Page 69 of Midnight Between Us
There’s that name again.
Lyndon.
Her voice, lighter than I’ve heard it in years, saying someone else’s name like it means home.
Saying his name almost the same way she used to say mine.But that’s not where we are.That’s not who I am to her anymore.
If I ever was.
I shift my focus, trying to steer away from thoughts that could drag me under.The pain in my knee pulses, sharp and grounding.I limp toward the far wall of the library and crouch down in front of the lowest shelf.My hand closes around the edge of the book I’ve left untouched for years—its cover loose, pages swollen from time and guilt.
Behind it is the box.
I pull it out slowly, careful not to let it scrape too loud against the wood.I’m not sure whyI’m doing this.Maybe I hope that there’s a solution to my problems.Probably the only thing that might stop me from imagining all the ways I could rearrange this Lyndon guy’s face.
And maybe—just maybe—give me a clue as to how I can start making amends.
I lift the lid and untie the ribbon knowing that there’s no way back.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Keir,
You left.
No goodbye.
Not even a note telling me where to find you when I finally get out of this hellhole.
We made plans.
Okay—you made plans.But I always hoped we’d go together.
What happened to being the only ones who understood each other?
What happened to “midnight belongs to us”?
You never said it, but I thought you felt it too.
I know you did.
KT, you left me.
And now I don’t know what to do.I had something to tell you but I was waiting until we were away from everyone.Being here isn’t safe anymore.I ...I don’t want to become my mother just as you don’t want to become your father.
If I can’t get ahold of you, I might just run away.I can’t stay.I’m afraid of what will happen to me.Please come back for me.
Love,
Sims
ChapterTwenty-Six
Keir
This letter...it’s not what I expected.Instead of folding it carefully, I read it again.
I thought it would be angry.Cold.Perhaps a more dramatic closing, such as “never contact me again.”But this?It’s scary.Obviously, she says it right there, but it reads like someone unraveling, trying to hold on.To me.
