Strangely Normal - By Tess Oliver Page 0,77

a key, and technically, it belonged to my parents for a few more days. I had no idea how to find my family, but I was a big girl and I would figure things out once I got there. I was still sick and numb with heartbreak, but I would get over it. The survival instincts I’d developed through my tumultuous childhood years had kicked in.

The taxi dropped me at the bus stop, and I pulled my sweatshirt hood up onto my head and slumped onto the bench to wait for the next bus. Unbidden, my thoughts went back to the day that Jude had gone with me to see my parents. We’d spent the entire day together, and it was that day when I’d seen him outside of his world of luxury and privilege that I knew he was worth falling for. I’d been horrified at the thought of him seeing our shabby apartment, but he’d never shown even an ounce of shock or pity at the way we lived. And we’d ended that day with his second failed attempt at painting me, a failed attempt that made my skin warm just thinking about it.

A burst of air pushed my hood back. The bus had arrived. Once again, my limbs felt filled with lead as I picked up my duffle and climbed aboard. This time I avoided the back seats. My only fear was that the sleazy landlord had taken advantage and overlapped the lease on the apartment. Then I’d have to find a cheap hotel to live in. I had some money in the bank from my first paycheck, but motel rent would eat it up quickly.

The bus ride seemed interminably long, and I sighed with relief as it finally pulled to a stop near the all too familiar mini mart. I stepped inside the small store. The store manager looked surprised to see me.

“You didn’t leave with your family?” he asked.

I put the milk and a newspaper on the counter and shook my head. I paid him and wandered down the sidewalk past the quiet, dark construction site. I doubted that Cole would be showing to work any time soon, but I would avoid walking past it just in case. I was fairly certain that Jude never told him that my family lived nearby.

Televisions flickered through the thin, worn curtains covering the apartment windows, and I could hear the Spencers in one of their usual yell fests. I plodded up the stairs and was happy to see that our apartment was completely dark.

The smell of stale smoke wafted through the air of the cold, empty room. I reached for the light and was relieved to see that the electricity had not been turned off. It looked bleak and vacant without Sophie and Janie scurrying around with their giggles and fluffy socks. My disgusting, lumpy sofa bed was still sitting in the center of the room, and it couldn’t have looked more inviting. Mom had packed all the sheets and blankets, so I stayed in my jeans and sweatshirt.

I drank a cup of milk to soothe the pain that burned a hole in my stomach and then I yanked out the lumpy mattress and sank into the giant hole. I pulled the hood up over my head, curled up into a ball, and cried myself to sleep.

It could not have been much past six in the morning when a loud knock startled me from a deep sleep.

“Eden,” Jude’s deep voice echoed along the second story balcony. He pounded the door again. “Eden, please let me in. I need to know you’re all right.” A long pause followed but I hadn’t heard his footsteps recede. “Please, Eden, let me in. Finley’s asking for you.” His voice had dropped low, and there was enough sorrow in his tone to nearly propel me from the bed to the door.

But I stayed quiet as a statue in the center of the worn mattress, not even daring to breathe. I worried that if I let myself breathe, it would break my resolve and I would go to him. I would have given anything to throw myself into his solid, comforting arms, but he’d torn my heart in two pieces the night before and there was no way to repair the damage. Finally his heavy footsteps pounded the balcony and the staircase. His bike fired up, and he tore out of the driveway and out of my life for good.

I had no time to