“What did she say about Bree?”
“That she hadn’t been able to reach her. Said her phone was off.”
“You told her you haven’t seen her.”
“Little white lie never hurt nothin’.”
Jace shrugged.
“What was I supposed to say? That, yeah, I saw her thirty seconds before she ran out of a restaurant after seein’ you with a broken nose?”
“I get your point.”
“Yep, writin’ a book. That’s the only thing that’s keepin’ me sane dealin’ with all of you. I got enough trouble on my hands with my own twin.”
“You have a twin?”
“Yeah, and if any of you could pull your heads outta your asses long enough to pay attention to anybody else’s lives, you mighta remembered that.”
“There’s been a lot goin’ on, but yeah, I remember now. I’m sorry, Lyric.”
“There’s been a lot goin’ on with me, too. I’m ’bout smooth out done with it all.”
“Smooth out what?”
“Nothin’. It’s somethin’ Bullet says all the time.”
“Bullet is your twin?”
“At least you catch on faster than Bree.”
He doubted it, because he had no idea what Lyric was talking about. He could tell she was mad though, and he’d never seen her mad. At least he didn’t think he had. Maybe he had seen her mad and wasn’t paying attention.
Jace called Bree again, and for the second time, it went to voicemail. He’d left a message the first time, so he didn’t leave another.
Bree drove straight to the cemetery at the Air Force Academy. She needed to be with Zack, to talk to him. She was so lost without him. Before he died, her life had been so full, she hadn’t had time to finish school.
Now, her life had disintegrated into nothing. She had no reason to get up in the morning. She’d been telling herself that her sister needed her, but now that Tucker was back, Blythe wouldn’t need her anymore.
She had left the hospital, and no one thought it was important to even let Bree know. She drove over to see her sister, and was humiliated when the nurse told her Blythe had left.
What was she even doing here? Maybe it was time to start her life over, somewhere else. She didn’t know what answers she thought she’d find sitting next to Zack’s grave, but she wasn’t finding any.
She pulled out her phone to check the time and realized she’d turned it off
earlier.
When she turned it on, there were eight messages and more texts. By the time she listened to the last one that came in, she felt stupid that she’d been feeling so sorry for herself. Her mother sounded frantic with worry.
The other message that struck her was from Jace. He called her a few minutes after she’d stormed out of the restaurant, and in his message, he told her he had to see her. There were things he needed to explain to her, and whether she believe him or not, they had nothing to do with her sister.
As much as it shouldn’t be, that was the message that mattered the most to her.
Bree called her mother and told her she’d be over later, and asked her to let Blythe know she was sorry they’d missed each other.
“Are you okay?” her mother asked.
“I’m lost, Mom, trying to find my way.”