Cruel Kisses (It's Just High School #2) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,18

eyes.

“I need to see her.”

“Mia, did you park your car out there, hidden among the trees?”

“Yes,” I croak. “What’s going on?” I can’t help the fear that seeps into my voice or the anxiety that’s now gripping me by my throat.

Oh God, what happened? What did I do? I must have done something to deserve this or else, why is she acting like this?

“You need to abandon that car. They can track it. Break all the windows to throw them off,” Nicky says, her movements fast and efficient, almost hypnotic as I stare.

“Throw whom off?” I whisper. “What’s going on?”

“Mia,” Nicky says, grabbing my hands with a tight grip, her eyes filled with tears but there’s no fear. It’s like she’s holding it all back, forcing herself to be nothing but strong—something I’ve always suspected was there along. My aunt/real mother has always portrayed herself as a bit too naïve, falls in love often but never stays in it. Some would think that she was a bit too vain, but Nancy always said otherwise and now, as I look into her eyes, I see what Nancy meant.

There’s something in her eyes, something like determination and steely resolve that now stares back at me.

“Baby listen to me, okay,” she starts, her voice low and hurried, like her frantic movements before. “Nancy is gone.”

“No,” I gasp, as a violent shudder goes through me. I feel like my heart is being shredded into pieces with those three words. “No.”

“She’s gone, Mia,” Nicky repeats, her voice hoarse, weird and grating at my nerves with the raw emotion in it.

No! No! She’s not gone.

But she is. I saw it in her eyes. I was looking into her eyes when the light was snuffed out. I saw it happen and I did nothing.

“It’s my fault,” I croak. “She needed me and I just… I killed her.”

“No!” Nicky says vehemently. “Don’t you dare say that! You did no such thing.”

I did though. I have her blood on my hands.

“Listen to me, there was nothing you or anyone else could do for her. Her time was up. We knew that it was only a matter of time.”

But it wasn’t supposed to happen like that. She wasn’t supposed to go like that… my God.

Nicky grabs my upper arms then she starts shaking me slightly as if to get my attention, but I feel like I’m hovering over a dark, unknown edge.

“Mia!”

Everything is surreal, like in an alternate universe. I feel lethargic, heavy and so, so cold inside. I can hear my heart hammering in my chest, beating so hard, my ribs are going to crack.

“Mia, listen to me right now.”

Cold fingers grab my chin, forcing my head up. Nicky stares at me, her lips pressed in a firm line. Something is seriously wrong here.

“Please.” I have no idea why I’m begging, but it falls from my lips like a litany. A litany that will go unanswered as always. “Please, don’t send me away.”

“Mia, you have to go. You can’t stay here, it’s not safe for you anymore.”

Safe? I don’t give a damn about my safety. Nancy is dead.

“No, I’m not going any—”

“Baby girl,” she says, cutting me off in a rush. “I’m going to need you to make yourself numb right now. You’re emotional, it’s understandable in this situation but it will also get you in so much trouble and I can’t have that. So, stuff it all in. At least for now.”

Stuff it all in? Trouble?

“Everything is going to be all right. You just need to go, right now.”

How is everything going to be all right by kicking me out?

“Why?”

“For your safety and for the sake of your future, Amy, you need to go,” she whispers urgently, her body coiled tightly like she’s anticipating an unknown danger. Who is Amy? But that’s not important right now. I’m not leaving like this.

“No.”

“I’m not asking and this isn’t a debate,” she grits out, anger and frustration etched on her face. “Go now!”

“No, please don’t…”

“Mia, baby, we don’t have a choice in the matter.” Fresh tears start falling down her cheeks, the desperation in her eyes tugging at the broken pieces of me.

Something is wrong. There’s danger here… I can sense it in the air.

“No, I’m not going anywhere,” I cry, and she shakes her head.

“You have to. I need you to stay low for now and if anything happens to me, don’t come back to this town.”

No!

“What do you mean if anything happens to you? We’re going together, right?” I