It turns out the real Brianna, a girl we had all known as Maddie, had switched lives with a girl who only used her love and loyalty as a pawn in a larger game. Everyone had been a pawn in her game that only resulted in death.
Because of Madilyn’s delusional disorder, she never got the help she needed. The real tragedy was … Zeke’s death could’ve been avoided. From the very beginning, Madilyn had been under the impression Ollie and she were in love. To this day, Ollie still swore up and down he’d never been intimate with her, but those days where he’d lost himself were a blur. Madilyn had been waiting on the sidelines ever since formulating her plan to get him back.
“We’re getting together for one last rendezvous in the woods as like a farewell … ” Tyler whispered after Dr. Conway took over a discussion in Ms. Chandlers classroom. A little over two weeks had passed since the funeral, but the chatter hadn’t dimmed. Tyler and Jude had another year here. Ollie, Jake, and I were leaving. I wondered how next year would go for her and Jude. They were unofficially official. Of course, Jake advised her of the curse of Dolor love, and to downplay the relationship, and keep the sweet moments to a minimum. “Jake and Liam said they’d go. You think Ollie would be down?”
“Yeah, he would.” Despite everything that had happened, Ollie was in good spirits. At any moment, I feared he’d crash, but Ollie did exactly what he said he was going to do. He smiled.
“I’m sure as hell going to miss you. I wish I could go back and change things … trust in the right people, ya know?” Tyler admitted.
“When you get out, come find me. I’ll be here. I’m only going back to the states to clear my name, and I’m flying right back. I’m staying in the UK.”
“Seriously?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I still can’t believe it either.”
Ms. Chandler walked around the classroom and collected textbooks off the corners of our desks, permitting us to leave once she’d passed by. Tyler and I stood together. “Ya moving in with Ollie? Where? It’s not like you guys have a place after you leave here, no?”
Too many questions too fast. I shoved my hands into the back pockets of my jeans and dropped my head, wishing I’d wore my hair down to hide the fact I had no idea what the future held. I supposed I’d have to look for a job. I never had a job before. Maybe I’d work as a waitress while Ollie worked on his poetry. We could get a small apartment somewhere. Did they have apartments here?
“They have a program after Dolor I hear. They get you set up in a place as a transition back into the real world. I mean,” Tyler shrugged as we stepped out into the hall, “you already qualify. A work program, too. They have a work program.” I kept quiet, feeling empty without having to carry my textbooks but my head heavy with new burdens I had no time to consider.
We’d made it a few feet away from the classroom, and Tyler paused at our usual spot to wait for Ollie. “I’ll figure it out,” I sighed and fidgeted with the hem of Ollie’s shirt I wore. “I always figure it out.”
“What’s up with that anyway?” Tyler asked. She fell back against the wall and looked down at the word printed across my chest. “Poetic,” she said slowly. “What does it even mean?”
“It’s Ollie’s,” I pulled the loose shirt away from my chest and looked down. “I’m starting to think he’s obsessed with this brand. Or word. Can’t be sure. He does write poetry, you know.”
“He’s a poetic?”
I arched a brow. “You mean a poet?”
“Bollocks. Okay, so he’s a poet who writes poetry, and I’m guessing poetic is the, what? Adjective to this whole clusterfuck?”
I laughed. “Something like that.”
“I don’t get it,” Tyler shook her head.
The presence behind me was unmistakable, and like a magnetic force field, Ollie and I leaned into one another. His warmth surrounded me. His minted breath hit the tip of my ear.
“Tyler,” Ollie greeted.
“Oliver,” she nodded.
“You see what just happened?” he asked her.
Tyler lifted off the wall. “Huh?”
“I hadn’t touched her, yet she drifted to me as if her body recognized mine was near. We are on the same wavelength. Same rhythm. This,” Ollie danced a finger across the nape of my neck, “This is the meaning of poetic.”
“Oh,” Tyler sighed, blushing. “I bet he’s poetic in bed.” She wiggled her brows at me, and I dropped my head into my hand.
A giggle tickled my throat.
“Why are you laughing?” Ollie asked. He sat up with his bare back against the wall and notebook in his lap, tapping the end of his pencil over the paper.
“Oh, nothing.”
I returned to my paper in front of me at the desk and jotted another word. Another laugh threatened to come up, and I pinched my lips together to force it back down, but it was no use. A cackle escaped, and I leaned forward in my chair.
