Page 117 of The Sound Of Silence

“Stop, Mom! Let me speak.”

It goes silent and I almost curse at her, thinking she hung up, when she lets out a long sigh. “Sorry, I’m listening.”

Taking a deep breath, I dig my nails into my palm as my eyelids fall shut. “I need to know what happened to me,” I whisper, my voice not as confident as I would have hoped.

“What are you talking about?”

She knows, and the fact she’s pretending not to angers me. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Mom. And I’m sick of pretending it was nothing. Something happened to me, and I need to know what.”

She sighs again. “I thought we decided to move on. No one knows.”

“Someone does! The driver who found me said he saw someone with me as he was approaching. I wasn’t the only one there. Someone knows, and I don’t understand why no one bothered to find out.”

“Honey, I understand this week has been stressful for you. You’ve been working long hours, helping Lucia. Then there’s the baby name, and Pippa being home. And I’ll bet Ashley’s news has you thinking about your own future. You’re exhausted. That’s all this is. We decided a long time ago it was better to move forward—that no good was going to come from living in the past. And you’ve been doing so well.”

“Have I?”

“Yes! You’re happy.”

I pause because she’s right. I am. Right now. But it’s a first and it’s only because of Jesse.

I rub my temples and calm my rage. Maybe I need to tackle my question from a different angle. “What if I want to know?” I ask, my tone holding sadness instead of wrath.

“Oh, sweetie. I wish I could help.”

“Me too,” I say, defeated.Me too.

Like always, a shiver runs through me when I think of my past, but there’s a difference between those times and now. Now I feel stronger. I can’t just be the compliant girl that accepts that bullshit answer anymore.

Someone knows.But who?

With a quick full body shake, I pull myself together and change the song to something unrelated to anything going on in my life. “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” by Panic! At The Disco.

And with a new determination, I lock the front door and set about thinking of a plan.

Dancing my way to the work bench, I feel my lips lift into a smile, and the knowledge that it’s real has it widening. I can do this. A little part of me even wants to sing at the top of my lungs.

“Oh—”

“Willow.”

Jesus!A voice stops me in my tracks as my heart jolts.I’m not alone.I know I should turn around, but the realization that I’ve just locked myself inside with a potential stranger is crippling. I can’t move. I can’t breathe. And I feel like I’m going to puke.

“Shit, Willow. I didn’t mean to scare you again.”

With the ringing in my ears, it takes me a second to place the voice, but when I do, I’m not sure I feel any better.

“Turn around, Sanders.”

And that doesn’t help. My pulse skyrockets as I will my legs to work, forcing myself to spin around to face him.

“Alex?”

“In the flesh,” he says and I think he smiles, but in the lower light it’s hard to tell. It could be a smirk.

“Sorry, hi.” I gather my strength and plaster on the fake smile I was just complaining about, determined not to let him throw me…any more than he already has.“What are you doing here? I’ve closed up.”

I still haven’t officially said no to going on a date with him, so I’m going to assume that’s why he’s here. But it’s been several days since he’s even asked.

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