The Halo Effect | ✓

41 | yours

E P I G R A P H

❝Sometimes we outgrow where we are into the
place that we are meant to be.❞

☾ forty one | yours ☽

IT IS EXACTLY one week until Christmas day. Two weeks until New Year's Eve and approximately nineteen hours until my father marries his soon to be wife and six days until Holt turns eighteen.

He threw the party as he spoke about doing, in fact, it is exactly eleven o'clock on a Sunday night and I am sitting on Holt's living room couch, bored out of my mind as I attended his party, just to make him happy.

Don't get me wrong, Holt throws a great party, but I came here to see him almost two hours ago and he is still yet to make an appearance, I have seen Esme, Ace, and Mason, but no boyfriend anywhere, though I am sure that he is just busy occupying his large amount of guests.

Tonight is a strange night for me and I am sure it is for Holt too. It is the two-year anniversary of Everest's death and I suppose that is why so many people showed up, everyone adored Everest, myself included, so I suppose everyone is celebrating his life.

I sipped on the contents of my cup, leaning back against the couch as I watched the crowd in front of me dance.

Luckily Mr. and Mrs. Stone are gone for the entire Christmas break, because this is going to take forever to clean up, but I cannot help but feel sympathetic towards Holt considering his parents are away in New York, living it up whilst Holt spends both his birthday—and brothers birthday—and Christmas alone, oh, and not to mention his own twins day of passing.

I do hope that he is okay, I can only imagine how hard this day is for him each year, I just hope that he is not doing something stupid.

These past few days have been good, but tense. With dad preparing for the wedding, Santana, Aubrey, and I searching for the perfect bridesmaid dresses and Holt being down, I know that this time of year must be hard for him, but he's a strong boy, I know he'll be okay.

I stood up, leaving my now empty cup behind as I pushed my way through all the sweaty dancing bodies and headed upstairs, in desperate need to use a toilet as I pushed the bathroom door open and entered, emptying my bladder before flushing the toilet and washing my hands, when suddenly the bathroom door flew open and I was thankful that I had finished.

In walked Xavier and instantly, I felt an extreme sense of déjà vu.

"Excuse me." I seethed as I tried to shove past him, but he walked in and closed the door behind him, his tall and broad frame blocking any chance I had of escaping.

He shook his head, licking his lips as he stepped forward, kicking the door shut behind him. Instinctively, I stepped back, being backed up against the wall next to the toilet.

"You're excused, sugar." he said with a smirk.

Rather he said that naturally, or he was purposely trying to recreate the exact events of which happened two years ago, those exact words exiting his lips and we were in this exact position too.

He brought his hand up to enclose it around my throat and stared down at me in attempts to seem seductive, but regardless of his somewhat decent looks, his personality was hideous, ruining any chance of me—and probably many other girls—ever seeing anything more in him than a disgusting human that should end up behind bars.

"Two years ago, we were in this exact position, huh?" he grinned evilly, "Maybe this time I'll actually have my way with you."

I grabbed his hand which was around my throat before digging my nails into his skin, earning a pained screech from him as he hissed, his wrist holding indents from my nails.