Page 79 of The Fate Of Us

“Addy…” I sighed, a laugh that held not one ounce of humour hanging in the little space between us. A quick scan of the floor made it obvious how I’d been tugged towards her without realising it. “You can’t say that. We both know it’s a lie!”

She looked defeated, her hands raising in defeat. “Alright, maybe there was a time when Ihad a crush on him. Maybe I was curious about him. But the second I realised that the spark I felt for him was nowhere near close to the fire that burned for you, I never thought of him like that again.”

Only inches separated us now. “Addy, I—”

“No… no, you have one more thing to answer me.” I shut my mouth. “How does…” Hereyelids flutter shut, another tear slipping between the cracks. She wiped it before I could. “How does this book exist? If I lost the original after I left home, how does this… how is every word here?”

I couldn’t tell her that without telling her everything.

I couldn’t tell her how I’d gotten a copy without telling her Iwasthere the day I promisedto meet her.

But that didn’t matter. Not anymore. Because I don’t think I could go a second longerknowing I’m killing that love she promised to always have for me.

I couldn’t turn her words into a lie.

I brushed the pad of my thumb across her tear-ridden cheek, gliding over and wipingaway the years of hurt I’d caused her by keeping my mouth shut.

Not anymore.

“I have it because I was there—”

A repetitive ringtone erupts from the side of Addy, in the pocket of her… my… sweats.

Her hand dives in and slips out her phone, and almost like all the sun had vanished fromthe room, her face falters.

“It’s Goldie,” she breathes, panic coating her voice. “I had three missed calls from herthis morning—”

“Addy, answer it, it’s fine,” I reassured her, my hand raising to her shoulder and a softsmile tugging at the corners of my mouth like we weren’t just arguing a second ago.

She nods, more for herself than me, but I nod back, urging her to answer. She does, as sheswipes the screen and lifts the phone to her ear. “Goldie? Hey, what’s up?”

I can vaguely hear Goldie’s muffled voice, although it sounds nothing like the Marigold Ilast saw. Pigtails and a voice as sweet as honey, always in a dress, and always parading around her front yard with a pearly smile, even when she lost her first baby tooth right in the centre that made her 'r's sounds like 'w's'.

I knew Goldie had fallen right onto the pedestal her parents made for their daughters thesecond Addy left. Taken the child-star crown made out of gold and ridiculous expectations. I know for a fact Addy feels guilty about it. She told me, one day at the pier, that she’d stay if it meant her parents wouldn’t expose Goldie to the same warped childhood that she’d had. Told me that protecting her sister from meeting the fate that she did meant more to her than claiming her freedom.

I told her to be selfish for once and leave the first chance she got.

And she did.

But I know that guilt’s been eating away at her, probably since the moment she left. Ididn’t have to wait for her to confess that to know it was true. She’d mastered from an early age to hide her emotions from the world, fearful of what eyes were on her, and when. But with me, she knew she didn’t have to keep one of her many masks on.

Not with me.

Over the years, she’s done her best to keep her expressions neutral. Unreadable. But herfacade cracked once or twice, like it’s doing now. Fiery globes were as wide as I’d ever seen them, and the rosiness that lived in her cheeks drained. Something that I couldn’t work out, whether it was from happiness or pure terror, was written across every inch of her face.

“Goldie, honey, slow down. Start from the beginning,” she rushed, as calmly as shecould. She paced over to the couch, where her books were still scattered, perching on the very edge. Her free hand, shaking like a frail branch being caught by a harsh breeze, rose to her face, cupping her cheek like holding it would keep her head upright.

I took a step or two closer to her, taking another when I saw she wasn’t hesitating.

“Are you serious? But they can’t—” She stopped talking, Goldie’s voice interrupting herflow. “Have you told them about college?” She asks, her hand falling from her cheeks and gripping her thigh, her left foot tapping to the same beat I guessed her heart was.

The phone fell from her ear, only for a moment, as she whispered,“Thosemotherfuckers,”under her breath, only for herself to hear.

“No, no, I won’t let them do this to you, Gold’s,” her eyes caught mine as her head lifted;a second long warning look, that whatever Goldie was frantically saying, it was far from good news.

“I’ll be there in two weeks, Goldie. Two weeks, and I’ll come straight over and we’ll sortthis whole thing out!” The sun peaks through the clouds the moment her head falls forward, illuminating the silent tears that had slipped in the moment since she looked at me. My heart breaks as I follow the first one, then latch on to the second, only to lose count as more start to fall.

“If anything else happens, call me. Anytime, you know that.” I hear her say as I make myway to the entry table for some tissues. “I love you, honey. I can’t wait to give you a hug.”

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