Corrupt

25. Absence

25. Absence

Two days had passed.

Two agonizingly long days that passed slowly in the depths of my room. My blinds were drawn, my blankets pulled up to my chin, and I had barely left my bed. Lack of sleep, from the nightmares that plagued my mind as soon as my eyes were shut, was causing a throbbing in my head that no amount of pain-relievers could reduce. On top of all that, my mind was in a turmoil. The information that Greg had unloaded on me was something I was constantly thinking about.

  If what Greg had promised was true, than I had the chance - the opportunity - to start a new life. I could put the past behind me and forget.

Or try to forget.

But, there was also the chance that his words were a lie. There was a possibility that what he promised me was all a setup, a story fabricated to simply promise that Ricardo Nixon got his revenge on Jace and I was simply just another person who would lose my life over the cause.

On top of my confusion if Greg could be trusted, my brain was swarming with questions, none of which I had answers to. Was Greg telling the truth or was this all just a set up? Who was the mole? What would exactly happen to Stella.

And I only had a week to make a decision.

"Are you listening to me?" Two slender fingers snapped themselves inches away from my face and I dragged my gaze upwards to stare at an annoyed Brooke. She arched a perfect brow in my direction, before crossing her arms, a pose that let me know she was highly irritated. "I've been talking and I don't think you've heard a word I've said."

"Sorry, I've been distracted." I muttered, rolling onto my back to stare up blankly at the ceiling. I hadn't heard a word from Jace. In fact, I hadn't spoken much to anyone. Ashley had yet to make an appearance and all the guys seemed to be avoiding me with their frequent excuses of busy schedules.

Brooke let out a snort, clearly agitated with what I had stated. "You always are lately."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her, unable to understand were the anger behind her words had sprung from. "Is everything okay? A lot has been on my mind lately, if you can understand that."

 "Yes, there is something wrong." She snapped back, her lips molding into one angry line. "You're being selfish. The others might want to just tip-toe around you, but I'm definitely not. That night was traumatic for a lot of people, including me. But, it's time to move on. Moping in bed isn't the way to best way to fix things."

My eyes narrowed, my walls rising in defense as I caught a hint of annoyance in her words. I gripped the sheets tightly between my fists, before clearing my throat. Not wanting to fight, I forced myself to relax my shoulders. "You don't know the whole story."

"I know enough." She rolled her eyes, stretching her long legs out in front of her. "This depression thing you have going on right now is just a phase which you'll grow out of. Then things will go back to normal once you look past everything that's happened and see what I'm talking about. Jace will be back soon and everything will be perfect for you again."

I felt the corners of my mouth dip down once more. "I hate to break it to you, Brooke, but nothing about this situation is normal or perfect."

"Well, with that attitude it's not going to be." Brooke sharply stated, lazily lifting a hand in front of her face to inspect her nails. "It's time to stop being so negative, Savannah. Acceptance is key. Build a bridge and get over what happened."

If only she knew what she was asking me to accept.

I pressed my index fingers to my temples, rubbing gently to hopefully ease the throbbing that was wracking my head. My body wasn't dealing well with the things that had happened over the past days. My lack of sleep, appetite, and the stress weighting on my shoulders seemed to be taking a toll on me finally.