Page 126 of When the Storm Breaks
I beg my lungs to breathe.
She looks carefree. Happy. Alive. Just like Haiyden described her. But seeing her like this—so full of light, so untouched by the loss that lives in her name—it’s jarring.
And then—
Jules.
Her arm is wrapped around Willow, laughing, leaning into her like they existed in each other’s gravity.
I stare, unblinking.
They knew each other.
They werefriends.
My mind claws at the image, desperate, like the answer is hidden somewhere in the curve of their smiles.
Why didn’t Jules ever mention this?
And Haiyden… why hasn’t he?
I scroll back and forth, my fingers moving automatically, my heart pounding louder with each pass.
I see Jules again. And again.
And each time, she feels further away. Further from the friend I thought I knew.
It’s a connection I never even thought to look for.
The truth looms over me, slippery and just out of reach. I’m realizing now that I don’t know anything. Not about Jules. Not about Willow. Not about Haiyden.
A silent sob slips from my lips, shaking through me. My phone tumbles from my hand to the floor, forgotten.
The confusion. The grief. The loss. It all becomes too much.
I curl tighter, pressing my hands to my ribs, like I can hold myself together.
But the feeling doesn’t stop.
It consumes me.
Chapter 42
Calla
I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep when I hear the knocking—loud and uneven, like whoever’s on the other side of the door can barely stand.
I freeze, breath caught, my mind scrambling for answers.
Who the hell would even be knocking this late?
I reach for my phone, remembering too late that it fell off the bed earlier. As I lean down to grab it, another knock sounds. Softer this time, but insistent.
My pulse kicks up as I finally turn my screen over.
2:13 a.m.
I should be afraid.
