Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Since the ice cream parlor was packed, I waited at a table outside while Theo went inside to get his ice cream. Butter pecan was his favorite flavor. He was mine.
As I waited outside, I opened the bag and started snacking on my triple-flavored dessert popcorn. As I did so, a woman in a wheelchair came past us. As the woman passed, my heart dropped to my stomach.
Anna.
I hadn’t seen her in so long. I was so good at avoiding her. But there she was, pushing herself in a wheelchair with her father on her left side and her mother on the other side of her. The moment I looked up, Anna’s eyes fell to mine. Her eyes looked so sad. Heartbreakingly sad. She looked so tired, too. As if she hadn’t slept in years. The moment she recognized me, I saw the little bit of light fade away. She instantly turned her head to stare the other way, and when Mrs. Lane’s eyes found mine, it wasn’t sadness I saw. It was rage.
Chills shot down my spine as I sat at that table.
Mrs. Lane leaned over her husband and whispered something. Mr. Lane looked up, made eye contact with me, then began to walk faster as Anna picked up her speed.
I sat back in my chair, feeling sick to my stomach. I was seconds away from throwing up when Mrs. Lane marched back toward me. The rage was even more intense than when she first walked by.
“What are you doing?!” she whisper-shouted, glancing around as if terrified of anyone seeing us talking to one another.
I stood. “Mrs. Lane, I—”
“You swore you wouldn’t be around a lot, and you promised to text me whenever you were back in town.”
I shook my head. “I-I-I know. Bu-but I forgot. You see, Avery went in to delivery early and—”
“And nothing. Do you know what seeing you does to my daughter’s psyche? Do you know how much of a trigger you are to her—to us—to this damn town? You being seen doesn’t just bother Anna. It bothers my whole family. Carter’s family. Eric’s family,” she spat out.
My whole body fell into shock. I couldn’t breathe. Everything felt dizzying, and my knees were going to buckle. Carter and Eric. The two boys who lost their lives on my birthday all those years before.
I hadn’t heard their names in such a long time, but I thought about them daily. Not a day went by when Anna, Carter, and Eric didn’t cross my mind.
Anna’s eyes.
They were so, so sad.
I wanted to ask her a million questions. A million words I wanted to give her. I wanted to know how she’d been. If she was okay. If she still laughed during sunsets and cried during sunrises. I wanted to know if her favorite color was the same or if it changed—was it now midnight blue? Did she still cry during thriller movies and skip to the end because she loved spoilers? Did she ever get that first kiss? Did she still like love stories most of all? Did she ever miss her former best friend?
Did she ever think of me?
“You’re a devil, Willow Kingsley,” Mrs. Lane spat out. “An evil person who ruins the lives of everyone she comes in contact with. You don’t know the damage you just caused. This will affect Anna for a good while. Just…leave, will you? Leave and give us peace.” With that, she turned around and marched away, leaving me standing there in a full-blown panic attack that no one knew about except for me.
After a few minutes, Theo came over, looking as happy as could be, with a smile as big as a kid on Christmas Day. He held a triple-decker ice cream cone in his hand, each scoop almost the size of a small child’s head.
“This is turning out to be a fantastic day,” he exclaimed. “Where to next?” His eyes fell to me, and his childlike persona shifted instantly. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
I smiled and shook my head, trying to play it off. “Nothing. I just got tired. It’s been a long day. Maybe we can go to my dad’s so I can get some rest.”
He narrowed his eyebrows, not buying it. “Weeping Willow, what happe—”
“Please, Theo,” I begged. “I don’t want to talk now. I just want to sleep.”
He didn’t push for more, but I could tell he was concerned. That evening, he fell asleep with his arms wrapped around me as I stayed awake for the remainder of the night.
I cried in his arms, thinking about Anna, Eric, and Carter.
They were so young. They were robbed of a life because of me.
At least Eric and Carter didn’t know they were robbed of living.
Anna had the reminder every single day for the rest of forever.
How hard it must have been to wake up in the morning and need someone to help you out of bed. To only be able to move when others were there to help. To take endless amounts of medicine every single day.