Page 59 of Top Shelf

“What happened to your face?” I ask her again, trying to keep my voice soft. I look at my sister, who stands awkwardly behind the couch.

“Hayden threw his beer, and it hit me,” she says, her eyes slowly moving up to catch mine.

Keep calm,I tell myself.Stay calm. Hear her out. You can’t go away for murder.

“I went to meet him today while I knew you were at school,” she goes on. I cover my mouth with my hand.

“But…why?” I ask.

“Because I wanted to try one last time to make things better,” she says. “It’s not fair that you carry this for me. It’s not fair thatanyof you do. Levi has worked so hard, your dad…but you, especially. It’s not fair.”

I sigh.

“Oh, Sade,” I whisper. “You shouldn’t have gone to see him. This wasn’t your fault. I don’t…I don’t need you to cover for me. I am grown, and I am responsible for my own actions. None of that was on you.”

She sighs again, and I see her bottom lip start to tremble.

My heart starts to splinter.

“Okay,” she says. “Then I needed to do this forme.I needed to know that I wasn’t going to have to live with him over my head for the rest of my life. That I can actually have freedom from him. That the voice in my head won’t always be his, pointing out my failures.”

I stare at her.

God, I want to kill him.

I nod slowly, taking her hand in mine and bringing it to my lips.

“Okay,” I say, nodding slowly. “Do…do you think it worked?” I ask. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” she says with a shrug. “I asked him to meet me in a public place, and I asked Demi to come with me so I wouldn’t be alone.” I look up to Demi, nodding at her. I look back to Sadie. “I told him that no matter what he tried to do to you, he was never going to have me again. I told him that he doesn’t win this one.”

Her eyes fill with tears, and I take her other hand in mine. I see Demi swipe a tear from her own face, and she steps forward to put her hand on Sadie's shoulder. I kiss both of her hands, then lean forward to kiss her cheek.

“That’s my girl,” I whisper, and she forces out a smile. “So, uh…what happened with the, uh…bottle?” I ask, trying not to scare her into thinking I’m going to lose my mind and go on a witch hunt. Although, I haven’t fully convinced myself that that’s not going to happen either. She swallows and tells me what happened, and I feel my foot tapping anxiously on the floor. I want to bash his face in, but I don’t. I keep it cool while she tells me that Demi caught it on tape and what the hotel manager told her about the security footage.

I lift my eyes to my sister.

“You have it recorded?” I ask.

Demi nods slowly, and I can feel my face get hot. But then I feel Sadie’s cool hand reach out, pulling me back down to Earth with her.

“There’s no reason for you to watch that,” she says. “It’s done. Over. And if he wants to play ugly, then I will too.”

I stare at her for a minute, weighing my options, trying to figure out what my next step should be. I look back at her, then to Demi, then back to her. Finally, she stands up.

“I want to go lie down,” she says, and she does look exhausted. I nod as she walks by, giving Demi a hug before she goes up. “Thank you again, Demi.”

“Of course,” Demi says. “I’ll check in on you later.”

When she’s out of earshot, I look at my sister.

“Thank you for going with her,” I say. “I wish you would have told me.”

She smiles.

“I know you do,” she says. “But that wasn’t my place. I knew I could take him.” She winks at me. I laugh, but it’s short-lived.

“I want to kill him, Dem. I want to go find his ass and lay him out,” I tell her. She puts her hand on my shoulder.

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