ihadto go to the convenience store for a new pack—it was that important. However, since it was close, I made the mistake of walking instead of using the scooter. What was supposed to be a ten-minute walking errand, though, turned into an hour, and I was beyond livid.

The store was closed due to some technicality I didn’t bother to check. At that moment, all I was thinking was getting it done quickly to go back in time to meet her. So, I rushed to the second closest one—a twenty-minute walk.

The fact I hadn’t had a text or a call from her yet kept my mind at ease.

Maybe she’s late, I had thought.

After a long line filled with restless sighs just to pay for a goddamn pack of new condoms, I rushed back, hoping to find her by the front door, waiting for me. Except, she wasn’t.

What I found instead had my heart stomping aggressively inside my chest. The front door was ajar when I knew for a fact I had closed it before I left. Willow never had a key, so I knew it wasn’t her right away.

The lock wasn’t forced which meant whoever had entered either had a key or knew how to get inside without forcing it. For a split second, my mind thought of Mason, but I shook it off. There was no way my brother would have left the front door open.

Especially if he was inside.

Placing the bag down, I silently walked a few steps ahead to try and peak in.My throat closed up as I pushed the door open. My eyes swept around the inside of the open space before me, and the sight of it made my gut churn. Some of my mom’s precious porcelain vases weren’t there, and the living room was turned upside down.

It was silent inside, and my main thought was if whoever was here heard me, I could be in real trouble. When I made it to my dad’s office without making a single sound, I almost sighed in relief—if it weren’t for the mess inside.

Even his safe, which was usually hidden behind a fake book shelf, was wide open and empty. That gave the perpetrator away. The only people who knew about it were my parents, myself, and my brother.

Dread flooded my veins as I rushed to my brother’s bedroom, hoping to still find him there.No luck. His bedroom had his drawers and closet opened, with the few pieces of clothing left hanging from the wooden furniture.

Quickly, I sent Willow a text, telling her not to come because something had happened. I had to deal with the consequences of my brother’s actions, after all. Calling my parents and the police was a priority, and by the time everything was wrapped up, it was well after midnight.

Willow’s absence and lack of response were a small afterthought in the back of my brain due to exhaustion. I knew that come morning, I’d make it up to her. Grovelling in the morning and taking her to her favourite bakery in the afternoon would just be the first step.

I waited outside of school for a full hour in the morning, and her brother, Jake, never stopped at the usual spot to drop her off. Even after texting, she never answered. Calling was useless, too, as they went straight to voicemail. In the end, I gave up and went to class, arriving late. That whole day was torture.

Time had never gone by so slowly, and I had never realised how boring and annoying school was without her by my side. Some of my other friends made fun of me, saying I looked like a miserable lost puppy. And maybe I did because I was fucking worried. It wasn’t like Willow to cut contact entirely. We were that disgusting kind of couple that talked all day long, even that one time she had the flu.

It was stressing me out. I couldn’t focus on anything, my brain kept drifting away and there was this voice living rent-free inside my head, shouting at me to just get up and go check on her. And every time it happened, this gnawing feeling in my chest, this prickling sensation on my skin overwhelmed me.

Something was definitelywrong.

The afternoon classes were even worse. So right after school, I almost flew to Willow’s house. The usual ten-minute drive only took five, and there was definitely some tire screeching as the scooter abruptly came to a halt close to her house.

Such was the eagerness, the rush, I didn’t even turn it off before I ran up to her front door, knocking on it continuously. I probably looked like a madman to some. But I didn’t fucking care.

It felt like forever until the lock finally clicked, and the door opened. I was ready to dash inside and look for her, but Jake appeared instantly, forming a barrier between me and the house.

“Where’s Willow? Can you call her?”

“No,” he’d answered. “She’s sick.”

Sick?She seemed just fine yesterday. The days were getting longer and temperatures were slowly rising. It was spring. The flu season was pretty much gone, and she had no allergies.

“Alright, I’ll go check up on her.”

“No,” he repeated. Though the edge in his voice finally made me look up.

The Hanlons are fair-skinned, almost porcelain-like, but Jake, from spending too much time outside and on the beach, is the most tanned of them all. Yet, that day his skin looked like a vampire’s. He was weirdly pale, and there were dark and deep circles around his eyes. If that wasn’t enough, the scleras were reddened like he’d been crying, and his hair was tousled and oily, as if he had been running his hand through it far too much.

Jake looked like shit, and for a guy who loved looking good, this spoke volumes.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing,” he stuttered. Then he looked around, avoiding my gaze before he continued, “Look, she barely slept with… fever and… I don’t know. She’s been sick. The doctor has been here and ran some tests. We’re waiting for the results but she’s sleeping right now—finally.”

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