Page 156 of Resurrection
"Los Angeles."
"Without me?"
"Honestly, I was a bit shocked myself when he told me."
"Told you what?" I couldn’t think straight.
"He’s been upset these last few days," she continued, her voice uncomfortable and apologetic. "He wouldn’t really talk about it. Last night, he just said you wouldn’t be coming with him. I figured you two had a fight."
A fight? We never fought. Not once.
"So he just left?" I asked again like a dummy.
"He did."
He left me. Tyler Brady left me.
I stood there, frozen in place, as her voice washed over me. I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I couldn’t understand anything.
All I heard was the roar of the earth spinning out of control. All I saw was the light, too bright and too sharp, burning through the wreckage of us.
I ran.
The world around me was unfocused, a fast and dizzying mess passing in my peripheral. My feet carried me away from Ty’s house, from the truth, from the pain. The park was quiet and empty when I got there. It was getting too hot to be outside, and I was the only person in the vicinity except for an old man walking his dog.
I fell onto the bench where Ty and I used to sit for hours, discussing the future. I screamed into the silence, my voice raw and angry. The ring was tight on my finger like a cruel reminder of all those promises.
I yanked it off and hurled it into the grass.
"You liar!"
The words tore past the pain and the betrayal, leaving me breathless and empty.
"You left."
I collapsed against the hard wood, sobs wracking my body. I felt like I was shattering, like I was dissolving into the nothing that surrounded me. I felt like the only thing left was this hollow place where he used to be.
Time crawled over me, dragging me down. My anger was a fire thatburned itself out. My cries quieted. My breaths came in shallow, ragged bursts. My heart thudded dully in my chest, its rhythm uncertain and unsteady.
I sat there, waiting for the pieces to fall into place.
They didn’t.
All I felt was the loss, the ache, the dull certainty that he wasn’t coming back.
My fingers unclenched. I looked at the grass where the ring landed, small and shiny and impossible to let go of. My body moved before my mind caught up. I slid off the bench and onto my knees.
I searched for it, my hands digging into the dirt. It was the only thing I had left of him. I couldn’t get rid of it, no matter how much it hurt.
The earth was dry and unyielding, stubborn and quiet against my wandering hands. I dug deeper, moving in blind, desperate sweeps. The small circle of silver slipped through my fingers, taunting me, hiding from me like he did.
Please, come back to me.
I wasn’t sure if I was begging the ring or the boy who’d given it to me.
My knees ached, my fingers were raw, my thoughts a jumble of panic.
Please.
