Page 36 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“I would like to add,” I warned, looking at Sophie, “that not only does William live in the building, but his entire family does too. So it’s highly probable wemightrun into any of them, and I want you to be cool. No sudden squeaking, or asking for photographs, autographs, or anything of the sort.”
“Hey! What are you looking at me for?” Sophie complained.
“Sophie, come on,” Cecile said, tilting her head. We all laughed because even Sophie knew that was true.
As we walked back home, I received a text from Lily.
Lily: Hey, Billie! Joel’s not home right now. Wanna hang out?
Me:Hi! Sure. I’m a few blocks away. Two friends from Paris just got here a few hours ago. Do you mind if they join us?
Lily:Of course not! I’d love to meet them. Do you want to come up to my place?
Me:Sounds good. We’ll be right there in a few minutes.
“That was Lily. Joel’s girlfriend,” I said, slipping my phone back inside my purse. “She’s inviting us up to her apartment to hang out for a while. Do you feel up for it?”
“Yes!” Sophie replied instantly, almost breathlessly. Cecile shook her head at Sophie’s overexcited reaction but agreed to go too.
Sophie stopped at a magazine kiosk on our way back and quickly grabbed one off the rack and stared at the cover.
“Do you want to get that?” I asked, and that’s when I saw what Sophie was looking at:“WILLER: STRONGER THAN EVER!”
Willer? They had their couple nickname and everything?
A paparazzi photograph of William and Erin holding hands and walking down the street in what seemed like a European city accompanied the bold headline.
My blood dropped to my feet, and my breathing felt heavy—dense. Something resembling a heatstroke took over me. I couldn’t stop staring at the magazine cover.
“Sophie, drop it. Let’s go,” Cecile ordered.
Caleb approached us to ask if everything was okay.Now you’re worried?
“None of your business,Cohen,” I replied, walking off with Sophie and Cecile on each arm.
William,you son of a bitch! He made me believe it was over—that he was finding ithardto stay away from me. All along, he was texting me with one hand while holding Erin’s with the other.
I stormed to my apartment, and Caleb, not able to resist his busybody tendencies, followed us right up to my door.
“Miss Murphy, I—”
“That’ll be all, Cohen,” I cut him off and shut the door in his face.
We weren’t friends with Cohen. Not anymore.
“Billie, do you want to talk about it?” Cecile whispered as she placed her bag on the foyer table. I nodded and walked to the living room. Sophie and I dropped our bags on the coffee table, and the three of us sat to talk.
I was fuming and couldn’t recognize myself or understand why seeing those photographs affected me so much. And as much as I tried, I couldn’t make myself snap out of it.
Breathe.
“I had my doubts, but still, deep down, a huge part of me was hopeful.” I couldn’t even cry. I was infuriated. “How could I have been that stupid? To think that someone like himwould be interested in me?”
Cecile took a deep breath. They were both waiting for me to be done talking, but there wasn’t much left to say. I was embarrassed and felt like the most pathetic human to ever set foot on the planet.
“Fuck him,” Cecile muttered, squeezing my hand. “We’re here for you.”
“We should probably skip the party altogether.”
