Chapter 81
My heart sank as I knelt down, my fingers carefully collecting the shattered fragments of ss.
Tears welled in my eyes as I gazed at the remnants of what was once a symbol of something
greater. Penny ced aforting hand on my shoulder. “We’ll find a way to fix it, Evie.”
The shattered piecesy pathetically in my cupped hands, still giving off a twinkle in the moon’s
delicate light. My tears apanied them, round little gems. surrounded by broken dreams. Linda’s
deranged face shed in my mind and I closed my hands around the pieces, not caring as their
jagged edges punctured my skin and drew blood.
I felt Penny hovering beside me, asionally grunting and shifting from foot to foot. As I gathered
the shards and stuck them into my jacket pocket, she finally spoke.
“I’m sure a little super glue could fix that,” she said, patting my arm. “But I would worry more about
Linda. Who knows if she’ll be trying to crawl her way back.”
I wiped the tears away from my eyes and gritted my teeth. “I hope she does, instead of running
away like a coward!”
Penny hummed beside my ear. “Well, hopefully not tonight. You should get back inside now and get
some rest.”
I reluctantly followed as she pressed me toward the apartment entrance, my sandals scraping along
the concrete. How was I supposed to rest knowing that Timothy’s gift was in shambles?
As I made my way back up the elevators to the top floor, I took out the ss shards. and observed
them in the light. They still twinkled delicately, though their now jagged surfaces were anything but.
Timothy hadn’t asked about the gift ever since. he gave it to me, but I still feared he would take
offense to all this.
Perhaps he didn’t need to know about Linda, or the broken ss for that matter. I was bing
eerily adapted to the stream of lies that I’d conjured up throughout the years. I probably even knew
how to lie to myself.
I crawled back in bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how the day could’ve started out so
well just to end horribly.
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The sun peeked through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room as I groggily pushed
myself up from the bed. Every new day felt like another obstacle, rather than a cleaned te.
As I shuffled into the kitchen, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee greeted me, and I couldn’t help but
smile. Aria was already at the table, flipping through a magazine as she sipped her own cup of
coffee. I poured myself a mug, taking a much needed sip before joining her.
Aria looked up from her magazine, her eyes narrowing in concern as she studied me. “Evie, you
look exhausted. Did you even get any sleepst night?”
I offered her a tired smile, attempting to brush off her worry. “Oh, I just got held up looking through
all the Tevie stuff online.”
She raised an eyebrow skeptically. “I told you to stay away from that stuff. Half of its click–bait
anyway, usually from a bunch of crazy fans.”
My heart skipped a beat at her words, the incident with Linda shing before my eyes. I quickly took
another sip of coffee, hoping to distract myself from the tumultuous thoughts swirling within
1. me.
“So,” I began, my voice casual, “Did you enjoy the day with Timothy?”
Her
eyes widened. “Are you joking? That was the best day of my life!”
“I figured it would be,” I said with a chuckle.
She sped her hands together and practically melted into the counter, her eyes. glossing over as
she sighed dreamily. “He was no nice, and so tall!”
“So I noticed,” I said with a smirk. “You’re probably one of the only people who can say they met
their idol without finding out they were a jerk.”
Aria’s expression softened as she hid a smile behind her mug. “Yeah…I’m trying to stay focused on
Mike, but holy hell was Timothy so hot up close.”
Iughed hardily. “Well, I’m d you really enjoyed hispany. And his looks.”
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Fri, 22 Mar
She smiled cheekily, her attention shifting back to her magazine. “You’re one lucky gal”
That statement made my smile fade, my grip tightening on the coffee mug. Lucky. That wasn’t the
best description of my circumstances
After breakfast, I told Aria that I would be heading our for the day. Thankfully, she didn’t ask to
come along, too enthralled in making magazine clippings for her bedroom coge
For now, the broken sculpture was my focus
I stepped out into the brisk morning air feeling the gentle caress of sunlight on my k?n as I navigated
through the bustling city streets.
As the door of the store swung open, the familiar scent of fresh paint and wood enveloped me. I
made my way to the sents isle. After scanning the shelves, I came across a heavy duty glue that
seemed fitting for ss surfaces. I grabbed it off the self and started making my way back to the
counter, satisfied with the ease of such a small trip.
“Evic, over here“” came a loud shout hat traveled across therge room.
wisted around, searching for the source of the voice, but I didn’t have to look too far to find the
small group making their way toward me
Any sense of peace was swiftly shattered by the unmistakable clicking of cameras and the
animated chatter of paparazzi. They were going to document me doing everything. I suppose. Even
buying glue.
“Tr?c Thi way. Exte! The paparazzi i voices were like a relentless barrage of question, rach one
sharper than thest, their shing camera momentarily Bilinding me and exacerbating my
difort
“or mow!” I cried, striding my face as I rushed to one of the registers. The cautus sed just as
disgruntled and she quickly sucked down to avoid the
“?s at turur you used Tamoday are an item o registre sikest.
die
“Exte, over here! A quickmaren osa yunar enyutertom evening!” aked another
Myslonious evening Wese dary stemning to my sting with Timothy and Artast
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Fri, 22 Mar D
night? There was no way they could’ve mistaken that as a date when it was the three of us present.
51%
The questions came at me like a never–ending barrage, and my instinct was to shield myself from
the onught of attention. With a deep breath, I attempted to remainposed and navigated the
sea of cameras and eager reporters with as much grace as I could muster.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Timothy and I have never been together,” I stated.
With the ss glue clutched in my hand, I stepped up to the register so the employee could ring me
up. This did not deter the reporters, of course. A microphone was forced in my face yet again.
“Ah,e on!” the reporter with a cap on whined in my ear. “You know it’s not just Timothy we’re
talking about.”
I whirled around, nearly colliding with one of the cameras. “What are you talking about?”
The reporter grinned. “Spill the beans about your date with Alex!”
“What?” I gasped.
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