Page 4 of Nightmare

“Sorry, Mrs. Lee,” Andie says sweetly. “She isn’t answering her phone.”

Michelle chuckles and waves her off like it’s nothing, smiling sadly at me as she takes in my appearance. She’s always been nice to me, having known me since I was a baby, and she felt bad for me when her son and I broke up—or when he went to jail and I ghosted him—but I know she thinks we’re better apart than we are together.

“Violet, sweetheart. How are you holdi—”

Nova chooses that exact moment to appear behind her, staring at us over her mother’s head without saying a word. It’s kind of awkward and creepy, the way she’s just standing there with her hair in her face, but that’s Nova for you.

“Well then, you girls have fun,” Michelle says cheerily, walking away toward the kitchen. “But not too much fun!”

“We will,” Andie calls to her, looking confused as she thinks for a second. “I mean, we won’t!”

Nova continues to stare at us, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her stiletto covered foot. I don’t worry that she’ll ask me if I’ve talked to her brother yet, because I’m pretty sure she hates him just as much as she hates everyone else—probably even more. She and Atticus might be twins, but they don’t have any type of special twin bond or anything. The only thing they have in common is their tendency to get mad at the drop of a hat. Other than that, they’re two completely different people. He’s loud and chaotic and up for anything, whereas she’s none of those things. His hair is even darker than mine, whereas hers is so blonde it’s almost white. I’m pretty sure she dyes it like that to make herself look nothing like him. It doesn’t work all that well. I still see his golden-brown eyes every time I look into hers.

“What?” she bites out at me.

“Hello to you too, friend,” Andie teases, raking her eyes over Nova’s form. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Andie’s smile falls, and she narrows her eyes, probably at her lack of Joker paint. “You’re not ready.”

The two of them have a silent stare off for about ten seconds, and then Andie rushes her inside and drags her upstairs, me following behind as they struggle and fight each other. I watch in amusement as Andie pins Nova to her own bed, straddles her waist, and takes out the makeup bag she brought with her to paint her face.

“You crazy bitch,” Nova grits out, wiggling around beneath her.

“Hold still, sweetie.”

“I hate both of you.”

I roll my eyes and drop down on the bed next to her, chewing my lip as I stare at the door leading to the bathroom she and Atticus shared all through high school. She’d probably hate me a hell of a lot more if she knew how many times he fucked me on the counter in there.

Guy has a thing about bathrooms.

I push the thought away and look back at the girls, finding Andie cocking her head at me with a knowing look on her face. “You need to sto—”

“You wanna tell me about these secret messages you keep getting?” I cut in, because if she wants to play dirty, I can play dirty just as hard.

“They’re not secret messages,” she lies. “It’s just my mother. High and broke, as usual.”

“Your mother.”

“Yes, my mother.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm,” she mocks me, flicking her curly blonde hair over her shoulder. “Talk to me when you can stop breaking your own heart over the boy you fucked in his sister’s bathroo—Damn it, Nova, keep your mouth shut.”

“What?!”

“How the hell do you know about that?” I ask at the same time, my cheeks heating when Nova hits me with that creepy death glare of hers.

“Vi, he used to make you scream like he was killing you,” Andie answers, grabbing Nova’s head to keep her still. “It’s kinda hard to ignore when you’re sleeping in the next room.”

“I was sleeping in the next room too,” Nova points out, trying her best to speak with her mouth shut.

“Yeah, well. You sleep like the dead.”

“That’s true,” I reason, rolling my lips when her eyes hit mine. “I’m sorry.”

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