Girls Who Lie Together by Jessa Russo

Author:Jessa Russo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult, lgbt fiction, lesbian romance, teen romance, contemporary romance
Publisher: Jessa Russo
Published: 2022-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

28

The sun spills in through blinds we forgot to shut last night, the evening fireworks show now replaced by the blaring reminder that Brit leaves today. My heart sinks deeply into the bed, leaving a hollow ache in its place.

But... there’s something else, too. A feeling of rightness in the world.

Because, even as I already begin to mourn the loss of her, and dread blooms slowly within my chest because we’ll be saying our goodbyes soon, excitement buzzes through my veins, dances along my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

Perfectly in line with how this summer has been, my feelings are a confusing, wonderful contradiction.

Last night was the best night of my life, and no matter what happens now, at least we have that. We will always have that. We will always have this one night that binds us.

I roll over to wake her up, but she’s not beside me. My heart starts to race, but she probably just slept in her own bed, right? Like, obviously she got up and crept back across the hall at some point so we wouldn’t get caught. It’s fine. I’m fine. I swallow hard as my pulse speeds faster and my gut starts to fill with lead.

Standing, I reach for my shirt and shorts, noticing that hers are gone. But of course she wouldn’t have left my room naked.

It’s fine.

I get dressed, glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table—it’s just after nine o’clock—then freeze. There’s a silver necklace lying on top of a folded piece of paper.

I shake my head. No. No goodbye notes. She wouldn’t do that. Not after last night.

Steeling myself, I take a deep breath and reach for the necklace. It’s a simple silver chain with a tiny little fleur de lis charm. I put it on because I’m too chicken shit to read her note just yet.

I chew on a hangnail on my thumb, then reach for the note.

I bought this for you that day in the park.

Xo

Brit

That’s it? That’s the goodbye? No, of course not. She hasn’t left yet, obviously. It’s fine. This is fine.

I roll my shoulders and try to relax, then open the door to go find her.

Her bedroom door is open.

Her bed is made.

Her room is empty.

In the second it takes me to pull in a ragged breath, I realize her room isn’t just empty, it’s bare.

Her shoes aren’t tossed on the floor.

There are no clothes strewn about like a tornado just tore through the house.

Her phone isn’t charging on her nightstand.

Her earbuds aren’t hanging from the bed post.

No.

No no no.

Please.

I race down the stairs.

She’s just in the kitchen. That’s all. She’s having breakfast. It’s fine.

It’s fine.

But she’s not in the kitchen.

Dev looks up from his paper, his eyes softening when he sees me. “She didn’t want to wake you, cher.”

She didn’t want to wake me.

My body arches inward.

She didn’t want to wake me.

Tears stream from my eyes and I should leave the room. I shouldn’t let Dev see me react this way. He’ll know.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.