If she won't go out with me, I'll bring the date to her.
I spent the whole day setting up in my backyard, dragging out an old table and cleaning it up, stringing up lights between the trees, and making sure everything was perfect. I even managed to cook something that didn’t look half bad, despite not being the best in the kitchen. Simple pasta and garlic bread. Safe. She liked safe things.
This wasn’t about impressing her with some fancy dinner, though. It was about showing her I was serious—serious about her, about us. Maybe Celeste didn’t want to be seen with me in public, but here, behind the gate, it’s just us. No one else. No judgment.
Once everything is set, I grab my jacket and head to her house. I know she’s home. She’s probably holed up in her room, studying or avoiding me, whichever one it is today. But not tonight.
I jog up to the gate and knock. Nothing.
“Celeste!” I call out. No an
When I opened the door and saw Liam standing there, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Maybe another awkward conversation or some sarcastic comment, but not this.Not him crouching down, offering me a piggyback ride like we’re in some kind of rom-com.I don’t know why I got on his back. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe I just didn’t want to argue with him anymore. But the moment I was there, clinging to him, it felt... easier than it should’ve. Like I didn’t have to pretend to hate him f
I poke at the slice of pizza in front of me, not really interested in eating. It’s cold now, but I don’t care. My stomach feels like a heavy knot, twisted tight with guilt.I haven’t heard from Celeste since that disastrous sleepover. Every time I check my phone, there’s nothing. No new message, no call. Just silence. And it’s killing me.“I wish I could just... undo it, you know?” I say, my voice barely above a whisper. I push the pizza away, leaning my elbows on the table. Sadie’s sitting across from me, trying to act like everything’s fine, but I can tell she’s worried too.She shrugs, taking a sip from her soda. “What’s done is done, Tam. She’ll come around. She just needs some space.”I shake my head, feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me. “I shouldn’t have let it get this bad. I should’ve stopped Presley before—” I cut mys
I’m mid-sentence, trying to convince myself that another slice of pizza will make me feel better, when the door swings open. And there she is—Presley, standing in the doorway like she owns the place.The second I see her, my stomach drops. I wasn’t prepared for this. For her.She smiles, that fake, overly sweet smile she always has, and strides over to our table like she’s been invited. Sadie and I exchange a glance, but neither of us says anything.“Hey, girls!” Presl
The air is cool and still, the only sound the faint rustling of the leaves in the trees. I’m sitting cross-legged on the grass in Liam’s backyard, staring up at the stars. The candles from dinner still flicker nearby, their soft glow making the whole scene feel unreal. I can't believe I'm actually on a date.Liam’s lying on his back beside me, his hands behind his head, eyes fixed on the sky. He hasn’t said much in the past few minutes, and I’m grateful for that. I’ve had enough of awkward silences this weekend, but this one feels different. Comfortable, almost.“You’re quiet,” he finally says, his voice soft, not at all what I expect from him. “What’s on your mind?”I shrug, pulling my knees to my chest, trying to avoid his eyes. “Nothing much,” I lie.But then he turns his head toward me, and even though I’m not looking at him, I can feel the weight of his ga
The morning sun is just starting to peek over the sky as I quietly slip through the front door, the sound of it clicking shut behind me louder than I want it to be. My heart pounds in my chest as I tiptoe across the hallway, hoping—praying—that my mother is not awake yet.I spent the night at Liam’s again. I can hardly believe I did it. I stayed out the whole night again, we lost track of time, and now here I am, sneaking back in like some sort of criminal. My pulse quickens at the thought of my mom finding out. If she knew… I don’t even want to think about it.As I round the corner into the kitchen, I freeze. My mother is sitting at the kitchen table, a half-empty cup of tea in front of her. She’s staring at nothing, her eyes red and puffy. My stomach twists. She’s been crying again.I stand there, frozen, wondering if I should say something or just slip past and pretend I didn’t notice. Maybe she won&rsquo
The minute I step into the school, my stomach is in knots. The second I reach my locker, one of the admin staff approaches me, asking me to come to the principal's office. My heart sinks.Of course, this is how the day starts.Walking down the hallway, I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is waiting for me behind that door. The last time I was called to the principal’s office, I left with academic probation hanging over my head like a dark cloud. Now, I’m dreading a repeat.
I sit in math class, still trying to process what just happened in the principal’s office. It feels surreal. The dean’s list. I’ve never been on any list except for the ones that remind me I’m falling behind. I’m so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t notice when someone slides into the seat next to me.It’s Sadie.She sits down without a word, but I can feel her eyes on me. I don’t even have to look to know something’s off. Her presence is heavier than usual, more deliberate. When I finally glance at her, she’s staring at me with this expression I can’t quite place. It’s almost… accusatory.I shift uncomfortably in my seat, trying to focus on the numbers and formulas in front of me, but the tension between us makes it impossible to concentrate. I tap my pencil against the edge of my notebook, pretending to be busy.Sadie doesn’t say anything for a long time, and I start
I’m still reeling from my awkward encounter with Sadie when I step out into the hallway. The buzz of students moving between classes fills the air, but I feel like I’m in my own little bubble, trying to figure out how everything got so complicated.And then I see him—Nathan, Liam’s brother. He’s leaning casually against a locker, talking to a couple of guys from his class. My feet move before I can stop myself, my mood lifting almost instantly. Nathan always has this way of lightening the air, of making things seem less serious.“Nathan!” I call out, weaving through the crowd toward him. He looks up and grins when he sees me, pushing off the locker to meet me halfway.“Celeste! What’s up?” he asks, his easy smile making me feel like, just for a moment, things are normal again.“I did it!” I blurt out, unable to contain the excitement bubbling up inside me. “I’m on the dean
The sound of gunfire explodes through the night, deafening and relentless. A machine gun—no, multiple—rips through the air outside, drowning everything else out. I hear men shouting, screaming, and then the screaming turns into something else. Agony. Terror.I clamp my hands over my ears, pressing myself further into the corner of the closet, trying to disappear. My body shakes violently, my breath coming in shallow gasps as I rock back and forth. I squeeze my eyes shut and whisper a prayer under my breath, over and over."Please, God. Please, God. Please, God."The walls tremble with the force of the fight happening outside. Glass shatters somewhere. Heavy footsteps storm through the house. More gunshots. More yelling. I don’t kn
I wake up with a start, my heart thundering in my chest. My breath comes in ragged gasps, and for a moment, I can’t place where I am. I sit up quickly, expecting to see someone in the room with me—someone coming to hurt me, to take me again—but when my eyes adjust to the dim light, the room is empty.Just the silence.I look around, the weight of everything pressing down on me. This place—the house where Trevor has kept me locked up for weeks—has become a prison. It’s always quiet, too quiet. The only sounds are the distant hum of the outside world that I can’t reach, the creaks of the house settling, and my own restless thoughts.The darkness beyond the window is thick and consuming, the kind of darkness that swallows up the last remnants of hope. But tonight, something is different. Something feels off.I strain my ears, listening closely. There’s a faint sound, like the whisper of something moving through
The air is cold, but I barely feel it. My fingers flex at my sides, itching for the moment I get to wrap them around Trevor’s throat.A few meters away, the house stands in the darkness, barely lit by the moon. Celeste is in there. I can feel it, like some invisible tether between us. She’s so close I can almost smell her—vanilla and something soft, something warm.Nathan steps up beside me. I don’t have to look at him to know what he’s thinking. We’ve run through this plan a hundred times. We both breathe slowly, measured, in sync. If we let the rage take over now, we’ll lose. We need to do this right.Behind us, the rest of my men are waiting, silent shadows in the night. Five hundred of them. A small army, but that’s what it takes when yo
Nathan and I are staring at the screen, watching the dot move. Every second it inches closer to its destination, my pulse beats harder, my hands clench tighter. I should be in my car already, speeding toward her. I should be ending this.But I can’t rush this.One mistake, and Celeste might never make it out alive.I take a slow breath, forcing myself to think. Trevor’s still pissed about today—I saw it in his eyes, the way his mask slipped for just a second. He’s getting sloppy. That’s why Tamrin was able to slip one on him, why he hasn’t even realized she did. He thinks he still has control, but we’re the ones pulling the strings now."One more day," I say, more to myself than to Nathan.
My hands are trembling so hard I can barely hold the phone. My chest feels tight, like there isn’t enough air in the room, but I force myself to breathe. In and out. In and out. I can’t fall apart now. Not when I finally made a move.Sadie sits next to me, watching silently. She hasn’t asked a single question since I took her phone, but she doesn’t have to. I know she’s thinking them. I know she wants to yell at me, shake me, demand answers. But she doesn’t. Maybe she knows I don’t have the strength to explain right now.Nathan answers on the second ring. His voice is sharp, alert. “Who’s this?”“It’s Tamrin.” My voice barely comes out, but I swallow the lump in my throat and force myself to continue. “I hid my phone in Trevor’s car so you can track him. I’ll send you the details now.”Silence. Then a sharp breath on the other end. “You—” he starts, but I don’t give him a chance to question me. I end the call and immediately go to the tracking app on my phone, sending the location str
The drive back feels like it lasts forever, and every minute of it makes my stomach churn with dread. Trevor’s words hang in the air, thick and suffocating. He doesn’t stop talking, doesn’t stop reminding me of everything he’s capable of, and how easily he could ruin my life if I even think about crossing him. Every threat is sharp, like a blade cutting through my chest. He tells me he will kill me, kill my family, that no one would ever know what happened to Celeste or that I was involved.The fear grips me harder with each passing second. It feels like I’m suffocating in this car, trapped in this nightmare I can’t escape. I can’t say anything. I just nod, keep my eyes on the road, my breath shallow, praying he’ll just let me go. But it never comes. The torment doesn’t stop.Finally, when the car pulls up in front of my house, I feel my body go stiff. Trevor grabs my thigh, his fingers digging in deep, hard enough to bruise. The pain flares up immediately, sharp and relentless, and I
I’m sitting in Trevor’s car, my hands trembling so badly I can barely keep them on my lap. My head is pounding, each beat of my heart sending sharp pangs of pain through my chest. I don’t know what he’s going to do to me. I can barely look him in the eye, even though he’s sitting right next to me, his cold presence suffocating me in this small space.How did I end up here? I can’t even remember when it started to go so wrong. I thought he was different. I thought he was charming, charismatic, someone who could make me feel like I mattered. I let myself believe he cared. I even slept with him—let him do things to me that I’m ashamed of now. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could somehow erase the last few months of my life.But I can’t. I’m trapped.I don’t know when I started to see the darkness in him, when it became clear that Trevor was a monster. I was too blind, too naïve to see
The car rolls to a stop in front of the abandoned building. The windows are boarded up, and the air around here smells stale, like no one’s been within a hundred miles for years. I park with precision, the crunch of gravel beneath the tires settling in my ears. Tamrin doesn’t say anything, but I can see her eyes darting around, her body stiffening with every passing second. She’s terrified, and it’s exactly what I want.I turn to look at her, my gaze dark and unrelenting. There’s a moment of silence, thick and suffocating, before I speak.“Tamrin,” I say, my voice low and commanding. “What happened when you came back?”She looks at me, trying to hide the fear behind her eyes, but I see through it. “What do you mean?” she says, trying to play dumb, but I can hear the tremor in her
I pull up to Tamrin’s place, the tires crunching softly as I stop in the driveway. My hands tighten on the steering wheel for a moment, the anger from my conversation with Liam still simmering beneath my skin. The asshole had the nerve to think he could intimidate me. It’s all a game to him, but he doesn't understand what I’m capable of.I pick up my phone, dialing Tamrin’s number. It rings a few times before she picks up.“Yeah?” Her voice is tentative, like she already knows something's wrong.“Come outside,” I tell her, making sure my voice is low and controlled.There’s a long pause on the other end, but I wait. I know she’ll come.