“But I couldn’t tell you.” He brought both hands up in the air, his eyes were full of grief.
Dropping her arm to her side, she felt defeated. He didn’t get it. “And there’s the justification.”
Grace’s phone taunted her from the nightstand, almost daring her to text him. How could it be true? She didn’t—no, she couldn’t believe it. Why would Darius lie, pretend—toy with her heart?
“Because, he’s a liar. That’s what he does, he deceives.” Quentin’s earlier words kept rattling around in her head. The warm milk would be no help; she wouldn’t get any sleep tonight—possibly not for a while.
As Grace lay there, trying to will her mind to numb, she felt the fractures of her heart splintering. Grace liked Darius, quite a lot, actually. She was dumb enough to think she might actually be able to have something normal with him, no matter how brief. Right, the joke was on her. He was anything but normal. How could she be so stupid?
It felt like everyone around her did nothing but lie to her … Quentin more than any of them. He and Darius were cut from the same cloth. It made her sick. The sob Grace held deep down bubbled to the surface. She couldn’t hold on to it any longer. It hurt way too much. She rolled to her side, pushed her face hard into the pillow to muffle any sounds, and screamed her pain and frustration. She screamed until her throat was scratchy and raw. By the time she stopped, her pillow was sopping wet from her tears.
Grace no longer trusted anyone. She was completely and utterly alone—again. The last time she had looked at the clock, it was 3:05 a.m. School was going to be beyond rough. Right now would probably be a good time to rethink going back to school at all. That too was something that hurt too much to do.
The buzzing of her alarm clock didn’t serve as a wakeup call that day. It was a reminder of how many hours she’d lain sleepless under the covers. Brutally, she slammed her hand against the top of the clock to make it stop screaming at her, but then reached for the button and simply turned it off. She wouldn’t be going to school today.
All through the night, every single moment from the time her grandfather had died until now replayed over and over in her mind. It was one huge puzzle she kept trying to piece together. But no matter how she might fit the pieces or force them together, it always came back to the same thing.
She was a fool.
People say time heals all wounds. She highly doubted the saying could apply to her this time. How does anyone ever get past being lied to over and over again? Especially by the ones who are supposed to protect you.
The good news, if she could even call it that, was that she was all cried out. Yay. She’d cried so long and so hard, her eyes were almost swollen shut. Licking her dry, chapped lips, she tasted salt from her tears.
Gritty sand scratched against her eyes as she opened them to slits to judge the distance from her bed to the bathroom. It was just as far away as the last time she looked. Right now, she wouldn’t be opposed to a bed pan. But since she didn’t have one, the only thing getting her out of bed was the promise of water for her throat and eyes.
In front of the bathroom mirror, Grace rested her palms against the countertop. The person staring back at her was unrecognizable, which only made her want to cry more. She was thankful she didn’t have it in her to do it. Grace hoped that by the time she could cry again, she wouldn’t feel the need anymore.
Every muscle in her body hurt. Her feet dragged heavily along the floor, her body barely strong enough to carry her back to bed. Curling in on herself, Grace covered her head with the blanket.
There was a first time for everything. Grace had always been so protective of the Shelby, and of course Amanda had asked nonstop to drive it. But when Grace told her through her locked bedroom door that morning to take it, she no longer sounded so excited. When Amanda got past her shock and finally relented, Grace breathed a sigh of relief. It took too much energy to convince Amanda to take it. If Amanda