Chapter Twenty-nine
Alyssa
“You smile, I smile,” Brady crooned in my ear. His voice wasn’t
the best, but it made me giggle.
“Stop!” I pressed my hands against his chest. “Fine, I’m smiling!”
“Good.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
“You know I hate it when you’re sad.”
I rolled my eyes. “Babe, I have you. As long as I have you I’ll
always smile. I promise.”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “Not good enough. I need you to
promise me you’ll smile even if I’m gone.”
“Like when you’re at school?” I asked, confused.
“Yeah, or when I’m old and gray and I die before you do, because
I’m a selfish bastard like that.”
At that I laughed. “Okay, I’ll smile regardless.”
He sighed and dropped my hand. “Sometimes I feel guilty for
keeping you, Alyssa. The things I’ve done… I don’t know. I just feel like
this giant mess when I’m around you and all your goodness.”
“I can be bad,” I snapped.
“Whoa, easy, killer.” Brady held up his hands. “You know what I
mean. Never lose your smile and never lose your innocence, okay? Trust
me, it’s not worth it.”
The song continued playing, but I panicked. It wasn’t the
same panic I’d had before. It was something else that I couldn’t
quite put my finger on. Memories of Brady had been coming back
full force, and for some reason I was remembering things
differently. Like how whenever we were together it was almost like
he was warning me, or like somehow he knew there was an
expiration date on our time together.
I needed air. Once outside, I was able to breathe and then all
of a sudden I felt peace. It had nothing to do with the warm night
air or the salty breeze, and had everything to do with the guy who
chased after me.
Demetri Daniels.
I needed him more than I needed the fresh air. I needed his
touch, his kiss. Everything about him made me feel whole again.
Being with him wasn’t unhealthy. It wasn’t as if I needed him to
live a normal day to day life. No, he just made everything else
easier. If I had to climb Mount Everest, I had a feeling Demetri
would nod his head and say, “Where do I sign up?”
I needed his positive attitude. But more than anything, I
needed his encouragement, his love.
“I choose you.” The words were out of my mouth before I
could stop them. And the look on his face was something I don’t
think I’ll ever forget.
“Let’s go cut the cake.” I nudged him as we walked back
into the party. The rest of the friends were still playing the Kinect,
but Alec and Nat were busy cutting cake.
Sam stumbled next to me. I caught his arm and recoiled as
the smell of whiskey hit me full force. The only reason I even knew
it was whiskey was because I had picked up Brady one night after a
drunken party. He had sobbed his eyes out and said he was sorry. I
think he felt bad that he was drunk.
“Sorry.” Sam reached for my arm and nearly missed. I put
my hand in his and led him over to the couch.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m so done!” he yelled.
Just then Holly ran up to him with Aaron by her side. “Let’s
get you home, Sam.”
He shook his head no and pulled a flask out of his pocket,
nearly missing his own mouth as he took a sip. Soon I felt
Demetri’s hand on my back.
“Dude, no alcohol.”
Sam just laughed.
Soon Alec had him in the air and pressed against the wall.
Holy muscles. My eyes widened as Alec slammed him against the
wall. “Leave before I call the police.”
“She doesn’t deserve your shit.” Sam spat. “You should
know that right now, Alyssa. He’s going to mess up one of these
days. Just like Brady.”
Alec dropped him, he fell to his knees. Everything happened
in slow motion as I saw murderous rage cloud Demetri’s features.
He lunged for Sam, but Aaron held him back.
“Son of a bitch!” Demetri jerked against Aaron’s arms. “Get
the hell out of my house right now!”
“He’s mad because he knows.” Sam pushed himself off the
floor. “Isn’t that right, Holly? Everyone knows what a bastard my
brother was.”
“Stop it!” I yelled. “Stop!” No one was expecting me to
launch myself on a guy, but I couldn’t help myself. I began beating
his chest with my fists. “Take it back! Take it back!”
Soon I felt Demetri’s arms around me, lifting me off of Sam.
I’d gotten a few good hits in, but I may as well have just gotten into
a fight with a wall. My knuckles were bloody.
“Shh.” Demetri tried to calm me down.
“He was perfect!” I shouted, directing my anger toward
Sam. “He was a star quarterback! He was good son! A wonderful
person!”
Demetri tightened his hold on me.
“He cheated!” Sam screamed causing the entire room to fall
silent. “You’re perfect boyfriend cheated on you while you were
dating. He got Holly pregnant! So next time get your facts right.
I’m out.” Sam stumbled to his feet.
Connor followed him out, his eyes wide with surprise.
Holly slumped against Aaron, tiny sobs escaped her mouth.
“I should have told you. Demetri said I needed to tell you but —”
“Shit.” I heard Demetri behind me. He released his hold on
my arms.
Tears threatened to pour down my face. “W-what? What do
you mean Demetri told you?”
Holly wiped her eyes and choked on her words. “He found
out the night we wrote our regrets because this was mine, Alyssa.
My regret was never telling Brady and never telling you. I didn’t
want to ruin what you guys had and —”
“When?” I interrupted her, my body slowly started to go
numb as I tried to focus on my breathing. “When did it happen?”
“The end of summer after football camp. It was a Friday
night…”
I didn’t need to hear any more. I knew what night it was
because it was the same night I picked him up from the party. The
same night I saw him drunk, and it was the same night he told me
he loved me for the first time.
I started seeing spots and then total blackness consumed me.
This time I didn’t care if I ever woke up.