Everyone thinks they know the whole story even when they had no part in it.
This year, Lillian Rose is driven to prove her ex boyfriend's hands aren't wrapped around her throat anymore. She's digging up parts of herself she's long forgotten about...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I stand at my mirror, watching the girl in front of me with judgment in her face. Her hair reaches her shoulders, and I watch her hand twist around the ghosts of her longer locks where they used to reach at the middle of her back. She wears a plain grey crewneck and black ripped jeans.
None of the clothes I wear are Hunter's, that I made sure of. After yesterday, when Stella came over to bring leftover carnitas, she helped clear out my entire closet and make sure everything was either Axel's or mine. It took a few hours, but when we finished, I felt cleaner.
"You're safe," I whisper to the girl, watching her eyes blink. "He's not here anymore. He was never here."
But he was, because even after scrubbing myself clean and going to bed, the familiar grip of nightmares haunted my dreams.
"Is Axel grounded?" Stella interrupts me and walks into my bedroom, dressed up, ready to go. Her sunglasses hold back dark hair at the top of her head, the curls spilling over her brown crop top. Grey cargo pants reach up to the silver ring on her belly button.
"Yeah," I nod, grimacing. I was present in the conversation my parents held, trying to defend my twin as much as I could. "Mom's only letting him go out with us if he hangs out at the shop and works a shift."
My mom's bookstore was passed down through the family since my great-grandpa had bought the place. The shop was next door to an independent cafe, and deals were usually made to share profit between the two shops. Axel and I had started working there when we were fourteen, and it became our hangout place on the weekends when staying at home was too plain or we had shifts before plans.
"I heard the screaming from across the street," Stella continues to talk while I look for my wallet, "You guys got home later than Damian and I, so we were inside when I heard your dad."
I pause my search to turn to her. If they could hear, how many others did? "Did you look out the window?"
She shakes her head and reaches my desk, lifting my wallet. "Damian already got texts from Ax, so he just told me the basics."
I sigh, ignoring the navy blue zip-up hanging from my chair. I've yet to give it back, and every time I almost do, I panic. "Axel wasn't in trouble when we left. Dad was pissed he got called in, but whatever they were telling Axel was bad enough for Dad to let it go."
Wincing, Stella nods. While I was deep in my head, she heard every word spewed from Colton and Shane's mouth. I unplug my phone and slip it into my back pocket, glancing around for anything else. "Axel basically swore at Dad when he said he could have handled it better." We leave my room and walk out the front door. Dad's likely somewhere in his office and Mom's at the shop. Axel and Damian are already situated in Stella's car. "He expects too much from Axel," I end with.
It felt like all Dad's anger toward Cardan had been carried onto Axel's shoulders, doubling the amount of weight he already had by playing baseball. Years of arguing for him to choose something other than baseball as a passion led to nothing but disappointment as my twin played harder.
