Page 103 of The Casualty of Us
Knowing I sound lame but not knowing what else to say either.
We’ve never been like this before. Never had this kind of chasm open up.
But then again…I guess neither of us has ever drawn a line in the sand over someone else either, have we?
“Fine.” His brows crash down with the unhappy sound, and he stands up. “When do we leave?”
Fuck.
He goes still, eyes holding mine and letting me see the shock there. “You’re going alone?”
He guesses correctly and leaves me completely adrift because I don’t know how to say it—
“Will you be back for our birthday?”
August fourteenth. Right before we go back to school.
I swallow, the knot in my chest twisting right back up, but I don’t have any kind of answer here either. My mind is too caught up in it all to give him one with any kind of assurance.
Still tripping over what happened while trying to figure out what will happen next.
“It’s our birthday, O,” he scoffs, the sound caught somewhere between disbelief and fear. “We’ve never been apart on our birthday.”
“I know that.”
“So,” he pushes, pulling me back to see his face hardening just like my dad’s. “Will you be back?”
But it’s the way there’s no give there that has me snapping back. “I don’t know. I’ll be back in time to grab my stuff. That’s all I know.”
Also, to make one very important pit stop that will hopefully help keep everyone safe.
“What—” The word explodes from him on a harsh breath, and he scowls at me. “When the fuck do you plan on stopping this shit?”
I blink at him, truly caught off guard for a moment before it clicks. Hitting me that while I’ve been drowning, he’s been…what? Assuming I’m just throwing a fit?
“This isn’t a ploy,” I spit out slowly, making sure he can understand. “This isn’t some temper tantrum I’m throwing until you come around to my side of things.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I take a step closer while hissing, “You fucking promised, Ollie.”
His face falls with panic entering his eyes, but it’s too late now.
“You promised me that you would never let anyone lock me up again, and then you held my hands while they did just that,” I gasp, fingers clenching around the phone I’m holding and having to remind myself that I actually need this object. “You stopped being on my side right when I needed you—”
“O—”
“Because all you could think about was what you wanted.” I shake my head, so past wanting to hear it at this point. “Again. Just like with Hayes.”
“That’s not fair,” he croaks.
“I don’t know.” I shrug, looking down while admitting, “Maybe.” An empty scoff leaves me with the word before I add, “But I tried to tell you that I can’t figure anything out here.”
A beat passes between us before he seals the awful goodbye with a quick, “Fine.” Not waiting for me to look back up andmarching out of my room while tossing back, “See you at school then,” like he doesn’t care.
Leaving me standing there trying to figure out whether I won or lost in the end and still coming up empty hours later in my bed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
OPHELIA - AUGUST 2013
I stareout at the deep blue of the Atlantic from the Bettencourts’ sun deck with a drink permanently in hand and skin that had already acquired a warm glow from my daily jogs turning into a rare tan in the week since I’ve been here. Especially since I’ve spent the majority of that time with my ass planted right here. Munching on guacamole and earning back every damn inch of running I’ve done this summer. Quite happily.
