Page 255 of Ominous: Part 1
I think I might throw up. I don’t speak for fear of it.
I hear Amanda clear her throat. I can’t see her because he’s too close to me.
Do you remember? Do you? Do you? Do you?
The words are screaming in my brain, clawing beneath my skin, but if he remembers, it’s nothing more than the whisper of a thought in his mind. It isn’t plagued with anything so trivial as guilt.
I smile at him, coming back to life.
“It’s good to see you,” I lie. “Sebastian is doing well.” I lie some more. “Send him a text, he’s not much for phone calls.”
Zach grins, the faintest hint of a moustache drooping over his upper lip. He still has his hands on my shoulders, and his thumbs are running circles by the crease of my underarm. I can feel his smooth fingers on my skin, where my shirt has slipped down my arm.
I don’t move.
“It’s so good to see you,” he lies. “Where are you now, anyway?”
“She lives in Raleigh,” Amanda says, saying the name of my relocated city like a slur. “She goes to a fancy private school.”
Zach arches a thin brow. “No shit?”
“No shit.” I repeat his words without the question mark. I’m hot all over, and I want to check my texts, and I want to go home. I don’t want to stay at the hotel anymore.
I want my mom.
Zach pulls me in again.
His hands trail lower this time, to my hips. I bite the inside of my cheek as I’m suffocating against his chest.
“Don’t forget about us country folk when you make it big,” he says into my hair. His fingertips are over the curve of my ass.
I pull away, softly, like I mean him no offense. I take another step back as his hands come to his sides, and I don’t miss the disappointment in his gaze.
Amanda comes to stand by him, glancing at me before she loops her arm through his, the bangle of her bracelet slipping up to the crease of her elbow. I wonder if he bought or stole it for her.
He messes with his hat again, slipping it off his head then pushing it back on the way people do when they’re too hot.
“Come over,” Amanda says, love drunk. There’s a slight smile on her lips, and she’s hanging off of him more than holding onto him.
He scrubs a hand over his face. “I will, baby,” he lies. Liars know liars so well. “Just let me finish up here, all right?” He darts his eyes my way.
I step back again, but I smile at him. He returns it and my skin crawls.
I had bruises on my arms for days afterward. I couldn’t sleep for a full night for months. I’d wake up, thinking someone was in my room. I pushed my dresser in front of it every night. I moved it back every morning, so Mom wouldn’t know anything was wrong.
I look at my phone, unlocking it and reading Eli’s texts.
Him: Do you think it would help if I had dinner at your house? You’ll have to invite me, though. Probably wouldn’t look so great if I invited myself.
Him: What’re you doing, baby girl?
Another one comes through, just now.I hope you’re having fun with your mom. I miss you. Tuesday was fucking amazing. I like when you call me baby.
I text him back as Amanda and Zach work out when they’re going to see each other next, although I have a feeling it won’t be tonight, despite what he’s saying.
Me: I wish you were here, baby.
I don’t have to wait long for his reply.
