Page 12 of Shattered Skull

Her eyes went wide, brown doe eyes rimmed with thick dark lashes stared back at me. Her mouth fell open, becoming a ring of soft pink flesh, but nothing came out. Her bottom lip quivered, and I sighed in annoyance. I swore to God if she fucking cried, I would lose my shit.

“Are you deafandstupid?”

I was a total dick, but fuck it. If I were hard on her, maybe she would stay away. That was the smartest thing she could do. She didn’t belong on the dark and gritty side of Atlanta, and I was going to make sure she knew that.

4 Everly

GOING TO A PARTYwas the last thing in the world I thought I would be doing. Still, when Friday night came around, I found myself in Zada’s old Chevy Malibu, with actual handles to roll the windows down, and driving across town to the less desirable parts of Atlanta.

The neighborhoods and quiet streets melted into tall buildings and bright lights before turning into spray-painted stops signs and shoes hanging from powerlines. I reached out and manually locked my door, making Zada chuckle beside me.

“You’re fine. I promise. This side of town is my neck of the woods.”

“How do you go to school at North Lakeside if you live out here?”

“My dad’s the janitor at Lakeside, so he pulled some strings. He doesn’t want me going to Douglas Wayne. He thinks it’s too rough for me, but I’m friends with half the school.” She shrugged.

Zada was a nice girl, but I understood her father’s decision. I had never been in a place I felt so unsafe in, but I wasn’t about to tell her that. Instead, I stared at the dilapidated houses as we passed them and prayed to God we would make it home safely.

Soon the houses began to disappear, and the road grew dark for a bit. When we reached the end of the darkness, a light show appeared before us. There were cars as far as I could see, lining a street that looked abandoned. Their headlights shined onto the road, their doors opened, and their music blaring.

The variety of cars was breathtaking. Old classics lowered to the ground and newer sports cars with bright neon lights glowing from beneath. There were Lamborghini doors on cars that weren’t Lamborghinis and shiny colored rims that reflected the lights around them

Women danced around the vehicles, their bottoms hanging out of their shorts and their tops leaving nothing to the imagination. There were so many people I instantly felt my social anxiety rear its ugly head.

I reached up and began to twirl one of my curls, tugging until it made my scalp sting.

“We’re here,” Zada sang, putting her car in park.

As it turned out, we weren’t going to the kind of party I expected. Instead of a house, we were parked under an old bridge. When she opened her car door, the sounds of engines and music filled the small space. Her trunk vibrated with the bass of the car beside us. It stirred my stomach, as well, making me feel nauseated.

My knees wobbled as I climbed from her low car. When I got out, the smell of gasoline and a mixture of what I knew was marijuana and burnt rubber filled my nostrils. People were drinking, and a guy in front of us was snorting something off the hood of his car.

I closed the car door, suddenly wishing I could open it and climb back inside.

“What is this place?” I asked, still clutching the door handle of her car.

“The Strip. You’ll learn to love it. Trust me.”

She started to walk away, but when she realized I wasn’t beside her, she turned around. “What are you doing?” she asked with a chuckle.

Chills covered my skin, and my entire body was beginning to tremble.

“I … I don’t think I can do this,” I stuttered.

Embarrassment burned my cheeks, and I hoped when she saw how badly I was freaking out, she would take me home.

“Are you okay?” she asked, one of her perfectly shaped brows lifted in concern.

I opened my mouth to tell her no, but before I could get the word out, my eyes caught on Erik’s Mustang. He was standing beside it, the blonde from school pulled against his side while he lifted a bottle and downed its contents.

I breathed in and reached in my bag for my bottle of pills. Quickly, I popped the lid and tossed one in my mouth. Without anything to drink, I swallowed it and prayed for it to take effect.

I couldn’t leave my brother.

It was either my mental state or his life.

I chose his life.

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