Evol

chapter forty-nine

Let Her Go - Passenger

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Tuesday 13th August, 2019

Julian.

I stood in the crowd, gathered in the huge, high-ceilinged room. Everything was glossy and clean, with no trace of the party from the night before, and the hike today felt like a gloomy hangover.

My eyes stayed glued to the girl's staircase - every student had come down in drips, every girl had stumbled down the stairs, apart from the only one I wanted to see.

Where was she?

I crossed my arms, feeling mildly irritated, convincing myself my stomach wasn't twisted in knots. Was she hiding from me? A nervous laugh escaped me, and the boys around me turned to look.

She didn't really think it was over between us - she couldn't think that. . . Right?

I shook my head quickly - no. She knew how rash I was; she knew I hadn't meant it. Yet, that hadn't stopped me from staying up all night obsessing over it - I was sure I'd nearly gone to her room almost a hundred times, but held myself back. Just like she was aware of my rash tendencies, I also knew that she needed to cool off when she was mad.

But did it have to take this long? As the minutes ticked by, with no sign of Brooke, a bad feeling crept over me.

"Where's Brooke?" Carter nudged me.

"I don't know."

"Everyone's waiting."

"I know." I glanced around - people were starting to get pissed. Suddenly, I decided I'd had enough and zipped up the stairs.

I was too fast for anyone to notice, and followed her vanilla-cotton scent to a dorm room. Raising my fist to knock, I sighed and lowered it.

"Brooke?" I said softly.

No reply.

"Brooke? Come on, everyone's waiting! I know you take a while to get ready, but don't be ridiculous."

Nothing. I pressed my ear to the door; silence. No shuffles of feet, or even breathing.

Confused, I knocked on the door three times. "Brooke? Baby? Look," I sighed, standing awkwardly outside the door, glaring at the wall. "You're not annoyed with me, right? You know what I said last night isn't what I meant. . . I'd never do that to us."

I knocked again, and felt an urge to try the handle. I wiggled it and pushed, to find it open. I stepped into the room and surveyed it - completely empty. My stomach dropped when I saw her bag on the bed, open and spilling out clothes. She hadn't even packed.

It took me all of two seconds to race down the stairs, locate Amy in the chattering crowd, and stalk toward her.

"Julian?" Her eyes widened when she saw me, and moved away from the group of people she was talking with.

"Amy," I said, hating that I had to converse with someone I didn't know. "Where's Brooke?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where is she? She's not in your room."

"Why would she be?" Amy frowned up at me, and the honest confusion in her eyes made me tense.

"What are you talking about?" I snapped. "You shared a room with her, right?"

"Yeah. . ." She bit her lip piercing. "But I thought she was with you last night?"