[COMPLETE]
When Hanna Haddad embarks on what's supposed to be another uneventful summer as a lifeguard on Cape Cod, a trip to the past comes as an unnerving surprise. The discovery of her estranged mother's journal opens up the world of tragedy and...
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At eight-thirty the next morning, I found Stella sitting in our chair, knees pulled up to her chest, petite body enveloped in a sweatshirt nearly three times her normal size.
I didn't need a verbal explanation to know her broken state had something to do with Alex. My stomach churned when I realized that he had either broken up with her or some misconstrued story had floated around to her about the kiss the night before or worse...both.
Her black beach waves interlocked in a fraying bun, and her cheeks were blotchy when she lifted her face. Any prior sadness morphed into seething anger when she saw me.
"I feel so pathetic, Hanna," she choked out, dragging the backs of her hands against her wet cheeks. "I should've just broken up with him first. Do you know degrading it is to have your relationship end over text?" She fished her phone from her sweatshirt pocket, grumbling a few curses. Unlocking it, she opened up her messages app and thrust the screen into my line of vision. "Just look at it!"
"Stella, I think it'd be best if we ended things. I don't know about you, but as for me, it's over," I read, my jaw dropping a little more with every word. I may have accused him of lying yesterday, but this kind of brutal honesty was another level of low. "The asshole can't even talk to you in person after yesterday?"
Her head popped up. "What do you mean 'yesterday'?"
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Maybe she hadn't heard the gossip from that party after all.
"It's a little complicated—"
"Hanna."
"Stella, I need you to—" I couldn't even begin my warning out of fear of her burning glare, the amber tones in her brown eyes morphing into raging flames. Pressing my lips together, I thought for a few seconds about how I should approach this topic and decided to go with good-old-fashioned honesty.
"I saw Alex at my next-door neighbor's house party yesterday. I didn't even expect to run into him, so we spent a few minutes talking. Something was off about him—the way he was looking at me, getting so close, and then.... Then, he kissed me."
"Wait, wait, hold on, he kissed you?" Her eyebrows formed a continuous line. "What happened after that?"
My hand gravitated to my chest, my heart still thumping in the same erratic way. Stop getting so worked up over this, Hanna. "I worry you'd think I'm making this up at this point."
"For God's sake, Hanna, just tell me. Could it get worse anyway? It's not like you're gonna tell me the two of you went inside and banged!" She clutched her stomach and winced, lurching forward. "Okay, that thought makes me want to barf."
I felt a little bile slide up my throat at the idea as well. "Actually, what really happened was Jesse slammed Alex against a window and sent one nice clean punch to his face. Weirdest of all, Alex didn't even hit him back."
