Silent Sins ✓ ( book 1) Editing in Progress

Chapter 20

The air is still and warm around Banks' university. A bead of sweat runs down my forehead and clothes stick to me like sodden laundry. Hair frizzling with the humidity, I gape mindlessly at the sky.

The white clouds dissipate, and orange hues drown the city. Among the sea of blue skies, the beginnings of silver flares dance boldly into the night.

They look so free. So small.

Where most of us require a voice to be significant in this world, stars are incredibly silent. A thing admired from afar on nights that feel too oppressive to handle. It becomes a moment where no problems exist other than the little balls of hope that sprinkle the atmosphere when the sun goes down.

Hope.

"Amara," Camila calls out, racing across the parking lot in frantic small legged strides.

"Amara. Amara," Camila stops dead before me, shaking my shoulders.

The wind gusts against my damp skin, and the world comes crashing down. I let my eyes drop to her pale brown ones. The ones I learned to trust years ago. And in this instant, I lose my battle and collide against her. With the sleep deprivation, split parents, nightmares, drama, Mr Lorenzo. I'm suffocating. I'm suffocating to a point where I don't know if I'm alive anymore.

"I-"

She wraps her arms around me, silencing me. "Just listen."

All I hear is white noise. Tears blur my vision and I gravel for a deep breath. It does nothing to fill the void in my chest.

I'm broken.

"Look at me." Camila demands.

I close my eyes, shutting out the world. The bright stars and orange skies. "What's wrong with me?" I whisper.

"Nothing," she breathes. But there's panic in her voice. "Nothing is wrong with you."

"He came onto me"

"Who?" Her voice drops with horror.

"Greg. If you didn't- if you hadn't come in time-"

"Amara," She whispers.

I shake my head vigorously and cry out in the middle of the empty parking lot.

The birds are all trapped in midair; the world suspended and shattered beneath the layers. Everything is black and white.

"I'm so sorry." Her voice shakes. "Fuck. This is my fault. I should have never-" She buries her face in the crook of my neck. "I didn't know."

I saw this coming a long time ago. I kept everything in. It was only a matter of time before I uncoiled and uncovered everything. We hold each other, lost in our own despair.

Mr Lorenzo's threat and games are over. I'm sure he's got what he wanted. He ruined my life and my grades took the blow for it. It was smart, because he didn't directly jeopardise them, but ruined every other thing in my life to achieve it.

Another lesson learned. I didn't get into the car and he threatened to ruin my career.

So here I stand, and he doesn't even have the guts to tell me the truth behind why it all began. I refuse to believe he picked me by chance.The only reasonable reason I can come up with is; he wants Crowned Enterprise for himself.

I fed off his company like a leach. I can hardly tell left from right.

I'm certain of one thing now. I'm not scared to expose him, or to uncover what he's hiding. Being a victim of his torment hasn't weakened me. It just broke me. But I can put the pieces back together. I owe that to myself.