Page 44 of The Sound Of Silence

My emotions were all over the place yesterday, and after waking earlier in the night, I should have known a nightmare was coming.But why did it have to feel so real?

Chapter Eighteen

Willow - Thirteen Years Ago / Age Fourteen

Jadesingstoherself,off-key, as we lie in the grass, staring up at the sky. “Maybe I’ll be an actress,” she says after she’s finished the song. “I don’t think I’m going to make it as a singer.”

I burst out laughing before rolling to face her, resting my head on my hands. “You’d be an amazing actress, but if you leave this town, you better be taking me with you.”

She blows out a raspberry before raising her eyebrows. “As if I’d even let you stay if you wanted to. It’s you and me forever. Sorry to say, you’re stuck with me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. So where should we go?”

She pretends to ponder my question before smiling wide. “Hollywood! Obviously. Let’s jump on a bus as soon as we turn eighteen.”

I laugh again before lying back down, my gaze settling back on the clouds. “What will I do while you are off becoming a star?”

Jade rolls over this time, reaching out to grab my hand. “You can do anything you want to do. You’re amazing, Willow. We’re amazing. We’re going places; I can feel it.”

My heart warms, because she’s right. We are amazing. Only four more years until we can break free. At eighteen, I’m gone. I’m ready to leave this town. We both are. It’ll be our time to shine.

Chapter Nineteen

Jesse

Istartleawakeasthough someone slapped me, and a cold sweat coats my skin. The house is dead silent, so I’m momentarily confused as to why I woke, until I realize it doesn’t matter. I’m fine. Closing my eyes again, I try to drift off, but the second my head sinks into the pillow, I’m awakened again. Only this time I’m alert enough to process it.

“Nooo!”Willow.

Adrenaline kicks in and my heart pounds as I run toward her room, skidding to a halt in front of her door.

She’s quiet again so I pause, not wanting to wake her if she’s okay.Fuck, did I imagine it? Am I going insane?

“Jade, no,” she whimpers, and my heart thuds so hard I swear it’s going to break out of my rib cage.

I’m reaching for the door handle before I’ve even taken my next breath and find it physically impossible to pry myself away, the pain in her voice too much to bear. The door creaks open and I sneak into the room, struggling with the darkness as my eyes take a moment to adjust.

I move toward the bed using sound alone, and it’s only when I’m close enough that I can feel her presence that a faint outline of her face finally comes into view. “Willow, you’re okay.”

With her eyes squeezed shut, she grips the bedsheet between her fingers and shakes her head back and forth, crying, “No, no.”

She stops moving after that, as though she’s accepted whatever fate her dream has dealt her, and I can’t help myself. I gently run my finger down her cheek, finding a few rogue tears as I go.

My chest tightens, and I know I shouldn’t be here, but with my brain apparently relinquishing its rights to decision-making, I stay put until her breathing slows.

What am I doing?Leave,Jesse.

Stepping back quickly, I run a hand through my hair and look around the room, hoping it’ll give me the answer I need. Stay or go?Stay or go? But when Willow murmurs it makes my decision easier, and I creep away slowly, clicking the door shut just as she sucks in a breath and says, “Jesse?”

It takes everything in me to ignore her, but I rush back to the couch and fall on top of it, closing my eyes as I shove a pillow over my head, my short shallow breaths making it difficult to calm down.

Despite knowing she’s okay, a lump lodges in my throat, my pulse taking longer than it should to return to normal. And when my adrenaline high wears away, I’m left with a throbbing headache and a ringing in my ears. There’s no way I’m sleeping after that.

“Again, why are we here so early?” Pippa groans as her face drops into her hands.

“It’s not that early,” I say for the third time, but I’m lying. It’s only six thirty. I woke up at five for a run. Actuallywokeis a lie. As I predicted, I was still wide awake after Willow’s nightmare, worried about her.And maybe a little worried about me.

When I’d returned from my run, Willow was gone, so I made Pippa join me for breakfast. The less time spent at that house, the better.

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