Page 104 of Heartstruck at Dawn
Why am I still standing here?
My limbs were paralyzed.
I bit the corner of my bottom lip so hard I could feel the coppery taste of the tiny drop of blood that leaked out of my broken skin and made contact with my tongue.
She has to say no.She has a boyfriend!She keeps forgetting—
“Sure! I’d love to!” Nina accepted with an overexcited grin. “Do you know how to play Für Elise?”
He turned to look at me and replied to her, “It’s your lucky day.”
Nina disappeared into William’s apartment and shouted from the inside, “I’ll see you in a bit, Billie!”
William shut the door behind him, and I stormed away into my apartment. He hadn’t even been back for more than a few hours, and he had already found a new and efficient way to torture me.
How would I forget about him when he did things like these? I’m sure he was just taunting me.But what if he actually liked her?
I promised myself I would be happy for him if he found someone he liked. I had to. Maybe that someone was Nina.
Please don’t let it be Nina!
Happy was not a feeling I could relate to at the moment. I was enraged. Utterly infuriated.
CJ shouted from the kitchen, “Nina! Is that you?”
Nina,Nina,Nina.
“No! It’s Billie! I’m going to take a shower!”
“Where is she? She was supposed to help me out with the salad!”
Sadly,saladwas the last thing on Nina’s mind right now.
“Who knows! I think you should call her!”Pull her out of William’s apartment,too,while you’re at it.
Please?
I was going to start hyperventilating any minute now.
Breeeeeathe.
I jumped in the shower and counted to ten, but that never actually works, does it? I never even got to five. I tried to think happy thoughts instead, but they all included different ways of dragging Nina out of William’s apartment.
Ugh!
Why was it always her? I never told her anything about what happened with William. She wasn’t trying to hurt me or anything like that. But she was the meanest flirt machine ever!
And William … I didn’t even want to think about him. But all I could see was that look on his face before he disappeared off into his apartment—withher.
I rinsed my hair while various thoughts invaded my mind:What are they doing?What are they talking about?Is he making her laugh?Is he playing the piano for her?Is she touching him?
I stepped out of the shower feeling defeated. My stomach felt weird. Hollow.
Wait.
I ran to the toilet and threw up nothing but bile.
What is wrong with me?
