Page 6 of Drawn To You

“What happened, and did anyone dare put a finger on you this time?” Lily asked pointedly getting right to the heart of the matter in her typical Mama Bear fashion.

“Long story short, I got into it with Derick because I wasn’t in the mood to take his crap today and my grandma told me to kick rocks. He didn’t hurt me physically, his friends were there and he doesn’t like an audience.”

“I swear Abby, your Uncle is such a prick and your grandma is a real piece of work!” Lily bit out enraged on my behalf. “She should be kicking out her abusive loser son, not you! Screw them! You can stay with Josh and me until we figure out what you are going to do. I think the Vandebergs have a room for rent. We can call Lainey and see.” she offered the possible solution and I sighed in relief. If Lily and Josh let me stay with them for a few days it would save me from having to swallow my pride and ask my parents if I could crash at their place. Something I desperately didn’t want to do unless I absolutely had to.

“Are you sure Josh will be OK with me staying?” I asked feeling unsure. I really didn’t want to be an inconvenience to them. “Sweety, please! You know he won’t mind. He cares about you too, you’re family.” she quickly reassured me and nodded her mind made up and that was the end of it.

As Rain’s older sister, Lily was the unofficial leader of our group. She had taken me under her wing when Rain and I had become friends back in high school and she watched out for us as well as their other two sisters, Skye and Lexie. As we got older we hung out with her more and more and eventually her friends had become our friends.

In Rain, I had found a true friend and in her older sister Lily, I had found a role model. Even though the age difference between us was only a matter of a couple of years Lily had an undeniable air of superiority about her that demanded respect. It was the way she carried herself. She was the perfect combination of femininity and strength. She had an almost ethereal and mysterious air about her.

I had heard her fiance Josh once say that Lily had been born in the wrong era and that she belonged in a time much more refined. I knew exactly what he meant by that, I could easily imagine Lily as a flapper in the ‘1920s, drinking champagne out of coupe cocktail glasses, twirling her long string of pearls, and dancing to jazz in a loose, beaded dress; or as a housewife in the ‘1950s, riding a bicycle in a poofy dress and suede kitten heels, her blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders. Simply put, she oozed charisma.

I managed a smile and thanked her again before letting out my pent-up breath and trying to put it all behind me, at least for the moment. “So what is new with you guys?” I asked wanting to change the focus of the conversation away from me.

“My newest godson was born yesterday! Josh and I just got back from the hospital, and he’s so stinking cute.” Lily smiled and said excitedly while holding her phone up to show us pictures of the new baby.

“Ah, he’s adorable! I didn’t even know you and Josh were Godparents.” I said with a smile. “Yeah, Josh’s best friend, who happens to be the other Josh, the one you haven’t met yet just had his second baby with his wife,” she explained and I immediately put two and two together. I had known that Lily’s fiance Josh had two best friends he grew up with who just happened to be named Josh as well. I already knew her fiance Josh and his other friend Josh who just went by his last name Maddox. I assume to make things easier. But I had never met the third Josh in their trio.

I only knew he didn’t get out much on account of him and his girlfriend having a baby just out of high school. Josh and Maddox complained about it sometimes. They missed their friend and didn’t like that he never had time to hang out. I also got the feeling that they didn’t care for his wife all that much from the way they talked about her. But that was mostly speculation on my part.

“It was actually kind of awkward being there,” Lily said, biting her lip, appearing to be considering her next words carefully. “Their neighbor was there and Josh and I picked up on some major weird vibes from him and Joshua’s wife Shannon. Josh thinks they might be having an affair,” she said sotto voce.

“That’s terrible!” Rain gasped. “I know, the worst part about the whole thing is that the guy looked like he was there to see his baby, not just a friend’s baby.” “You don’t really think that Joshua’s wife would do that to him do you?” Rain questioned. “Cause that’s a whole other category of fucked up!”

“I don’t know what to think, but it looked bad.” Silence fell between us like a thick blanket after that. Each of us lost in our own thoughts. I couldn’t help but feel bad for their friend Joshua if what they suspected of his wife was true.

* * *

“Hey! Did I miss anything good?” our friend Jules asks, huffing as she drops down in the chair beside me. I try not to stare at her, but she looks kind of out of it today. Her brown skin lacks its usual, bronzy glow and there are dark circles underneath her eyes. Seeing her like this makes it easy to ignore her question, and instead, ask her one of my own. “Are you okay?” She meets my gaze and flashes a blinding smile. But it doesn’t fool me. Nor does the shiny response she gives. “I’m good!” There’s a moment where her mask slips a little and I can see that she’s clearly not good, but I know she doesn’t want to talk about whatever is bothering her right now, so I don’t push the issue.

“Now, will someone please fill me in on what I’ve missed?” she asks, leaning forward to look past me, and direct her question at one of the other girls. “Abby got kicked out of her place, but we are going to see if Lainey’s parents still have a room for rent.” Rain fills her in. “Oh my gosh, Abby! I’m so sorry Hon,” she says as she wraps me in a big hug. “It’s OK. It will probably end up being a good thing anyway. I’ve been meaning to move for a while now. I was just waiting to save up a little more money before I did.”

“I just know everything will work out for you! Keep your head up, girl. I bet you’re gonna love having a little more independence! I feel that in my bones,” Jules squeals. She squeezes me around my shoulders comfortingly at the precise time my phone goes off and I wait until she releases me from her second bear hug before checking it.

Unknown: I’ve missed you.

Abby: Sorry, I think you’ve got the wrong number.

Unknown: What makes you so sure I have the wrong number? Do you think that if you went missing no one would miss you then?

Abby: Um, Creepy much?

I laugh, dismissing the creepy text exchange as nothing more than a stupid prank, I lower the phone and refocus on the conversation. “Everything cool?” When I peer up at Jules, I can guess the seemingly random outburst of laughter didn’t go unnoticed. “Yep, just a funny text.” Her brow lifts with suspicion, then she turns toward the other girls again.

Unknown: You always did make me laugh, Abby.

My blood runs cold as soon as I realize that this isn’t a random prank. Whoever is texting me knows me and my stomach drops at the thought of who my gut is telling me this is.

Abby: Sorry to cut this short, but I don’t deal with digital thugs. Unless you have the balls to tell me who the fuck you are, lose my number.

Unknown: You know better than to talk like that, Abby. We were raised better than that.

Now that my worst fear is confirmed, and I know without a doubt who this is, I lock in his name so I can ignore his calls before responding.

Abby: I told you not to contact me.

Sterling: I know, and it really hurt my feelings. I miss you, Abigail. I really need to talk to you in person. It’s important.

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