Chapter 81
My heart sank as | knelt down, my fingers carefully collecting the shattered fragments of ss. Tears welled in my eyes as |
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 | closed my
hands around the pieces, not caring as their jagged edges punctured my skin and drew blood.
| felt Penny hovering beside me, asionally grunting and shifting from foot to foot. As | 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 | would worry more about Linda. Who knows if she''ll be
trying to crawl her way back.”
| 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.”
| reluctantly followed as she pressed me toward the apartment entrance, my sandals scraping along the concrete. How was |
supposed to rest knowing that Timothy’s gift was in shambles?
As | made my way back up the elevators to the top floor, | 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 | 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. | was bing eerily adapted to the stream of
lies that I''d conjured up throughout the years. | probably even knew how to lie to myself.
| 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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Chapter 81
The sun peeked through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room as | groggily pushed myself up from the bed. Every
new day felt like another obstacle, rather than a cleaned te.
As | shuffled into the kitchen, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee greeted me, and | couldn''t help but smile. Aria was already at
the table, flipping through a magazine as she sipped her own cup of coffee. | 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?”
| offered her a tired smile, attempting to brush off her worry. “Oh, | 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. | quickly took another sip of coffee, hoping
to distract myself from the tumultuous thoughts swirling within
1.me.
“So,” | 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!”
“| figured it would be,” | 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 | noticed,” | 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...|’m trying to stay focused on Mike, but holy hell was
Timothy so hot up close.”
|ughed hardily. “Well, I’m d you really enjoyed hispany. And his looks.”
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, | told Aria that | would be heading our for the day. Thankfully, she didn’t ask toe along, too enthralled in
making magazine clippings for her bedroom coge
For now, the broken sculpture was my focus.
| stepped out into the brisk morning air feeling the gentle caress of sunlight on my kin as | navigated through the bustling city
streets.
As the door of the store swung open, the familiar scent of fresh paint and wood enveloped me. | made my way to the sents
isle. After scanning the shelves, | came across a heavy duty glue that seemed fitting for ss surfaces. | 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 | 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. | suppose. Even buying glue.N?velDrama.Org is the owner.
“Truc 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!” | cried, striding my face as | rushed to one of the registers. The cautus sed just as disgruntled and she quickly sucked
down to avoid the
“as 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
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, | attempted to remainposed and navigated the sea of cameras and eager reporters with as much grace
as | could muster.
“| don’t know what you''re talking about. Timothy and | have never been together,” | stated.
With the ss glue clutched in my hand, | 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.”
| 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?” | gasped.
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