How could we let this happen?
I try to remind myself that this is what he wanted, that getting away from Haven Falls and the pressure being put on him by his parents is a good thing. Also, that giving Tully the space she needs to move on is in her best interest, but I can’t because deep down I know that when he comes back in a year, maybe two, he’s going to be a whole new person and that person is still going to be madly in love with my best friend.
She’ll never move on from that intense kind of love. All he’s doing is depriving her of feeling and acting on something so strongly within her. If she’s lucky enough to find someone new, she’s never going to be able to love him completely because her heart has already been given away. She’s forever going to compare the men in her life to Samuel Rivers and it’s going to kill her each and every time she does it.
Me though? I feel as though I only just found my brother and he’s already left me, just like everyone else in my life. The woman I thought was my mom, Gina Rivers, then Kaylah and Jackson, and now my very own brother is gone.
I’m so damn lucky to have Dad, Ari, Noah, and Tully in my life. They make me stronger and without them, I’d be a shell of the woman I’ve grown into. Without them, I’d be that girl that I used to be, the one who would tear down bitches in the cafeteria, the one who didn’t believe she was worthy of being loved. I hated that girl.
Violet chats away at the table, trying her hardest to help us all see that this is a blessing in disguise, but none of us are there yet and I have no doubt that once we’re gone, she’ll probably break down herself.
We get cleaned up after breakfast and get on our way to school. Dad took Aria, knowing that I wouldn’t be in any mood to do anything today. He had called me earlier to check in and was pleased to hear that we still had plans to go to school.
So here we are, all sitting in Noah’s Camaro, staring up at the school that none of us feel like walking inside of. “Come on,” Noah finally says, being the first out of the three of us to utter a word since watching that taxi disappear over the hill. “Let’s get this over and done with.”
Tully sighs from behind me and leans forward into the front and checks her reflection in Noah’s rearview mirror, patting down under her eyes and taking in how swollen and puffy they appear due to the past few hours of constant crying. “Just keep your head down,” I murmur. “No one’s going to know.”
“I know,” she grumbles, taking her bag and stepping out of the Camaro.
Noah and I follow suit, and he takes my hand as we head up to the school, dreading today like never before.
Who would have thought that watching him leave would have hurt so much? It didn’t feel like this before but that probably has something to do with the fact that we thought he’d betrayed us, betrayed me. But that’s simply not the case.
We make our way into the school and head down to my locker. Noah stays right by my side, but Tully continues, not in the mood for small talk. She stops by her locker and makes herself busy, finding her books and the things she’ll need for her first class, despite the bell not having sounded yet.
I put in the combination for my locker and open it up before jamming everything inside. “Hey, I thought you guys would be chilling out with Rivers today,” Aiden says way too cheerfully from behind me. “Isn’t it his last day or something like that?”
Aiden leans into the locker beside me and I turn to face him, realizing that Spencer is here too. “Nah,” I say quietly. “He, ah…took off again early this morning.”
My words are Noah’s undoing and a second later, I hear the sound of his heavy fist slamming into a locker before he takes off down the hallway and straight out the doors we had just come through.
Spencer cringes watching him leave but it’s Aiden who speaks up. “Shouldn’t you go after him?”
I shake my head. “He just needs a little space. He’ll be alright after he’s calmed down.” I look between their two massive shoulders and peer at Tully by her locker. “It’s her I’m worried about.”
At that, both Spencer and Aiden turn to take her in and when Aiden goes to make a move, Spencer places a hand on his shoulder. “Let me,” he tells his cousin.
Aiden nods and we both watch as Spencer takes off down the hallway. He falls in beside her and not a second later, Tully falls into his arms as sobs tear from her throat. Spencer leads her into an empty classroom, closing the door behind them and proving to me once and for all that despite the way she feels about Rivers, she still shares some special kind of bond with Spencer.