Chapter 1
Lisa
I can’t live like this anymore.
The thought comes quietly, but it lands hard enough to make my hands shake. The coffee mug slips from my fingers as I try to place it in the dishwasher. It hits the floor and shatters, pieces scattering across the kitchen tile.
I stare at it for a second too long before the first tear rolls down my cheek.
Then I sink into the brown chair by the dining table and let myself cry.
How did I get here?
My hands are shaking when I pick up my phone and scroll for Anna’s number. I hate myself for what I’m going to do to her, to my brother, to my life. I just can’t take it anymore.
With the tears still in my eyes, I can barely see what is on my screen. Anna is in my favorites, so I call her without looking.
“Hello, hello,” she says happily as she picks up the phone.
“Hey,” I say, my voice rougher than I want it to be.
“Are you ok?” Anna asks right away with concern in her tone.
“I think I need to leave,” I say softly. “I am done. I can’t do this anymore.”
“I’m there in five,” Anna says, and before I can say anything, she hangs up. I smile through the tears while pieces of the broken coffee cup still surround me.
I haven’t moved since I called Anna when there’s a soft knock on the door.
“About time,” is all Anna says as she steps into the house and holds me tight.
“Why did it take me so long?” I laugh through the tears.
“I think you, Millers, are stubborn,” Anna laughs with me. Anna’s been my friend for about a year now. We met a week after I moved here and hit it off right away. Anna moved from New Jersey, and we bonded over feeling homesick.
“I could argue that, but that only proves your point,” I chuckle.
“So what did he do this time?” Anna asks as she walks to the kitchen. I can see her look at the coffee cup, discarded all over the floor. She doesn’t even say anything and starts picking up the pieces.
“Thanks,” I say softly as embarrassment forms on my cheek in a bright shade of red.
“Talk to me,” she says while she looks up and smiles.
“He left for the game this morning. I looked at his suitcase and saw a thong that wasn’t mine,” I say, picturing the bright red fabric like it’s burned into my brain.
“Did you say something?” Anna asks as she throws the cup's remains in the trash.
“I confronted him. I asked him why he had another girl’s underwear in his suitcase,” I go on as tears form in my eyes again. I try to fight them by swallowing hard. “He said I overreacted.”
“Excuse me?” Anna says sassily as she pours us both a coffee.
“Right? He said he needed to relax, and since I didn’t want to travel with him, he didn’t have a choice,” I explain further.
“You are joking? This is his response after everything you told him last time?” Anna’s voice rises from disbelief.
“And then he had the guts to tell me it doesn’t matter anyway. The house is in his name, I don’t have a job, and according to him, I have nowhere to go.” I look up at Anna.“Can you believe that?” Saying the words out loud makes me feel sick. To be treated like that by someone who is supposed to love you feels sickening.
“I want to freaking punch him,” Anna says angrily, and I smile. She has always looked out for me. Last time James cheated on me, she already told me to get out. I should’ve listened.
