Chapter 1

                I sat in the waiting room, my head bent down, and my elbows resting on my knees. A girl, no more than thirteen years old, was sitting beside me, flipping through the pages of some magazine that gave dating advice for vulnerable girls. She smacked her bubble gum with her tongue for what seemed like the twentieth time in the past five minutes. I bit back my tongue from saying something insulting, waiting for Julianne to come out of Dr. Roberts’ office. I peered up at the wall across from where I was seated, a clock hung over the wall. The short handle pointed at the five, meaning that I’d been waiting for Julianne a little over an hour now.

                “So, why are you here?” the girl suddenly asked, glancing over at me from the corner of her eyes, still focused on her magazine. After a moment, she tore her eyes away from her magazine, folding it over her lap. Her eyes raked over me, up and down, letting a side smirk slip across her lips that were coated in a thick layer of shiny gloss. “Wait, don’t answer. Let me guess. Anorexia? Bulimia? You seem like you need to pack on some meat onto those bones of yours.”

                Staring up at the girl who had to be at least three years younger than I was, I couldn’t help but suddenly become surprised by her bluntness. Her eyes seemed to have a gleaming hint of amusement in them as she raised an eyebrow, signaling for me to speak. “Oh, my apologies.” She said, somewhat sarcastically. “Are you one of them mute girls? Can you speak?”

                I blinked before clearing my throat. “I’m not-.” I paused, letting out a deep breath of air. “I’m not mute. I’m just waiting for my best friend.”

                The girl smiled deviously, smacking her gum once again. “Julianne Hart, that’s her, isn’t it?” she asked as I nodded in response. “I’ve heard about her. The receptionists next door talk about her all the time.”

                I quickly stiffened, suddenly feeling a weight being pushed down against my shoulders. Because of Julianne’s condition, she was always talked about by everybody. Clenching my fists by my sides, I suddenly felt defense of my best friend. “Really?” I gritted through my teeth, trying my best not to sound too cold. “What have they said?”

                The teenage girl, although thirteen, was wise for her young age. She smirked, the corners of her lips twitching upwards at my reaction. Whipping a nail filer from her purse, she began to file her nails. “Oh, nothing too important,” She snickered, “just about how she’s been a client of Dr. Roberts for years now. I heard one of the receptionists saying how it was unbelievable that Julianne hasn’t been cured yet. As I recall, the blonde receptionist said it was crazy how Julianne is still cutting herself after five years in therapy.

               I suddenly felt protective over Julianne- just as I had been for years now, ever since what happened. Feeling tense, I cleared my throat, biting down on my lips from screaming. “The receptionists out there really should mind their own business.” I snapped. “They have no right to gossip about Dr. Roberts’ clients. It’s extremely unprofessional.”

                “Yeah, yeah.” The teenage girl rolled her eyes. “Go complain to them, not me.”

                Just as I was about to open my mouth to ramble on, I was interrupted by the door suddenly opening. I expected to see Julianne coming out of Dr. Roberts’ office, but I let out a sigh of defeat when I noticed that it wasn’t her- just some guy. “Fucking shit, Reina.” The guy cursed under his breath, slamming the door behind him. I noticed him approaching me, but I frowned because my name wasn’t Reina. Then I realized that he wasn’t talking to me, he was talking to the girl beside me, so deeply focused on the dating advice column of her magazine. “I’ve been looking for you for fifteen minutes now! Why didn’t you reply to any of my texts?”

                The girl, Reina, rolled her eyes. “Calm your shit, Jace. I thought mom told you what floor I was on.” She snapped, shoving her contents into her purse. “It’s not my fault that she didn’t tell you.”  

                The guy looked extremely stressed, running a hand through his effortlessly tousled hair. I watched as the spaces in between his fingers separated his dark brown hair, swiping a tongue over his rosy red lips. I squinted just a little bit, when I noticed that he looked slightly familiar. I wondered if I’d ever seen him before, possibly at school. I couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away from him, up until his brown eyes flashed over to me dangerously. He raised an eyebrow, not looking welcoming or warm at all. “What are you looking at?” he asked harshly. “Is there something you want?”

                I was taken aback by his rude outburst, and I suddenly recognized the resemblance between the two. The girl, although a few years younger looking than the guy, had the same identical eyes as he did. I quickly came to assumptions that they had to be related in some way. I snapped back into reality after the younger girl slapped her brother across the shoulder, glaring up at him. “Don’t talk to her like that.” She snapped. “She’s my friend.”

                I blinked, raising an eyebrow out of surprise. Just as I asked, “I am?” the guy asked, “She is?”

                My eyes widened, my cheeks flushing red. I suddenly became warm as I tugged at the hem of my sweater to try to cool down a little bit. The girl nodded, turning over to offer me a wide smile. “Yes, you are.” She snapped at her brother, sticking her hand out for me to shake. “My name’s Reina, if you haven’t figured out yet. And this is my asshole of a brother, Jace.”

                “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Jace groaned, rubbing his eyes with his palms. “You don’t even know her name, Reina. Can we just go?”

                Reina ignored him, but I noticed her elbow jabbing into his ribcage. “Nice to meet you.” She finished, smirking once again. I stared at her closely, noticing that Reina could never smile properly without smirking, even if it was just a little bit. She always had this devious look on her face, as if she was planning something. “And your name is?”

                I blinked, clearing my throat. “O-oh,” I muttered lamely, mostly due to astonishment, “I’m Everly.”

                “Everly, huh?” Reina grinned. “That’s a cute name.”

                Jace stood quietly beside Reina, muttering incoherent curses under his breath. He crossed his arms, letting out a deep breath of air. “Okay, now that we all know each other, can we leave now?” he asked tiredly, turning to Reina. “Have you gotten your meds yet?”

                Reina shot her brother a glare, nodding slowly. I frowned, wondering what Reina was in therapy for. I opened my mouth to ask her, but before any words got to escape my lips, Reina spoke up once again. “Of course I have, Jace.” She snapped, sounding almost sarcastic. “How can I forget when you and mom remind me every three fucking seconds?”

                Jace groaned, rolling his eyes. “I’m not arguing with you right now, Reina,” He muttered, “especially not in some psychologist’s office.”

                Reina gave Jace a murderous glare before turning her attention back to me. “I’ll see you some other time when you come with Julianne.” Reina smiled, waving. “Bye, Everly.”

                I watched, still sitting down as Jace and Reina left the office. I heard faint voices of bickering as they walked down the hallways, entering the elevator. No more than a few minutes later, Julianne came out of Dr. Roberts’ office, a new bottle of medication in her hands. “So Julianne,” Dr. Roberts’ said, writing something down on her clipboard, “I’ll schedule you in for next week, okay?”

                Julianne stared moodily down at her hands, reading the label of the meds that Dr. Roberts’ had refilled for her. “Yeah, sure.” She muttered, barely paying any attention to her psychologist. “Next week sounds good.”

                Dr. Roberts’ grinned happily, a smile that was so wide that it looked like it hurt to smile that big. A shiver went shooting down my spine while Julianne approached me, reaching for her bag that she left outside in the waiting room with me. Dr. Roberts’ eyes met mine, giving me a wave. “Nice to see you again, Everly!” she chirped, pushing her eyeglasses to the bridge of her nose.

              I gave Dr. Roberts’ a weak smile, following Julianne towards the door. “You too,” I said politely, “see you next time.”

                As Julianne and I left the office, I watched her shove her bottle of meds in her purse. “So,” Julianne said, pressing the button to go to the lobby when we entered the elevator, “I heard some shouting from the office. What was going on?”

                I shook my head, the door opening to the second floor. A family of four stepped inside, all bickering at the same time. The wife was arguing with her husband about financial issues while the two sisters were pulling each other’s hair. Before the elevator doors closed, I read the sign of the second floor office, ‘Family Therapy: Dr. Marigold’.

                “Nothing important.” I muttered. “Just two siblings that were arguing with each other.”

                Julianne’s eyebrows rose, nodding slowly. “Oh?” she asked. “Was it the Wasson siblings? The girl comes every week- always has an appointment with Dr. Roberts before I do. Reina, I think that’s her name.”

                “That’s them.” I recalled. “She had an older brother, too, Jace.”

                Julianne smiled. “Right.” She nodded. “He comes every once in a while when his mother can’t pick her up from therapy. You know he’s in our school, right? I think he’s a year above us, though. You have a class with him, AP Calculus, right?”

                I frowned, trying to remember if he was in my class or not. I sat in front of the class, not because I was exceptionally focused in AP Calculus, but because I didn’t have many friends in that class. Mostly everyone that was enrolled in that class was a senior while I was a junior. “No wonder, I thought he looked familiar when I saw him.” I muttered, walking out of the building to enter the parking lot. The car that I borrowed from my mother let out a beep when I unlocked the car. I slid into the driver’s seat while Julianne took the passenger seat. “Do you think he recognized me?”

                Julianne shrugged, reapplying a coat of lip gloss over her pouty lips. “I’m not sure.” She gritted through her teeth, trying her best not to ruin her lip gloss. “I mean, you didn’t recognize him either, did you?”

                I pulled the car out of the parking lot, driving down the street. “No, I guess not.”

                “I’ve only seen him a few times before, but from what I’ve seen, I could say that he’s pretty cute.” Julianne chuckled shamelessly, leaning back in her seat. “His name’s Jace Wasson, right?”

                I nodded, pulling my car onto the freeway. “Yeah,” I said, “at least that’s what Reina told me.”

                Julianne nodded slowly, staring out at the window. Her blue eyes always had a look in them, as if she was in another universe. Julianne was always there with me, but she was never mentally there. She has been off into her own world, ever since the event that occurred a little over five years ago. “I’ve heard a lot about him in school. Girls flaunt over him, but he doesn’t pay any attention to them. Jace is mysterious, he doesn’t really notice anyone.”

                I snorted, rolling my eyes. “What’s so special about him?” I asked, keeping my focus on the road. “He seemed like a complete asshole back at the office.”

                Julianne chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. “He’s good looking, Everly.” She mumbled. “Everyone likes good looking people.”

*

                At four in the morning, I received a call. My phone vibrated against my nightstand to the right of me. I let out a tired groan, picking up the phone. “Hello?” I croakily answered, my eyes still closed.

                I heard a cry from the other line, and I knew immediately who it was. I let out a sigh, rolling out of my red. Grabbing a coat off a hanger in my closet, I shrugged it over my shoulders. “Everly, I-I need you.” A frightened voice said desperately on the other line.

                I rubbed my tired eyes, holding back a yawn. “I’ll be there in a minute.” I assured, hanging up on the phone.

I shoved my phone in my coat pocket, quietly tiptoeing down the hallways. My family knew that it wasn’t rare for me to leave in the middle of the night, but I still didn’t want to wake them up nevertheless. Quickly skipping down the stairs, I left my house through the front door. Walking down the streets in the middle of the night could be a scary thing, but I got over my fears throughout the past years. Waking up at four in the morning became a regular thing for me.

                I stopped in front of the Hart’s residence, going towards their backyard. I climbed up the steps of the porch, entering through the sliding doors. The Hart’s always left it unlock at night, in case I had to come over. I found my way towards the room where silent cries were coming from. Pushing the door open slowly, I found a blonde in the corner of the dark room. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her head buried under her curtain of hair. “You came.” Her voice broke, her blue eyes glossy under the layer of moist tears.

                I crouched down, taking a seat beside Julianne. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her head onto my shoulder. I felt hot tears leaking through the fabric of my shirt, but I didn’t mind. I held Julianne tightly as she sobbed. “I’ll always come.” I assured.

                Julianne’s uncontrollable tears didn’t seem to stop there. “I-I saw them again, Everly. I saw them, and they wanted to kill me.”

                My heart was yearning for Julianne. I gave her a reassuring squeeze, not letting go of her. “It’s just a dream, Julianne. They’ll never come back, ever again, I promise.” 

                “But I saw them!” Julianne’s voice shook, letting out a hiccup. “The guy- the big one, he had a gun. He pointed it at my head, told me to shut up and stop s-screaming while they shot-.”

                I closed my eyes, holding Julianne. “Deep breaths, Julianne.” I whispered calmly, trying to settle Julianne down, who was shaking in my arms.

                It took a little under half an hour for Julianne to relax and fall back asleep. I let out a tired yawn, preparing to sleep myself. I stared over at the digital clock on Julianne’s nightstand, noticing that I only had an hour left to sleep. I sighed quietly, closing my heavy eyelids.

                Even as much as I hated giving up sleep, I had to do it for Julianne.