Half of My Heart ✔️

29 | against the wall

"How are you feeling?" I ask, closing the door to the dance studio behind me. For the last half-hour, I've been begging Ms. Arabella to let me practice, but she refuses due to the cut on my leg. I told her I hardly even feel it anymore, but she said that I can't dance until my doctor deems it fully healed, which could take another two weeks.

I can't wait two more weeks.

"Fine," Dani says on the other end of the line. I wait for her to add on and talk my ear off like she usually does, but she doesn't. Sending that something is wrong, I'm not sure what to say.

"How are Mom and Dad?" I ask to fill the silence.

"They're fine," she says curtly. "They're out at dinner right now."

"You're home alone?" I find it hard to believe our parents would leave her home alone this soon after everything that's happened.

"I told them to go. I was tired of them hanging over me twenty-four seven. What? Think I'll overdose as soon as I'm alone?" She asks roughly. I'm taken back by her sharp response.

"Dani, that's not what I meant—"

"Don't worry about me, Scarlett. I'm fucking tired of you guys acting like I can't take care of myself," she snaps. I hear her take a deep breath.

"We can talk about something else if you want," I offer, trying to find stable ground between us. Though there's nothing I want more than to make sure she's one hundred percent alright, I pull back my concern. "How's Elijah?"

"I doubt he's into junkies," she says without a hint of emotion in her voice. When I'm too stunned by her response to say anything, she says, "Listen, I gotta go."

That's the last thing I want her to do, but it's obvious that she's not in the mood to talk. "Okay . . . I love you."

She pauses for a second but eventually says, "I love you too." Then the line goes dead.

As much as I want to believe that these are typical teenage hormones, I know it's not that simple. I remember witnessing Dani's withdrawal symptoms a year ago. After seeing everything that an overdose puts someone though, I should know that irritability is the least of Dani's symptoms. But at least withdrawal symptoms mean that she's not using anymore.

I would give anything to be there with her right now.

It's dark out now. I walk quickly toward the parking lot, clutching my keys between my fingers. I hear someone behind me and begin to grasp at my pepper spray.

When I see him, my blood runs cold, but I have very little fight left in me.

"Hey, Crimson."

"Leave me alone," I say coldly. "Go back to wherever the fuck you came from. Hell, maybe?

I refuse to look up at him, even as he's standing right in front of me. Levi's keeping a respectable distance, about five feet, but the way he's looking at me makes me feel like he's less than inches from my face.

"I need to talk to you," he says. "You've been ignoring me."

"And why the hell would I be doing that?" I ask sarcastically. Finally, I look at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "The real question is why you are here? Want to make sure you've proved your point?"