Page 121 of Truck Up
“I’m not!” I yell. “This isn’t easy for me. If I have to talk about it, I’m only going to do it once. I never want to speak these words again.”
“Okay, now you’re scaring me.” Nova furrows her brows.
I walk over to where she’s still sitting on the bed and take her hand. Pulling her to her feet, I hug her tight. “I’ll explain once we’re at my parents’ house. I promise. Call Hadley. Please.”
“Okay.” She hugs me back and holds me tight for several seconds before she finally releases me. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to want to murder someone when this is all said and done?”
I chuckle because that is a very Nova-like response. “Because you will.”
“Great,” she draws out the word like it’s going to be a chore she doesn’t really want to do but knows she has to. “I’ll go call Hadley.”
I grab my phone off the nightstand and pull up the conversation with my mom.
Amelia
Hey, I need to talk to the entire family. Are my brothers there?
Mom
Linden, Tanner, and Jason are here. I think Aaron is at home. Is everything okay?
Amelia
It will be. Can you call Aaron and ask him to come over? This is really important.
Mom
Okay. When will you be here?
Amelia
Nova and I are heading over now.
I stuff my phone in my back pocket and head out to the living room to find Nova. She’s in the kitchen, cleaning up the dinner we never ate.
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry,” I say.
She shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. It’ll save for later. Something tells me this conversation trumps pork chops and mac’n cheese.”
As Nova pulls upto my parents’ house, my stomach churns, a sickening knot of anxiety tightening in my chest. My hands tremble, slick with a cold sweat as I wipe them off on my pants.
I’ve never felt this raw, this exposed, not even when I discovered I was pregnant with Christian’s child.
This … this is different. This is terrifying.
“You okay?” Nova asks as she puts her car into park.
“No, not really,” I say, honestly.
“That might be the most truthful thing you’ve said in ages.” I look over at my friend and she gives me a gentle smile. Then she takes my hand and squeezes. “Whatever it is, we’re here for you. No one will ever hurt you again.”
Tears well up in my eyes, and I quickly squeeze them shut. I’ve dreaded this conversation ever since that horrible night happened. Foolishly, I tried to convince myself that I could ignore this forever, despite knowing that wasn’t the case.
Headlights shine through the back window of Nova’s car and we both turn around.
“Must be Hadley since Aaron’s car is already here,” Nova says.
“Yeah,” I manage, my voice trembling slightly. I grip the door handle, my knuckles white, and swing the door open. “Let’s get this over with before I chicken out completely.”