The last thing I expected to happen was to be awoken by a loud crash. Immediately, I flew out of my bed, hand over my rapidly thumping heart. Glancing at my clock, I realized it was merely four in the morning. Chey's parents were out for the night, so it was just me, Cheyenne, and a possible intruder.

Shaking, I unplugged my lamp and inched out of my room, careful to be quiet. A sob echoed through the hall and I froze, my fingers squeezing the life out of the lamp. That sounded like Cheyenne.

A part of my groggy, petty brain said 'go back to sleep'. She wouldn't have helped me if the roles were reversed, and she could handle whatever was going on. Yet, the more curious and caring part of my brain knew I had to see what was going on. After how close Chey and I had been, I wasn't going to let anything happen to her just because of a stupid feud over an even stupider boy.

Her room was about two doors down from mine. So, with my bare feet and short pajama bottoms, I rushed towards her bedazzled door and tossed it open. The sight before me almost made me drop the lamp and cry out, but instead I raced forward and hit the intruder over the head with the lamp.

Shards scattered about and he slumped to the floor, blood trickling down his face and his body limp. There, curled into a ball with her hands held above her head was Cheyenne.

"Chey?" I whispered, kneeling in front of her.

She glanced at me with tears streaming down her face, her eyes wide and mirroring her brokenness. In that moment, nothing mattered but my friend, because wether or not Luca liked it, that's what she was. So, I pulled her into my arms and let her sob into my shoulder as I rubbed her back.

"What's going on?" I queried, glancing back at Luca. My blood boiled and I already had a pretty good idea. The fact that he broke into her house at four in the morning to torment her was sick and twisted.

She pushed me away, causing me to sprawl onto my back.

"Nothing!" She cried, swiping away her tears. "He loves me, I swear! He's the best boyfriend ever, he's just going through some rough patches. I deserved it."

As I glanced at the boy on the floor, all I wanted to do was castrate him with a knife. "No one deserves to be hurt! How long has this been going on for?"

Cheyenne refused to respond. She simply took to her feet and tried to move towards her boyfriend. However, before she could reach him, I stood to my feet and gently pushed her away.

"Chey," I whispered, tears pooling in my own eyes. "How can you live like this?"

She shook her head. "This is none of your damn business, Constance!" Her voice rose with every word and she was screaming by the last. She pushed her glasses up her nose and sniffed. "He was right about you!"

I sarcastically laughed. "No, I was right about him!" I wanted to dance in victory, to shout in anger, and to sob in distress.

"You don't understand!" She screamed, attempting to push past me, but she was too weak. She fell to her knees. "Connie, how could you hurt him? I-I hate you!"

Her words stung worse that a wasp could've, but I refused to let it show. Brushing away my own tears, I glared down at the girl on the carpet. "Okay." That's all I could muster. After everything, that's what she thought of me? I felt so underappreciated, so upset.

Pushing away my anger, I attempting to comfort her as she started to bawl. But after she pushed me away and I was once again sprawled across the floor, I choose to run to my room and grab my phone.

My fingers hovered over the number pad. I planned to call 911, I really did. After all, Luca was unconscious and he was attempting to hurt Cheyenne. But, as I put the phone to my ear, I recognized the voice that picked up.

"Connie, it's four in the morning!" Vivi whined, sounding groggy and sluggish.

I sniffed, falling back into my mattress. "Vivi-" I choked on my words, unable to speak.

"What's wrong?" She asked, now sounding awake and alert.

"Chey- Luca," I whispered. Everything was too much for me to handle. I slid a hand down my damp face. Why? Why did tragedy follow me everywhere I went?

"What happened? Connie, you're not making any sense."

I gulped in a deep breath. "Luca is unconscious in the house."

I heard her suck in a breath. "What the heck happened?"

"He was abusing Chey!" I answered. "Just- ugh."

"Calm down! Joel and I will be there in a sec! We'll call the police. Just don't let them out of your sight!"

Slowly, I nodded, forgetting she couldn't see me. Then, I wordlessly hung up the phone and walked back towards Cheyenne's room. Unlike the last time, I took my time, not worrying about reaching the room anytime soon.

When I reentered, Chey had Luca's head in her lap and she was still sobbing, her chest rapidly rising and falling. I refused to acknowledge her. Instead, I slid down against the wall, gathering my knees to my chest.

Cheyenne didn't look at me. She didn't speak to me. She just kept her gaze on her jerk of a boyfriend. I kept my phone clutched in my grasp and stared at the ceiling as I waited.

I couldn't help but wonder where everything had gone wrong, or what was wrong with me. In that moment, I blamed myself for everything. If I hadn't killed Tasha, if I hadn't moved here, everything would be fine.

But I had moved there, and everything was far from fine.

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This book was almost 1k reads! What even? Thanks for all the support guys! I'm trying so hard to finish this book and I'm getting more motivation to update my stories. I never thought I'd get 18 chapters in but I have and I'm proud of myself!

Also, thanks so much to Mute_Slytherin for the new cover! I love it!

QOTD: Why do you think Luca is doing this?

-Sarah