12.
I went to my room and studied the information I’d printed out about sleep paralysis. I was fully absorbed in reading through the symptoms when I heard hard footsteps stomping toward my bedroom. My door burst open, and Vee flew inside, her expression contorted with rage.
“You were suspended from school!” she yelled. “How dare you misbehave like that! I should kick you out onto the street right now.” My heart pounded. Tears instantly pricked at my eyes from being shouted at. My throat tightened at the crazed look on her face. Had Noah told her? Why the hell would he do that? He knows what she’s like with me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, terrified of what she might do.
“I just had Matt O’Hare on the phone, berating me because my cretin of a stepdaughter attacked his precious Sally,” Vee went on. So, Noah hadn’t ratted me out? At least we were still keeping each other’s secrets.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, head lowered in supplication, eyes downcast. It was a far cry from how I’d dealt with her the morning of her birthday party, but right now she’d invaded my tiny personal space and was as wild as a tornado, eyes bloodshot and alcohol on her breath. I could smell it on her like it was seeping from her pores.
“Sorry isn’t good enough!” she screamed, and I yelped when she grabbed onto my bookshelf and pushed it over. It fell on top of my bed with a loud crash and I backed up into the wall. My seashell creations shattered, and my books flew everywhere. Vee picked up a book, opened it and began tearing out the pages. The tears I’d been holding back fell in earnest.
“No!” I cried, trying to pry the book from her, but booze seemed to give her inhuman strength. She grabbed hold of me and yanked the cross pendant from my neck, the one my dad gave me, snapping it in half and pushing me to the floor. Pain shattered up my spine. I cried as she continued to tear pages out of my books. I didn’t have many, but I treasured each one, and now Vee was destroying them all. I picked up my broken pendant, cradling it in my hand. It was the most precious thing I owned, and she’d snapped it so callously, like it meant nothing.
Noah suddenly appeared in the doorway. “What the hell, Vee?” he demanded. He was out of breath, like he’d just run downstairs.
“Get out,” Vee snapped. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“She’s terrified of you, Veronica,” Noah said, his voice low and calm. “You’ve made your point.”
“Oh, no I haven’t,” she hissed. “Not by a long shot. Did you know this little bitch got herself suspended from school for fighting?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t—”
“You knew!” Vee shouted, flying into an even worse rage now. She stomped on more of my possessions, crushing them into the floor. I was sobbing; big, horrible ones that made my chest heave. Noah came and picked me up, carrying me from the room.
My dark, shadowy saviour.
“This was a bad move,” he said to Vee, the disappointment in his voice unmistakable.
He carried me out of my room and up the stairs, pushing open the door to the guest bedroom to lay me down on his bed. “Hey,” he whispered, stroking my cheek. “It’s okay. I’ll fix your shelf once she calms down a bit. She’ll lose her steam soon enough.”
His touch was gentle as he lifted me again to pull back the covers. A moment later, I was completely cocooned in his duvet, his scent surrounding me. Noah always smelled like the sea, and it soothed me as my sobs died down and exhaustion took over. Today had drained me more than I realised.
“Why is Vee so cruel to me?” I asked in the smallest voice.
Noah exhaled, his sculpted features and sad eyes somehow reminding me of a weeping Virgin Mary statue. “My sister has a lot of anger. The problem is few people know how to be angry at the right person at the right time. Usually it’s an unsuspecting innocent who bears the brunt of it.”
“I don’t know what I ever did to deserve her hatred.”
“She doesn’t hate you. She just …” he trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Yeah, she hated me all right. I wished to find the strength to forgive her, but right now I hated her just as much.
“Get some sleep,” Noah said softly, stroking my cheek once more. I trembled at the touch of his skin against mine and closed my eyes, sleep quickly pulling me under. I slept like the dead, my broken pendant clasped in my hand. I woke only once, vaguely aware that I was alone in the bed. I wondered where Noah was sleeping before exhaustion pulled me under again.