Page 170 of Ominous: Part 1
Then he responds, but I wait until the vibrations die off to look at the screen.
Him: You have no idea how hot that is to me. And you have no idea how jealous I feel when it comes to anyone too close to you. But I promise, no one compares to you, Nightmare Girl.
I ignore the way those words make me feel dizzy.Don’t hurt me, Eli.But I let it go, and what I say is,Are you going to be able to sleep tonight?
Him: Yeah. Finally.
And I know, without him saying it, he’s talking about the past few nights, when things haven’t been quite right between us.
After we say our goodnights, I roll onto my side and open up the photo I took of him in the rain at Dom’s. He’s sexy, and dark, and beautiful and free, and wanting to keep him just like this—content, at ease, belonging—it suddenly feels very, very heavy.
Icarus.
But I can’t see his wings in this photo, and in this moment, I can’t feel mine either.
28
Eden
“Who all is going?”Mom glances at me over her shoulder as she rubs down a spot of grease on the table in the kitchen.
I shake out my bracelets, shifting from foot to foot. I only got a few hours’ sleep last night, and it’s embarrassing, how many times I got myself off to that picture of Eli, long after he’d gone to bed.
“Janelle,” I lie to Mom, “Luna,” I almost choke on her name, “Eli, and maybe his cousin, I don’t know.” My hair is down for once, I rake my hands through it, for something to do as I stand under Mom’s scrutiny. Does she know I’m lying? Does she feel sorry for me? Does she think I’m falling too hard and a boy like Eli would never, ever stick around to catch me?
But she just keeps wiping down the table, her soft arms jiggling a little, the thick, red and pink raised ridge of her scar visible beneath the sleeves of her soft shirt. Reece is gone to work, which is why I waited until now to ask, and Sebastian is presumably where he went last night.
He never came home.
Mom sighs, blowing a strand of her brown hair from over her eye. “And you’re staying the night with Luna this time?” She glances at me once more, then straightens, walking over to the sink to rinse out the kitchen towel.
I chew the inside of my cheek and nod, then realize I need to speak out loud because she’s turned the faucet on and is studying the towel as she rinses it. “Yep.”
“Are you coming home after school?” Another glance toward me.
“I don’t think so.”
“Who are you going home with afterward?”
My body temperature grows hot. No one ever asks Sebastian any of these questions. I know he’s older, and not in school, but he’s literally getting high every other day it seems, and no one does anything about it. “I don’t know, Mom, probably Eli.” I clench my fingers around the straps of my bag, full of clothes to change into for the movie tonight, to wear at his house, and for tomorrow morning.
My swimsuit is presumably still in his bathroom, and it almost calms me, imagining it hanging over his shower.
“Lose your attitude.” Mom flips off the sink and drapes the kitchen towel over the ledge, then runs her hands through her hair, leaning back against the counter. “You can go,” she finally says. “Just be safe.”
I can’t hide my smile. “Thanks, Mom.” I glance at the front door, the sun streaming through the little glass pane near the top. Eli isn’t here yet, or I would’ve heard his car pull up. I’m thinking of going back to my room to triple check I’ve got everything I need for tonight, but Mom speaks before I can move.
“How do you think Seb is doing? With the move?”
I freeze, holding my breath as I take in the fact she isn’t looking at me while she waits for my answer. My mouth feels dry, and I have to swallow a few times before I get the words out, glancing over my shoulder, down the hall, as if Sebastian might walk out from his closed bedroom door any second, even though I know he isn’t here.
“Um, I don’t know.” I’m stammering, Mom has her arms crossed, staring at the linoleum floor, and I know this is the time. This is where I can say something,do something to help him.Mom is the adult. Reece. They’re the parents. If I tell them the truth, maybe things will change. “I just… He goes out a lot, right? And it’s not like he’s working or anything.” I laugh a little because I’m nervous.
I see Mom’s shallow nod, like she’s agreeing with that point.
“I think he’s getting high in his room too.”
Mom turns to look at me, but she doesn’t seem shocked. “You can smell it?”
