Page 119 of Savage Scream

Did the audience leave?

A heartbeat later, I jolt from the startling cheers that sweep across the audience as if they’ve only just snapped out of a trance, and I roll out of my ball, slowly standing before doing a small curtsy that Miss Adele showed me how to do a couple of days ago.

“Yeah!” Jared cheers over everyone. “That’s my girl!”

I suck in my lips, trying not to laugh even as I cry. And for some reason, the lights in the auditorium brighten, allowing me to see the audience.

Although everyone is spread out, sitting mostly in family groups due to social distancing rules, there are more people here than I realised.

And they are all standing.

For me.

They keep clapping, and I notice some people wiping their eyes, or dabbing the corners with a tissue.

Damn. Did I do that?

I find the Rogan family in the audience. My family. I see Cynthia sobbing yet still smiling as Will beams at me. Rhys is a mess, black mascara running down her face as she claps and I’m pretty sure her claps are louder than anyone else’s.

The twins are there too, clapping in unison while jumping on the spot, and Charlotte stands next to them with her girlfriend, both wearing huge smiles as they clap too.

My eyes find Griffin and Aggie a little further back, and my auntie Amanda and auntie Bec are next to them, dabbing tissues to their eyes as they smile broadly at me, not looking like the lethal women they are in the least.

Travis is closer to the front of the audience, with Tillie on one side and Cassie on the other, both of them leaning in to hug Travis as he wipes a tear from the corner of his eye.

Jared is right there behind Travis, standing next to his parents as he claps with vigour, his blue eyes bright with happiness and his smile beaming, which just makes me feel all sorts of emotional. Above all else, I love seeing Jared happy.

My heart feels so full as I smile back at all the people who have come here to support me today, all of them meaning so much. I blink back more tears, and just as the auditorium’s lighting over the audience starts to fade, I lock onto familiar green eyes, framed by fiery red hair tumbling from a cap.

Ruby.

Shit. I can’t be sure it’s her though, the audience fading black before my eyes could make sure.

I give another quick curtsy as the applause dies down before running off stage and Miss Adele is there, her arms open wide as I throw myself into her embrace.

She’s crying too, and she squeezes me so damn tight that I’m not sure I ever want to leave.

“I’m so incredibly proud of you, Dee,” Miss Adele cries quietly as another dancer takes the stage, her teacher shifting in front of us in the wings to watch her student perform.

I pull back, offering Miss Adele a warm smile, and thank her for never giving up on me.

As I turn back to the stage to watch the next dancer do her thing, I feel proud.

I feel pride in myself unlike I’ve ever felt before.

Coming to Fox Pines was both the hardest and best thing I ever did.

I got my brother back. Found out I had aunties. Found a family willing to accept my flaws. Made friends. And found the love of my life.

Jared.

For the first time ever.

I feel whole.

JARED

EPILOGUE PART 2

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