Tormented Royal by Lily Wildhart
Chapter Fifteen
Aknock at the door has me pausing the movie in the theatre room and hopping over to the door. I open it to find Smithy smiling at me on the other side.
“Miss Octavia, I have a surprise for you!” He’s so excited that I can’t even bring myself to remind him how much I dislike surprises. He turns and heads down the hall, so I turn off the projector, pull down the sleeves of my hoodie, and follow him. This might be interrupting my Sunday chill, but it’s Smithy, so I don’t mind. The man is a freaking saint.
He heads outside, and I follow, beyond curious at this point. He’s like a kid in a candy store. I step outside to see what has him so excited.
“They just delivered it.” His grin matches mine as I take in the sight before me. My beautiful Impala, in better condition than she was in when I bought her. Not one spec of that hideous yellow paint is on her.
I clap my hands together as joy swells in my chest, and I practically squeal as Smithy holds out the keys for me. I grab the keys and hug him tight. “Thank you, Smithy!”
He pats me on the back, finally getting used to my random hugging. “Anything for you, Miss Octavia.”
I pull away and slide my phone from my pocket, snapping a picture and sending it over to Indi.
Indi: Holy shit, she looks good as new!
Me: Right, want to go out?
I’m suddenly over my Sunday chill, imagine that.
Indi: Sure thing! Give me 10 so I don’t look half dead. **Skull emoji**
Me: I look half dead, but I don’t care. I’ll be there soon, send me your address **heart emoji**
Indi: **middle finger emoji** #attachment
I can’t help but laugh at her as I slide into the car, joy pulsing through my veins. I bring up the pin drop she sent me, feeling a little bad that I’ve never been to her house before. “Thank you, Smithy! I’ll be back soon.”
He waves as I start the car, and I head down the drive and out of the gates. I use the clicker to make sure they’re shut behind me before driving toward Indi’s. It thankfully doesn’t take me long to find her house. I pull up out front, and she’s already sitting on the steps waiting for me. She jumps up when I pull to a stop and skips down the path toward me.
I unlock the door, and she climbs in, grinning at me like a crazy person. “You look happy.”
“I spent yesterday with Jackson again, and you have your beautiful baby back. What’s not to be happy about? Oh, and I forgot to ask yesterday ‘cause I was so wrapped up in myself, but how did Friday go?” I groan and bang my forehead on the steering wheel, which makes her laugh. “That bad?”
“Don’t even get me started,” I say before restarting the car and heading out to the Pacific Coast Highway to coast around in my pretty, not so little, car. I tell her everything about Friday night as we drive around, and she pulls as many faces as I wanted to on the night in question. By the time we end up back in Echoes Cove, she’s as confused about his behavior as I was.
“It doesn’t make any sense. Maybe it was because they lost the game?” She shrugs, trying to offer an explanation.
It doesn’t really make a difference to my decision though, and I tell her as much.
“Makes sense, if it’s not right, then it’s not right. I’m sure it’ll be fine. He’s pretty chill,” she says as I pull the car to a stop in the lot by the pier.
“Here’s hoping. You want to fuck around on the pier? It’s been ages since I rode the rides and did all the fun shit.” I unbuckle and turn to her, finding her eagerly nodding.
“Hell fucking yes I do. I love that shit.”
We climb from the car, and I strip off my hoodie, leaving it in the car. The sun’s beaming down, so I grab my cardholder and phone, stashing them in my pockets before I slide my aviators on. It’s such a beautiful day and spending it on the pier sounds like the best idea.
“To the games,” Indi yells, pointing toward the pier before linking her arm with mine, and I can’t help but laugh at her.
“To the games!”
* * *
Indi left the pier after a call from her mom, who picked her up, so I sit at the edge of the pier looking out over the water. It’s so beautiful, so vast, and so fucking terrifying. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the water.
When we were younger, one of the girls in our class was swept out to sea and was never found. Ever since, I’ve had an issue with the ocean. It took years for me to even dip my toes in again. Swimming pools are fine, but natural bodies of water? No thanks.
All that being said, I do still love the sound of waves crashing in the surf. It’s possibly the most soothing noise of nature there is.
I find myself humming along to the songs being played by the booth closest to me as I watch the sun begin to set. I hadn’t even realized the time.
I stand when I hear my dad’s voice, and my heart stops. I close my eyes, and for a second, it’s like he’s back here with me. I smile for just a moment before that hope slips away. I clutch the railing of the pier as his laugh sounds on the speakers, and a lump forms in my throat.
This is why I don’t listen to the radio.
I can’t move as the interview plays; and when they start playing one of his more popular songs, I break. Tears stream down my face as my heart shatters in my chest. Without even thinking about it, my feet move, and I’m running down the pier. I keep running onto the sand and down the beach, trying to escape the pain.
It feels like I can’t breathe. Like the pain of hearing his voice is going to be the thing that finally sends me over the edge. Hearing him sing hurts so bad, but hearing him talking and laughing like that hurts even worse. For a second, just one, it was like he was here again. Like my life wasn’t a fucking mess. It was as if my mind forgot he was gone and felt peace before having all of my safety barriers torn away once more.
I run until there’s no one else in sight and fall to my knees in the sand, letting out a scream filled with so much pain that it makes me cry harder.
My dad was my safe haven. He was the person that didn’t leave. He was always there.
Always.
And now he’s gone, and it’s like I can’t breathe properly anymore. My whole world crumbled once he died, and I feel so lost.
I’ve tried to find myself ever since I lost him… Since he left me… And I’ve done so well at pretending like I didn’t lose myself at the same time.
I shift in the sand and clutch my knees to my chest as I sob, hoping that the tears dry themselves out. I’ve tried to be strong, but I'm so crushed without him here. The pain of not having him with me is so devastating, especially after the second of mindlessness on the pier where I almost convinced myself that he was here with me again. The legacy that he left behind for me, his music, was meant to be his gift to me, but it haunts me instead, and I’m raw.
Placing my forehead on my knees, I cry until I feel hollow. Even then, I can’t stop. It feels like losing him all over again.
I hear footsteps coming toward me, and look up to find Finley staring over at me before heading in my direction. I let out a deep breath and wipe away the still falling tears. “I can’t deal with you today, Finley. Please.”
My voice cracks on the last word, and he hesitates as if he’s fighting an internal battle of his own. He shakes his head and finishes stomping over to me, dropping down beside me in the sand. He doesn’t say a word. Instead sits, staring out over the water with me while I try to stop the flow of tears.
Another wave of grief crashes over me, and my shoulders shake as I struggle to control the sobs. I hate being this weak, especially with him here. This is the second time he’s seen me lose it.
“Fuck it,” he growls, standing and lifting me out of the sand. He sits with me in his lap and holds me. I don’t want to be here, but I’d be lying if I said being in his arms didn’t make me feel less alone. So I allow myself the weakness of leaning into him once more, vowing that this will be the last time.
But for now, I let myself crumble as I mourn losing my dad all over again.
By the time I lift my head, darkness has blanketed us, and the moon in the sky is the only source of light. My heart feels empty and broken, but I push myself out of Finley’s arms and stand.
“Octavia,” he starts, and I glare down at him.
“Did you make that video?” I don’t have to say anything else or even wait for his response. His guilt’s written all over his face.
He stands, brushing himself off, the wet patch on his white t-shirt obvious despite the dark night. “Let me explain.”
“There isn’t anything to explain,” I hiss. “You don’t get to keep comforting me when you have no issues with making me cry. I am not a toy you can pick up and put down.”
“Please—” he starts, and I cut him off with a wave of my hand.
“No. Thank you, for this, but no. This doesn’t make up for anything else, Finley. We were friends once, and I have no idea what I did to incur your wrath so badly that you’d do something as horrific as you did.” His face falls, and he looks as defeated as I feel.
“I…” he starts but trails off, shaking his head. He puts his hands in his pockets, that stoic, passive glare back in place. “You’re right. We were friends once, and we’re not anymore. This was a mistake.”
He walks away from me without another word, leaving me speechless.
How the fuck did he cut me and make me bleed with only his words when I thought I was already broken beyond repair?
* * *
Mondays fucking suck. After last night at the beach, I decided to skip my run today. I had to talk myself into it, but I decided to swim laps instead. Swimming a mile isn’t too hard. I used to be able to do it in forty minutes, but it’s been a minute since I swam.
I’m about halfway through my mile when I spot a shadow at the end of the pool. I finish my lap and come up for air to see who it is. I take a deep breath and lift my hands to wipe the water from my eyes, but I find myself plunged back under the water. A hand grips my hair, keeping me beneath the surface. Panic sets in.
I claw at the hand, but I can’t focus. My entire body is freaking the fuck out.
I never thought to worry this morning about drowning in my own pool.
I never considered how deep it is.
As I try to push up for air, I see a flash of my dad’s face and a dark thought hits me.
Would it be so bad if I didn’t fight?
But then I see a flash of my Smithy’s face, and I think of Indi. I see all the people who would be disappointed in me if I just gave up, and I start fighting again.
My lungs burn as I struggle not to draw in a breath.
My limbs start to feel heavy as I continue to fight, but the lack of oxygen slows me down.
The thought of that girl being lost at sea hits me; and I vow that if I survive this, I’m never getting in the water ever a-fucking-gain.
As quickly as it appeared, the hand leaves my hair. I sink a little before pushing up from the bottom, gasping as I clutch the side of the pool. I wipe the water from my eyes, but I don’t see anyone around.
How is that even possible?
I stay where I am until my eyes focus again and my hands stop shaking before pulling myself from the pool.
I look around the lawn, but there aren’t even footprints in the dirt thanks to the dry summer.
I grab my towel and wrap it around me, trying to get a hold of myself before I go inside. My entire body starts to shake as the adrenaline quickly wears off, and I sink to the ground as my knees give out. I suck in a breath as my emotions get the better of me and hold it, trying to stop the noise in my head. I cling to the towel, hoping the pressure helps stave off the panic, as I curl up as small as I can.
Hot tears slip down my face, and I don't bother trying to wipe them away. Why does this shit keep happening to me?
I let myself break, before trying to piece myself back together. Once I can breathe normally again, and my heartbeat doesn’t sound like thunder, I splash myself with cold water to try and hide my red, puffy cheeks. It takes a minute before I’m sure my legs will hold me, but I climb to my feet before hurrying into the house. My only thought is finding out who did this. I don’t think we have security cameras out back, but I’m sure as hell going to check them if we do.
Whoever it was obviously wanted to scare me—I just wish I knew why.
That’s when I see the note taped to my back door. It says ‘Leave. It will only get worse from here.’
I leave the note exactly where it is and head off to find Smithy. I don’t know who the fuck did this, but I'm done.
I find Smithy and tell him what happened. He has his phone in his hand, dialing the police in less than five seconds. “No, I don’t want the police involved. We both know they’re just as corrupt as the rest of this town.”
He knows as well as I do that this town is run by those who have money… Except my dad left and pissed off a ton of people before he did, so I don’t get the same privileges that others do. I’ve only heard whispers of the shit storm my dad left behind, but I’ve heard enough to know that in this situation, the police won’t be of use to me. He hangs up and drops his phone on the counter. I shake where I stand, wrapped in a towel, in the middle of the kitchen. “We can’t just let this go, Miss Octavia.”
“And we won’t. I still have to get ready for school, but can you check the security feed? And if we don’t have footage, we need to increase the security on the property.” He nods at my words, and I can see his guilt, clear as day in the set of his jaw. “This is not your fault.”
“I’m supposed to be looking after you.” He frowns. “I’m letting you down. I’m letting your father down.”
My heart sinks at his words. “You’re not letting anyone down. None of this is your fault, and I won’t hear another word about it. Can we increase the security some more?”
He nods, looking a little less defeated than he did a minute ago. “Yes, I’ll get it sorted as fast as we can.”
I feel a little better, taking care of the situation, or at least preventing the chances of it happening again. It could have been anyone. It doesn’t seem like a Lincoln move, but I wouldn’t put it past Blair or one of her little cronies. “Perfect, thank you. I’m going to go and wash up, get ready for school, and try to forget this morning ever happened.”
I climb the stairs to my room and shudder at the thought of going back under the water, but I need to wash the chlorine off of me.
You’ve got this, Octavia, there’s no one else but Smithy in the house. You are safe.
It takes a minute after my pep talk to actually get my ass in the shower, and I rush through my usual routine; but once I’m out, I feel a lot better.
Though if this is an example of how this day is going to go, I’m not even going to bother to hope for a good day.
* * *
I make it through the morning without issue, and Indi’s been almost glued to my side since I told her about what happened this morning.
Whoever did it didn’t hide their reasoning behind it. The note was crystal fucking clear, but I’m not going anywhere. I do want to know why someone wants me gone so badly, though.
None of it makes any sense.
I’m here for my diploma, and I’ll happily leave once I have it.
Indi meets me after Music, like she has after every lesson so far today. She’s like a snapping turtle, losing it at anyone who so much as looks sideways at me. I love this badass sunshine version of her almost as much as the dancing in the rainbows side.
“Do you mind if I talk to Raleigh for a minute? I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.” I feel bad because I should’ve said something when she got me from Statistics, but I spent my entire period pep talking myself to have this conversation with Raleigh. I hadn’t intended on doing it till after school, but he was overly touchy in class, and I can’t go through the rest of the day without saying something.
She eyes me, making sure I’m okay before nodding. “Sure thing. I’ll grab you a tray so you don’t end up with the dredges of what’s left.”
“You’re the best.”
She squeezes my arm before heading down the hall while I wait for Raleigh to finish talking to Miss Celine. It doesn’t take long, and the slimy smile he gives me when he sees me waiting for him, sends shivers down my spine confirming that I’m making the right decision.
“You waited.” He beams at me and slings his arm over my shoulder.
I pause, extracting myself from his embrace, and he frowns. “We should talk.” I wince a little hearing the words fall from my lips because well, cliché much.
“That doesn’t sound great.” He folds his arms across his chest and leans against the wall. And it occurs to me just how alone we are… how empty the halls are.
I know it’s just my paranoia from this morning rearing its head, so I shake it off. I’m not having this conversation with people around. I won’t do that to him or to myself. “It’s not… I really like you, Raleigh. You’re an awesome guy—”
“But you just want to be friends.” He laughs haughtily after cutting me off. “Of course you do.”
He scrubs a hand down his face, and I shift from one foot to the other. This could go either way, and I really hope it doesn’t go badly. I don’t need another enemy at this school, and he has been a good friend to me. We’re just not a good match otherwise.
“Yeah, pretty much. I wasn’t really feeling it,” I tell him, trying to be as honest as I can.
He shrugs, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
I smile up at him sadly. “I totally don’t want to say it because it’s awful, but I’m really hoping we can still be friends.”
He belts out a laugh, and I wince again. This morning really has left me on edge. “You’re right, that was awful. But yes, we can still be friends. What’s one date between friends? It isn’t like we fucked or I declared my love for you.”
My eyes go wide at his words, making him laugh harder.
“Chill, I don’t love you.” I let out a breath of relief at the clarification. “Now let’s head to lunch, I’m starving.”
* * *
I make it through the rest of the day without issue. In fact, everything was looking up until I started the drive home.
Stupid me didn’t think to check my car after school.
That was my first mistake.
So when I need to stop the car at a traffic light, and my brakes fail, I smash into the car already sitting there. Thankfully there was a car there, otherwise I’d have hit the kids crossing the road. But fuck my life.
So now I’m sitting in the back of an ambulance getting checked over while the police look over the road.
What an awesome way to finish this day.
My neck’s so fucking stiff, and a bruise is already blooming on my chest from the seatbelt. The pain relievers the paramedic gave me aren’t helping much, but I don’t want to take anything stronger. A police officer approaches the ambulance, and I spot Lincoln’s Porsche pull to a stop behind the cop car.
“Miss, are you okay to answer some questions?” I nod and stand, only a little dizzy from where I hit my head in the crash. I’m pretty sure I look worse than I feel. I’m glad no one was hurt too badly, but I am beyond pissed that my car is fucked up yet again.
“Can you please tell me what happened here, in your own words?”
I sigh at the question. I know it looked like I just plowed straight into the back of that woman, but they’re not going to believe me until they check out the car. I explain everything that happened about my brakes not working.
His look of skepticism isn’t lost on me. “Who would want to mess with your brakes?”
I look over at Lincoln, and he smirks at me as he leans against his car, arms crossed over his chest. Jackass. I don’t know why he’s here, but we both know that if he backed me up right now, this cop would believe me without hesitation.
Of course, we’re not friends anymore, so I don’t expect his help. But it’s likely he knows who did this if he didn’t do it himself. Though this seems too blue collar for Linc. He knows his way around an engine—he’s always had a fascination with how things work—but I doubt that even if it was his idea that he did the damage himself.
“I don’t know, Officer. All I know is that they didn’t work. I never said that someone messed with them.” The officer’s cheeks go red as he splutters an apology. “Is there anything else?”
“No, miss. We’ve called a tow truck for your car pending investigation for your insurance company, but once everything’s cleared up, someone will contact you.”
I nod at him, wishing I hadn’t because pain rips through my skull. Well, that’s a fun little side effect, awesome. “Thank you, Officer.”
He heads back toward his car, and the paramedics pack up, leaving me with my smashed up car to wait for the tow truck. The woman I hit scowls at me, and I smile apologetically. I don’t know how many more times I can say sorry to her. Thankfully, her car isn’t too damaged, so she climbs in and drives away, leaving me with my undrivable Impala.
Lincoln saunters over to me, smirk firmly in place. “I do not have the time or patience for your bullshit today.”
“And here I am, a nice bystander, waiting to offer you a ride home.” I scoff at his words. There is no way he’s here just to be nice.
I roll my eyes at him, beyond exasperated and so done with this day. “Yeah, right, I totally believe you.” My smile conveys every ounce of snark I have building up inside of me. “Besides, I already called Indi, she’s on her way.”
“She isn’t. I was at the library too when she got your call. I told her I’d come and get you since I was heading home anyway.”
I let out a growl of frustration. “Of course you fucking did. If you’re being so helpful, why not help me with the cop?”
He laughs at me and crosses his arms, watching me like a hunter watches his prey. “Why would I help you with that?”
I roll my eyes again, but it makes my head pound. I wince, grasping my head. God, he’s such an asshole. We’re interrupted as the tow truck arrives, asking me to sign a dozen different forms before he hooks up my poor car and takes it away.
“Do you want a ride home or not?” He’s so fucking shitty about it. I almost want to say no, but the world starts spinning. I groan internally because I don’t think I’ll manage it if I try to walk home.
“Yes, please.” I grind out the words through a clenched jaw, and he grabs my bag from the ground.
“After you,” he says, waving to his shiny black SUV. I start walking, and my stomach flips. I really hope I don’t vomit. Though the thought of fucking with his impeccably spotless car does give me a sadistic sort of satisfaction.
He opens the door for me and closes it once I’m buckled in, striding round to his side before climbing in. His gaze runs over me—almost as if checking for injury, but I know better than to think that—as my stomach rolls, and I practically feel the blood run from my face. “If you vomit in my car, I’ll make you clean it.”
I flip him the finger and open the window, taking deep breaths.
At least that wouldn’t be the worst part of my day.