Page 137 of Scarred in Silence
I pause.
“No. Not even from me.”
Evelyn smiles, and it feels like old times—like dance parties in her room with cheap wine and bad decisions waiting at the door.
“Lucien did good,” she says, then lifts a mug into view. “To redemption arcs, real love, and the hottest diamond I’ve ever seen. Cheers.”
“Cheers,” I echo, clinking my water bottle to the screen.
A pause stretches between us, soft and unspoken.
“I’m proud of you, Astra.”
My chest tightens.
“I know,” I whisper. “I’m finally proud of myself, too.”
* * *
The morning sunlight is too soft for how loud my thoughts are.
Lucien’s already gone, said he had something to “handle,” and kissed my shoulder before slipping out. I didn’t ask where. Maybe I should’ve. But it’s easier to pretend everything’s normal when you don’t chase the shadows around the edges.
I sit on the couch, legs tucked under me, phone in my lap. My finger hovers over the name I haven’t called in months.
Harmony.
It’s not as if we ever spoke daily. She’s not that kind of friend. But even when she disappeared for stretches of time, she always came back with a text, a meme, a song lyric that only made sense to us.
But this time… It’s been silent.
I presscallanyway.
The phone rings once.
Twice.
Three times.
“Come on,” I whisper.
Four.
Five.
Straight to voicemail.
“Hey, it’s Harmony. Don’t be weird—leave a message or don’t.”
Her voice punches me in the ribs. It sounds older now. Like someone I used to know instead of someone I still do.
The beep echoes, and I stare at the screen, not ready to speak.
Then I end the call.
No message.
I don’t know what I’d say anyway.
