The Ninety-Ninth Goodbye

ana

n the passenger seat. The sun was bright, the sky a mocking, perfect b

e saw me. "Eliana, honey! Come on in. Jax is upstairs in his room." She' d k

aid, my voice steady

ved me through. "He's been in a mood a

all echo in the quiet house. His bedroom door was

door open wit

ide him, her head on his shoulder. She was wearing his football jersey, the one with "LITTLE" and his number

h to the gut. The air left

riumphant gleam. "Oh, Eliana. I didn't hear you come in." She snuggled closer to Jax, a

ression unreadable for a moment before it hard

his childhood nickname for m

t he' d be sitting here, pining for me? That he' d be filled with regre

He had once driven three hours in the middle of the night just to apologize for a stupid argument.

kept testing, just to see how far he could go before I' d pull him back. He' d made a sport out

un out. The pieces

n settling in my bones with a cold, har

your things." My voice was eerily calm, dev

ething-annoyance? confusion?-crossing his features. He waved

red history was garbage. And they did. But they also

top of the stairs. His bedroom overlooked the two-story fo

ed hardwood floor below with a sickening crash. Th

nts spill out. I didn't need t

standing now, his brows furrowed. "What ab

an break too, i

laced with a cold fury. "I don't wa

kshelf. I pulled out the worn copy of The Great Gatsby I' d left here, the framed photo of us at jun

ering about some upcoming party, her voice grating on my raw nerves. She accidentally knocked over a glass o

g it up. "Be careful, Cat," he said, and his voice was

s left a book out of place. But for

p, walked over to his closet, and pulled out a new, pristine football jersey.

ow found a way to break even more. I was numb. Utterly and

ain room and moved toward his en-suite ba

mile playing on her lips. "Trying to get his attention, Eliana? Pla

" I said, m

g to UCLA with him. I'll be in his dorm, in his bed. I'll be the one

ng into my skin. "Your parents are rich, right? What did you do, bu

ion of my parents ignited a spark o

I said, my voice

Or what? You'l

adrenaline coursing through me. The movement was shar

lance, I heard footstep

a

pure, calculated cunning flashed across her face. As she fell backward, s

d together, a tang

r the low banister at

re from my throat, mixing with Catalina's shriek. We hit t

connected with the floor. I felt something

ching into a hysterical wail. "Jax! She pu

rmed down the stairs, his face a mask of thunderous rage. He rushed straight to Cata

you hurt?" he asked, his

inting a trembling finger at me. "She did it o

ing to push myself up, my vision swimmin

-" I started,

ce echoing in the foyer. "I d

of pain and frustration finally bre

with a disgust that cut deeper than any physic

at the blood matting my hair. His entire focus was on

voice dropping to a low, menacing gr

er as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

ome, kissing the wound and promising to fight off the "pavement monster." That boy was gone.

evotion, all the pain and sorrow, died on my lips

ke of agony through my head. I left my things scattered on his

linding sunlight, leaving a small trail of

lf to the em

itches above my eyebrow. As I lay in the sterile white ro

e from a number I didn'

wrapping an ice pack around Catalina' s ankle. She was looking u

ng such good care of me. Some people

or me. I felt nothing. No anger, no jealousy, not even a pinprick of pain. Just a hol

blocked the number, a