Prom Queen ⚢ [EDITING]

↻ ◁ twenty-nine ▷ ↺

"and she lives her dreams
through the magazines"

The trip back to Texas was an interesting one, to say the least. After the night Ivy and I spent together, things were kind of tense around the house. Apparently, we weren't exactly great at keeping our voices down, which everyone else seemed to figure out way before we did.

Nayeli and Gabby were the most chill about it—making jokes and egging us on despite Gabby being utterly uninterested in the actual idea of sex. It was Ingrid and Graham who were acting the weirdest, which, in hindsight, I should've seen coming.

The next morning, Ingrid would avoid all eye contact with all three of us—me, Ivy, and Graham. Ignoring Ivy and me made sense, though. But the way she was avoiding Graham? Surely, we weren't the cause of that, right? So, what had Graham done that changed her unmatched admiration for him to complete evasion?

Of course, I imagined the worst. Disturbing images filled my head as I struggled to keep a calm face on the plane. When Ivy asked what was wrong, I quietly voiced my opinion to her and she tried her best to calm me down, but I knew she was just as scared for Ingrid as I was. I knew what Graham was capable of—who's to say he couldn't do something even worse?

Every time I glanced over at them on the plane, my heart tightened. It was like I was forced to watch someone sit in excruciating pain every time I saw Ingrid, and it broke me. I had no place telling her who she should and shouldn't date, but there was a way I could've prevented this, and I failed. If whatever I was thinking happened to be true, I would never be able to forgive myself.

"Hey," Ivy caught my attention by nudging my arm with her elbow. "It's gonna be okay."

The airplane seats were ridiculously comfortable and spacious since we were all riding first class, thanks to Ivy. Yet, I could not bring myself to move any further away from her. It was like I needed to feel her touch all the time, every moment of the day. And when I glanced up at her, I felt my eyes glisten with a layer of water.

"Camryn," Ivy silenced me before I could even say anything. "Stop torturing yourself. Ingrid is okay. You're okay. Nothing is your fault."

I struggled to speak—probably for the best. I just had to put my trust in Ivy and find the willpower to distance myself from those nasty thoughts. After all, that's all they were. Thoughts.

The rest of the flight was fairly calm. Ivy kept me nuzzled close to her the entire time, protecting me from the negativity spreading in my own brain. We arrived at her house within an hour of landing, and I felt excited to be back in Texas, for once.

Everyone filtered out of Ivy's house one by one until the only people remaining were me, Ivy, and Ingrid. And when Ingrid started making her way toward the two of us, my breath caught in my throat.

"Hey, guys," she said softly, watching her fingers graze over her other wrist. "Can I talk to you about something?"

Oh, shit.