Kayla: You’re going to pay for ruining my life
Motherfucker.I was so tired of her shit. Fury and fear—in almost equal parts—burned through my veins. Kayla was a loose cannon, and I was petrified that Juliette was directly in her path of destruction.
There were missed calls and voicemails from her too. I forwarded the messages to Quint without listening. It was none of Pratt’s business that my past was quickly spiraling out of control, and there’s no way he’d miss the psycho screams that were probably on those voicemails.
Me:She broke the restraining order. Arrest her ass.
Quint: On it.
I vacuumedthe ambulance to within an inch of its life. Not a speck of dust made it past my rage.
We passed Chief Pratt’s condescending inspection, and just as I thought we’d have a moment of peace, the tones rang out.
As we sped towards a car accident, I shot off a quick text to Juliette warning her to be extra cautious.
“You think she’s coming down?” Ryan asked.
“It makes sense.” In the most messed up, saddest way. In the month since Leo left, there’d been a few incidents of Kayla acting out, threatening me like this, then she’d go silent untilthe next time. It infuriated me, but the pattern fit. Leo had been supplying her, and now without a steady source, her outbursts probably coincided with withdrawals. Aggression, paranoia, even psychosis were symptoms of withdrawal.
Another text came in just as the traffic finally moved out of our way and we pulled up to the scene.
Kayla:I’m coming for you
Fuck.I threw my phone into the console. God forgive me for the thought, but if Kayla’s threats did coincide with her crashing and she wasn’t willing to get clean, then couldn’t she stay just a tiny bit high? Just enough to leave us the fuck alone.
30
Juliette
“Are you sure Dylan will like this?”
“Am I sure your boyfriend will like you in a sundress that shows off your cleavage and your legs? Yes, I’m positive,” Jenna said.
“It’s not too low? My boobs look huge.”
“No, it’s not too low. Yes, your boobs look big and luscious.”
“I do look luscious, don’t I?”
“Yes. So take it off and go buy it.”
I closed the door to the fitting room and couldn’t help smiling as I looked in the mirror one last time. It was so unlike what I normally wore, and I did look good in it. I spun, smiling at the flair of my new dress. I couldn’t wait to surprise Dylan the next time we went out.
“Come on. You need new shoes to go with the dress.”
I got lucky at the next store and found a perfect pair of nude-colored sandals, then Jenna bought a beautiful ombre skirt, and we headed towards the food court.
Dylan’s text was the only blip in an otherwise perfect day. I hated how this issue with Kayla was hanging over our heads and I hated how helpless we were, just waiting for her to either forget us and move on, or to do something big enough that the police would intervene. I wrote back to Dylan that I’d be careful, but it ate at me knowing he was worried and there was nothing I could do to help.
I stopped short and spun towards Jenna. “Wait.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to buy one more thing. Lingerie.” Okay, maybe lingerie wouldn’t actually help with the problem, but it would make him happy.
“Yes!”
We were like nervous teenagers giggling through the racks I usually skipped over.