Page 18 of Awestruck at Dusk
“You okay?” he asked with a frown but attempting to smile.
“Yes, perfect. Just slept in.”
“You look more like the kind of person who didn’t sleep at all rather than one who overslept.”
“Oh, thanks for the flattery,” I joked. “Do I look like shit then?” I didn’t have time to apply any makeup. And my eyes could’ve used a bit of concealer.
“No, Bee, come on. That’s not what I meant,” he said, looking embarrassed, his dark waves flying across his forehead. “I’m just—worried about you, okay? That’s all.”
“I’m fine. I swear,” I insisted. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the group. “You know you can talk to me. I know you tend to keep things to yourself. That you’re … reserved. But sometimes just talking aboutthingshelps a lot.”
I let out a breath of defeat. “I know. It’s just—it’s all been too overwhelming.”
“Are you still having nightmares?” he asked.
I nodded with my lips pressed into a line. I’d told him about my first nightmare at the hospital, and that got him worried.
“I just want to make sure you don’t have like—PTSD or something. That shit doesn’t go away by itself, Bee.”
Nolan’s dad was a war veteran. He knew what PTSD looked like. I would never compare his father’s experiences at war to what happened to me that night with Thomas. I was confident about being able to deal with it. Besides, I was talking to my therapist twice a week.
“Thank you. I swear I’m fine,” I kept lying. I’d already put everyone around me through a lot. I didn’t want to burden Nolan with my issues.
“Why don’t we get some coffee later today and talk?”
“Um, sure.” I smiled. “Why not.”Yes,to coffee.Always.
We joined our classmates, and Bryce, a girl from my class, approached us. It’s the only class I had with her, and I hadn’t seen her since before Spring break. She didn’t attend the week before.
“Hi, Billie!” she said, beaming.
“Hey, Bryce.” Our instructor led the way inside, and Bryce walked next to us as we followed the group, lagging in the back.
“You’re dating William Sjöberg, aren’t you?” she asked, her big, dark-brown eyes staring at me with intense curiosity.
What?
“Um, no. No, I’m not. Why would you think that?” I asked as a warm feeling boiled up in my stomach. Nerves. Nolan stared at me with awhat the fuckface.
“Oh girl, come on. You can tell me,” she said, placing her hand on my shoulder. “I saw the pictures of the premiere. I didn’t know you were friends with the Sjöbergs. That issocool.”
“Exactly, we’re just friends,” I replied, looking forward. The last thing I needed now was to have people spreading rumors about that. I knew the pictures were out in the world. And I still hadn’t talked to Nathan about it. I didn’t even know if he saw them or not.
“I saw you on a blog post in Haute Magazine’s website too,” she whispered as Miss Burgess, our instructor, explained a few things about what we were expected to do once inside. And I wanted to listen to that explanation. But Bryce wouldn’t shut up.
“Haute? I’m sure you confused me with someone else,” I replied, trying to listen to Miss Burgess speak.
“The pink Enzio de Luca suit with the moon? The short red hair? It was definitely you,” she kept saying, tucking her brown hair behind her ear. “You looked great, by the way. And with William looking at you like that … ugh.Pleasetell me you’re secretly dating, and I swear I won’t bother you again for the rest of the day. He’ssohot.”
Bryce pulled her phone out and took a selfie of us together.
“Bryce, what the hell?” Nolan whispered to her.
“I’m sorry, miss, I’m going to need you to step back,” Amena said out of nowhere with a commanding voice.
Shhhhit.
A few of our classmates turned around to see what was happening, but luckily Miss Burgess was now stepping into the theater, unaware of our interactions.
