Dusk h.s.

Chapter 100

Harry grabs my hand as we enter school Monday morning.

I'm supposed to pretend like nothing's happened, right? Maybe it won't be as hard as I think. I mean, what's the point of letting something haunt my mind that's in the past.

Gabbi's gone. She's disappeared

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to." Harry looks over at me, giving me a small, encouraging smile.

"I have to." I assure him.

I take a deep breath as the cold school air hits my face. We walk to my locker where Brynn and Natalye are waiting.

They give me small smiles as I gather my things with Harry's tight squeeze on my hand.

During first hour, I sit behind a quiet Luke while I nervously chew at the end of my pencil.

Mr. Fill starts a new topic which I allow myself to listen to. I actually understand it.

After class, Luke catches up with me.

"Hi."

"Hey." I say softly, staring up at him.

"So....we're cool, right?"

"We're friends." I nod. "How's Ashton?"

"Gabbi called him.....she said she won't be home for a while."

"Does he know that she....."

"No. I couldn't tell him. But she won't come back. I promise she won't."

I bite my lip. "I'm sorry Luke."

"It's not your fault."

"I mean about everything. This whole back and forth with me and you."

"It's okay. I finally realize that you don't love me in the way I want you to. But I still want us to be friends."

"Me too, Luke. Me too."

At lunch, I take my seat next to Harry. To my surprise, Luke joins us along with his friends.

I smile. "So, I guess we're all cool now."

Luke looks over at Harry. "If that's okay with you."

Harry smirks. "Look Hemmings, this isn't a bromance. It's a friendship."

I smile. "Awee."

"Yeah, now we just gotta make sure that bitch, Gabbi doesn't show her face around here anymore." Natalye comments.

"She doesn't know you're alive." Luke says. "The only way to assure for a fact that she won't come back is that we tell her."

Luckily, Ashton isn't at the table or anywhere in earshot to overhear.

"How do we do that?"

Luke shrugs. "We call her and tell her."

"Right now?" I am uneasy as my fork hits my mouth.

"Yes!" Harry answers for me. "She needs to know as soon as possible."

"Wait, if she knows I'm alive, wouldn't that give her more motivation to come back and try to kill me again."

"No, because she knows we know her tricks now." Luke says. "She knows that you'll never trust her enough to go with her again, and she knows that Harry will be with you at all times. Despite what you think, she's sort of scared of him."

I laugh. "Go figure." I say, taking another bite of my food. I rarely eat at school, but almost dying has taught me to enjoy my life. "Ashton needs to know."

"And he will know," Luke assures me, pulling out his phone, "in time."

I nod, going back to my food. I feel bad for Luke. He has to live with knowing that the person he thought killed his sister was innocent when it was really one of his best friend's this whole time.

I find myself placing my hand over his, not caring who's watching. "I really am sorry, Luke. For everything."

"It's okay. I should've known something was off about her."

"But you shouldn't have to live with this."

He shrugs. "It's just something I have to do."

I hear a voice on the other line. "LUKE!" Gabbi exclaims.

Chills run down my spine just hearing her voice echo.

"Hello Gabbi." He replies. "How was your little hoorah Friday?"

"Wh-what?"

"Well, you went to get telescopes and never came back. Now you say you're leaving town."

"Yeah, I need to leave for a few days and visit my family. They've missed me, and I've really missed them."

"Well, feel free to stay longer than a few days. Because if I ever see your face around here again, ill shoot you."

The line goes silent. "Wh-what? Luke, what are you......"

"I know what you did, Gabbi."

"No...."

"Yes, I know you tried to kill Anna!" Anger rises in his voice. "We all know. Even Ashton." He lies. "So don't even bother showing your face around here again."

"No Luke, you don't understand. I did this for you. She hurt you. Strung you along like a puppet and you were still in love with her. And Harry.....he killed your sister. I had to make him suffer too."

I take a moment to realize she doesn't know I'm alive and that I know she killed Luke's sister. I take this as a perfect opportunity to make my presence known.

"Really?" I say into the phone, earning silence from Gabbi. "Because I specifically remember you confessing to me that you killed Luke's sister. I guess you could consider it a double murder since she was pregnant." I can already imagine her shocked face as my voice goes through the speaker.

"Anna?"

"So it seems like you have a few choices here." I say with a devious smirk on my face. "You stay the hell away and never show your face in this town again, or you come back and we kill you. Your choice."

There is a pause before her voice appears again. "That's impossible! You're dead!"

"Sorry sweetie, do I sound dead?"

"Oh my God."

"You won't get away with this forever. I'll watch you burn in hell for it."

Luke hangs up the phone. "She won't be showing her face around here much."

We all laugh.

Maybe this is what life is supposed to feel like. I am always so caught up in the tragedies of my life that I never get a chance to remember the good moments. I never have a chance to appreciate what I actually have.

I have Courtney. I have Robert. I have Harry. I have Luke. I have Natalye. I have Brynn. I have Liam, Louis, Niall, Calum, Michael, Ashton, and even Zayn. I have these people in my life that care about me. I have a life. It's time to stop living in the past. I can't afford to do that anymore. I can't afford to want to die.

I find myself at my mother's grave that afternoon. I talk to her, feeling full again as I imagine her listening.

"And I finally found someone that I love. Mom, I don't wanna die. I wanna live. I wanna live with Harry and start a life with him. I wanna get married and start a wonderful family." Then I remember, Harry doesn't want kids. "I guess it would be a family with just us two. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything, but I know you've been watching over me. I know you have. So thank you for that. Thank you for giving me life." I say, taking a deep breath.

"I'm finally ready to live it."