Bully // l.h. // Book 1 of Bully Series

15. Kylee's Story

I glanced around the guest room in Luke's house, glad that Liz hadn't been home when I arrived. I wasn't expecting her to be, though. She did work at a school. Which, despite the fact that I wasn't in one currently, was still in session for the day.

To put it bluntly, the room was a bit trashed. After walking the entire way back to Luke's house, I had gone straight to the room and began throwing things around in frustration. I was almost absolutely positive my make-up was streaked down my face, and I had scraped my arm against the desk's corner. Instead of grabbing a bandage for the bleeding cut, I had simply just let it bleed. Which is why I was now standing in the center of the room, picking at the various places on my skin that now had streaks of dried blood on them.

I wasn't even frustrated with Luke. He clearly had every reason to yell at me for what I did. Even if I didn't know what I was doing as I was doing it. I was frustrated with myself. How had I not recognized that Luke was Kylee's boyfriend? It was practically spelled out in the damn journal. His house was in the center of all of his friends'. She referred to Michael, Luke, and Calum as 'the boys'. So did Megan and Taryn. Granted, it was a common phrase to use when referring to a group of males, but still.

Then, my thoughts moved on to the phrase that had prompted my early departure from school. You don't know the first thing about loss. God, how wrong Luke was. I knew everything about loss. I knew what it was like to be around people and still lose them. My dad was a perfect example of that. He wasn't dead or gone, but I'd still lost him. I knew what it was like to have someone choose to leave you as well as have to leave someone behind. Loss was no stranger to me.

"Dammit." I muttered angrily as I felt tears begin to slip down my cheeks again. I jumped when the front door banged open, followed immediately by a loud argument.

"Are you serious, Luke? Dammit you're so ridiculous! Please tell me you're lying to me." Ashton's voice snapped.

"No, that's exactly what happened." Calum. I crept towards the bedroom door, listening to their argument as the group went into the living room.

"She read Kylee's journal! Used her words in that song!" Luke defended. I heard a loud groan from Ashton.

"That's not what I'm talking about, mate. I don't care about that!" Ashton retorted.

"Then why are you even mad, Ash?" Michael asked, his voice fairly quiet in comparison to his friends'.

"Luke and his big fucking mouth, that's why! If you said what Calum told me you said, she might never forgive you." I stepped out of the room silently, moving towards the stairs as their conversation suddenly became quieter. I followed their voices, realizing they were headed towards the basement. Careful to stick to the left side of the stairs, I followed behind them, glad they'd left the basement door open. I snuck down a few steps before sitting and continuing to eavesdrop.

"What do you mean?" Luke's voice sounded skeptical and a bit—what was the word—worried, maybe? I heard Ashton let out another sigh, and I imagined him running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"You told her she doesn't know a thing about loss, Luke. And you're absolutely wrong. If anything, it's the exact opposite for her." He said. I stifled a sob as Ashton continued. "You loved Kylee, and she loved you. You knew that she loved you." He explained.

"What has that got to do with anything?" Luke snapped. "She's still gone."

"Yeah, but her death was an accident. Daeyna's mum chose to leave her. Hell, even her dad left her." Ashton's words were followed by a chorus of murmurs from Michael and Calum as they realized that Ashton was right. This time, I didn't do as well in muffling the sob. It echoed down the stairs as a high-pitched squeak, causing all noise from the boys downstairs to cease. Suddenly I could see all four boys at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. My eyes widened as I stood up, hastily backing up the steps.