Let Me Burn (Angel Sands 1)

She shivered, her whole body feeling cold. Maybe she should turn down the air conditioning. It was weird the way she couldn’t think properly, it was as though somebody had flipped the off switch in her brain and nothing was firing properly.

“…and then Richard told everybody that Will and his fiancée were having a baby. After that she stopped talking. She’s hardly said a word since we left the party.” Lucas was half-whispering to Ally, as if he didn’t want Ember to hear.

“They’re having a baby?” Ally’s voice rose up an octave. “Shit.” Yeah, Ember definitely heard that.

“Not good?” Lucas asked.

“Not good at all.” Ally sighed. “Oh God, poor Ember.”

“I don’t get it,” Lucas said, sounding confused. “Is she still in love with him? Why is she so upset? I thought she was over him.”

Ember could feel her heart racing, slamming against her chest.

“She didn’t tell you?” Ally asked.

“Tell me what?”

“Oh damn,” Ally cursed, this time even louder than the last. “Okay, you need to get out of here. Let me speak with her, okay?”

“Should I wait outside?”

There was a pause, as though Ally was weighing up the options. “Lemme come in and see her.” Ember heard the sound of footsteps across the wooden floor, then saw Ally standing in front of her, her brows pulled down as she looked at her friend.

She wanted to open her mouth and tell them everything was okay. That she was only kidding, that it didn’t matter that Will had a ready-made-family while she had nothing. It didn’t matter that his lies were even worse than she’d thought.

But she couldn’t open her mouth, she couldn’t say anything at all.

“You know what, Lucas?” Ally called out, her eyes never leaving Ember’s. “I think you should go home. Get some rest, I promise to call you later.”

* * *

“I came as soon as I could,” Brooke said, walking through the front door, past Ally and right over to Ember. “I’m so sorry it took a while. I had to get a sitter for Nick. I didn’t think I should bring him with me.” She paused long enough to take a breath. “How is she?”

“I’m fine,” Ember said, her voice still as cracked as a parched desert. “I don’t know why everybody’s fussing.”

“She’s talking, which is an improvement from an hour ago. You should have seen Lucas. He looked so scared, like he’d never dealt with a hysterical woman before.”

“Oh honey,” Brooke said, sitting down next to Ember and taking her hand between her two palms. “What a horrible way to find out about Will.”

“He’s an even bigger bastard than I thought,” Ally said through gritted teeth. “Which is saying something, because I already thought he was a huge dick.” She sat on the other side of Ember, taking her other hand. “It’s a good thing I wasn’t there. I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

Ember would have laughed if she had it in her. “It’s not his fault. He’s allowed to have a relationship, he owes nothing to me.”

But even in her addled state she didn’t quite believe it. She felt less than worthless. As though she’d been a rock weighing him down for all these years. He must have been delighted to be free of her.

“He said he didn’t want children,” Ember whispered. “But he looked so happy when his dad announced it, as though all his dreams were coming true.”

“I hate him,” Brooke said, squeezing Ember’s hand. “I really hate him. You think we can send Lucas over to beat him up?”

“Oh God, Lucas.” Ember pulled her hands away from her friends and buried her face in them. “What must he think of me? I completely froze when Richard announced the pregnancy. I must have looked crazy.”

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” Ally said, her voice firm.

“Can you tell us what happened at the party?” Brooke asked. “Only if you feel up to it.”

Her two friends listened as Ember recounted the story, her voice low as she told them about Will’s appearance and Richard’s awkward speech, followed by her dropping her glass and grabbing everybody’s attention.

“And only minutes before I felt like I was on top of the world,” Ember told them. “I had Lucas with me. I felt strong, and then everything crumbled.”