“The other night at your sister’s place,” I say, my voice thick with sarcasm. Honestly, it’s been almost a week since I showered, but I’m also trying not to get arrested.
He glares at me, and I guess he does have a sister. “As if my sister would spend time with scum like you.”
I stand up to look around them to see if there’s anyone who might see if this escalates, giving them the perfect opportunity to grab for my bag when I’m moving it to my back. “What’s in here? Drugs?” The one grabbing it sneers, and I tighten my grip. I can’t lose my bag. It’s all I have left from home, and I’m not giving it to these assholes.
“Fuck off. That’s mine,” I say, trying to pull it from his grip.
His mouth curls upward in a cruel smile. “Oh, so there’s something important in here?”
“Leave me alone.” I’m so focused on not letting go of the bag, I miss his buddy coming up to shove me from behind. I lose my balance, falling forward down the steps. I’m forced to let go of my grip on the bag to catch myself, but there’s not enough time for me to protect my head. There’s a sickening crack as the side of my face catches the edge of the last concrete stair, and everything goes dark.
I’m pulled from my dream with a sharp gasp. My heart races in my chest, and fear has me gripped tight in its claws as I try to remember where I am.
There’s moonlight coming through the curtains, enough to cast a glow across my room for me to know I’m home.
Subconsciously, my hand drifts up to gingerly touch the scar left behind. When I woke up after cracking my head open, it looked like they’d dropped my bag after I fell and ran. I was lucky they missed my actual eye, even if it didn’t feel like that way at the time.
I spent weeks waiting for them to come back.
Forget about them, Bailey. You’re home. No one can reach you here.
I drag my hands over my face, groaning before I shove the covers off me. They can’t reach me here, but the nightmares can still haunt me.
Walking toward my bathroom, I kick off my shorts to step into the shower after turning it as cold as it can go. It burns against my skin, a hiss escaping my mouth before I can choke it back. I stand there, bracing my hands against the wall as the water hits my back until it becomes unbearable.
I wait until my brain is numb, unable to focus on anything except how fucking cold I am at the moment. Which is what I want, but it still fucking sucks. I wish I could just forget all of it ever happened.
But it would also mean forgetting Javi, and this is always the part that makes me falter because who knows where he would be now if we hadn’t found each other. Now he’ll have a home with Henry and Mirabelle, and despite all the pain my choices caused, there was good that came of it. When I stayed at Carter’s, everything was fine until . . . it wasn’t.
I clench my jaw, refusing to go down that dead end, but my teeth are chattering. Catching a glimpse of myself in themirror, I notice how different I look after coming home—especially in the way I carry myself.
I’ll never again be the kid sleeping against a building in a position where others can hurt me.
But I see the part of myself that hasn’t changed. The part that Luna saw and still loved despite the layers of flaws and filth. I have no idea what time it is, but before I can stop myself, I’m calling her.
“I thought spam calls were only allowed during business hours,” Luna sounds unenthused when she answers, which I can’t really blame her for.
“This isBoobs R Uscalling for a Luna in the sky?” I joke, hoping she can’t hear how shaken I am still by the nightmare.
She barks a short laugh. “Really? That’s the best you came up with after calling at two a.m.? You’re lucky I’m still up.”
“I never claimed to be smart,” I say, moving to sit on the edge of my bed. “Why are you still awake?”
“You’ve tried and failed many times, B. I should have gone to bed hours ago, but one episode of my show turned into binging all of them, and now here I am answering your call. Instead of teasing me with your little joke about my name, why don’t you tell me why you’re calling in the middle of the night instead of during the hours of the living?”
“I had a nightmare, and there’s been a lot that’s happened since our last call.”
“I’m impressed with how fast you actually admitted the truth,” Luna says, and I roll my eyes, despite the fact she can’t see me do it. “Are you wanting me to listen or are you wanting me to tell you all the ways I think you’re an idiot?”
“I thought I wanted you to respond, but not if you’re going to call me an idiot while you do it,” I grumble, dragging a hand through my wet hair. “Did I do the right thing by coming back?”
Surprisingly, Luna is out of quick responses. It’s a rare occasion when I render her speechless.
“Lu?”
“Why are you second-guessing going back? I thought things were going well?”
I think that’s part of the problem. “They are. I’m just worried about how things will be if everything’s out in the open. I don’t want to hurt them, but I can tell I still am by not giving them answers.”
