I texted mom before we boarded to let her know I was leaving the country and would be back in a week but got no reply. Shocker.
Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting a reply, but it would be nice to know that my parents actually care where I’m at and what I’m doing. I guess that’s too much to ask from Tatiana and Drake Barkley.
‘Never expect anything, and you can never be disappointed,’ my mother used to say to me. She’d said it once when I was upset that they had forgotten my birthday. It was my fifteenth birthday, and I was home alone yet again.
Erica made me a cake, and the Monroe’s came over to celebrate with me. Mrs. Monroe got me a beautiful charm bracelet that I still wear to this day.
My fingers run over the bracelet around my wrist, and a small smile touches my lips. The Monroe family has always been there for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
The night of my fifteenth birthday, after my mother had called to tell me that ‘of course I didn’t forget my only daughter’s birthday. Your father and I had an event to attend,’ Holland had come over.
I heard a faint knock on my bedroom window, and when I looked down, Holland was staring back at me with this huge, goofy grin on his face.
When I met him outside, he had his hands behind his back, and he looked mischievous as hell. Part of me always loved that side of him. The playful deviance. It was one of my favorite things about him.
“Happy birthday, Lainey Bug,” he’d said as he handed me a small red velvet box. I’d stared at the box in his hand far longer than I should’ve before taking it from him.
My brows furrowed and my suspicion grew as I stared at the small box in my palm. Holland had never gotten me a birthday present before, and honestly it was a little out of character for him.
“Well, come on, open it, Barkley. It’s not gonna open itself,” he’d said, rolling his eyes with impatience.
When I opened the box, a small ladybug charm sat inside. It’s red wings and black spots standing out against the white foam inside the box.
My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the small, meaningful gift. I looked up at him, trying to fight the tears that were begging to be let out. This boy that I’ve teased and mocked, who’s tackled me to the ground and thrown mud at me, bought me a gift.
Not only a gift, but one that had meaning. One that didn’t look like it was cheap.
“Get it? Because we call you Lainey Bug? So I got you a ladybug charm to put on the bracelet my mom got you,” Holland had said with a smile. He looked so proud of himself, and it was honestly one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for me.
“You’re the only one that calls me that,” I’d said with a quiet chuckle.
Playing with the small ladybug charm on my bracelet, I become aware of my present surroundings. I’d been so caught up in my memory that I’d forgotten I was on a plane, and sitting next to Ellie, who by the way still doesn’t know that her brother got me the charm.
I wear it every day, but she’s never asked about where it came from, and I never really felt the need to tell her. Not that I’m trying to hide it from her or anything. It just hasn’t come up in conversation.
“You okay?” Ellie asks softly, her brows pinched. I nod, smiling.
“Yeah, of course. I’m fine,” I tell her. She looks down at my lap where my finished novel sits.
“I told you you should’ve brought another book. You read too fast.”
Tossing my book into my bag on the ground, I lean back in my seat and cross my legs.
“I don’t recall you saying those words to me,” I tease, knowing full well she said those exact words to me last night when I threw everything into my carry on bag.
Ellie rolls her eyes and puts her earbud back in, watching the screen on the seat in front of her.
With a heavy sigh, I get up out of my seat and head to the bathroom. I don’t have to pee that bad, but I need to stretch my legs and freshen up.
The door is shut and locked, and it’s like my bladder knows there’s a toilet right there because I suddenly feel like I could pee my pants.
After waiting about five minutes for whoever is taking forever in the bathroom, I knock. The door opens right away, and a puffy faced Holland stares back at me. His eyes are watering, and he looks as pale as a ghost.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” I ask, even though it’s a stupid question because he’s obviously not okay, Lainey.
Holland’s eyes search my face before he shakes his head, and the look on his face breaks my cold heart.
Pushing him back lightly, I squeeze my way into the small space and slide the door shut behind us. There’s barely enough room for both of us in here, so we’re chest to chest, and the smell of his cologne is intoxicating.
