Page 153 of Beautifully Shattered
Tahli stiffens at Mum’s words, nodding without looking up, before her eyes snap to this side of her aisle, scanning further down.
I move with her, tracking every step as she edges away from Mum. When she stops, I shift the packets of chips aside so I can see her better.
Her eyes look dead. Like the life’s been sucked straight out of her soul. It makes me want to scream. To slaughter everyone who dared to do this to her.
As her hand lifts to pick up a jar of sauce, I steel myself and tug my mask down, revealing my face.
“Tahli,” I whisper, and when she doesn’t hear me, I say it louder. “Tahli.”
Her eyes flick up, locking with mine through the grates in the shelving, and she flinches, the jar slipping from her fingers.
I cringe, pressing my finger to my lips in a ‘shhh’ gesture, bracing for the jar to smash, but someone catches it.
“Whoops. You nearly dropped this.” Jols’ voice is like music to my ears as Tahli looks away from me to my friend.
“Oh my goodness. Thank you. My daughter is such a klutz.” My mum rushes forward, quickly wedging herself between Tahli and Jols, making Tahli look like an idiot.
“Don’t sweat it,” Jols says, though I can hear the strain in her voice.
“Come along, sweetheart.” Mum ushers Tahli to the other side of the aisle, where Maggie grabs her arm like she’s leading an invalid.
My blood boils.
I want to rain hell down on them, but I see Jols’ and JD’s chests move past as my mum urges my sisters forward, so I bite my tongue and keep following from my aisle.
When my eyes meet Ringo’s, I see him speaking quietly into his phone and wonder when I gave it back to him.
He probably took it back without me noticing while I was in shock at seeing Tahli.
He stays on my tail as I creep along, hiding at the end of the aisle when Mum and my sisters leave their aisle and move to the next one.
I dash out, peering down the aisle as JD and Jols reach the end, and they glance back, giving me a nod.
I don’t know what the nod means, but when they start moving up the same aisle as my family, I edge forward and peek around the corner.
My mum hasstopped a third of the way up, helping Maggie load tins of food into their trolley, while Tahli glances at JD and Jols before looking over her shoulder to see me.
Again, I press my finger to my lips, my mask still sitting under my chin, and she nods, slowly trailing behind Mum and Maggie as they start moving again.
With their attention in the other direction, I rush forward, my eyes locked on Tahli, desperation crashing over me so hard I start sweating despite the cold day.
As I get closer, I press my finger to my lips, holding my other hand out to her, frantically wiggling my fingers, begging her to come to me so I can get her out of here.
She steps towards me, her eyes dropping to my stomach, and I see the moment she realises I’m no longer pregnant by the way her brows knit together in confusion.
‘Come on,’I mouth, needing her to meet me halfway, and she nods, about to move when Mum suddenly turns around.
Time slows.
Everything around me moves in slow motion.
Jols and JD approaching from the other end, their strides long, but slow…
My mum’s expression changes at a snail’s pace as recognition flickers across her features, morphing into a deep frown.
Maggie, taking a few more slowed steps forward before stilling and looking back over her shoulder, realising Mum has stopped.
Tahli, stiffening, her eyes slowly widening in terror as Mum’s shriek tears through the air.
