Weight of The Untold

Chapter 19

I said no one has to know what we do. His hands are in my hair. His clothes are in my room and his voice is a familiar sound. Nothing lasts forever. But this is getting good now.

He's so tall and handsome as hell. He's so bad but he does it so well. I can see the end as it begins. My one condition is....

Taylor Swift: Wildest Dreams

....

I walked toward the breakfast table slowly, almost tiptoeing, like maybe the universe would reward my caution by keeping Caleb far, far away. Thankfully, the chair at the head of the table was empty. The last thing I wanted this morning was a cross-examination about yesterday—my brain was already loud enough on its own.

The truth was… I had gone to the cemetery. But afterward, I couldn’t bring myself to go straight home. The heaviness inside me needed noise, movement, people—anything that wasn’t the ache I’d been carrying. So I hopped into the car with Jerry and went to the mall, wandering like a ghost through storefronts just to kill time. Staying home on a Sunday with nothing to do felt suffocating.

Flashback

“Kyla? Kyla Davison?”

I turned, confused, and found a girl around my age grinning at me like we’d been best friends in a past life. “Oh my God, you haven’t changed a bit,” she added with an English accent.

…Not necessarily a compliment, but okay.
And why did her voice feel familiar? I definitely didn’t make friends in London.

“Hi,” I replied politely.

She blinked at me, laughing. “You don’t remember me?”

I shook my head.

“It’s Hazel, silly!”

And suddenly my brain unlocked a sun-soaked memory.

“What? Hazel Quinn?” My jaw dropped. “Oh my God—it’s so good to see you!”

She threw her arms around me, squeezing like she’d been waiting years for this exact moment.

“Kyla, you look beautiful as ever,” she said when she pulled back. I chuckled, flattered and slightly overwhelmed.

“Thank you. What are you doing here?”

She looped her arm through mine and guided us into one of the booths. I’d come here to collect an order before heading back home, but now I was suddenly grateful the universe redirected my day.

“I moved here two weeks ago,” she explained. “My uncle lives here—remember? I told you back in Miami.”

I nodded. I remembered Miami so clearly—the salt in the air, the endless beach days, and this girl who had somehow made my middle-school vacation feel magical. Our parents had stayed in hotels next to each other, so naturally we spent most of that trip glued together.

“How are you finding the city?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Stop being so formal. How have you been?”

I laughed, surrendering. “I’ve been good, Hazel. And clearly so have you. You look… different.”

She tilted her head knowingly. “Probably the haircut.”
Oh. Right. Last time we saw each other, she had hair as long as mine.

She suddenly brightened. “Hey—what are you doing tonight? My cousins and I are going to a house party. I don’t know anyone here yet besides them, but now that you’re here, we could go together and catch up.”