Landslide: Before (Book 1) (GirlxGirl / lesbian/ LGBTQ)

Chapter Twenty-One

Hey everyone,so sorry for such a late update! I was swamped with work today and incredibly stressed out. but here it is! 

Summary: the one where Emery is simply done. 

TWENTY-ONE

I checked everywhere.

She wasn't at the park near my house where I had run into her late one night

Or the Sunrise diner where I knew he mother worked.

Not even Barks N' Recreation's; I scoured the whole complex.

I had even stopped by her house, but no one was home.

I simply couldn't find Violet.

A heavy weight had settled in my stomach, pulling me down, filling me with dread. There was no sign of her, but I had one last place to check. I was hopeful as I ran through the main street of Shorecliff that I would find Violet nestled in a corner at The Lost Book Shop with a hot coffee in her hand and a tattered book. She would look up and smile at me and everything would be right in the world again. She would tell me what happened, and I would laugh at myself for being so crazy. But, that didn't happen.

I ran into the bookshop and scanned the whole cafe. Nothing. Deeper into the shop I went. Every nook and cranny, empty. She was nowhere. I checked twice, thinking maybe I missed her the first time. And then I checked again desperately. I turned up empty handed once again.

Violet was nowhere to be found. And I was out of options. She wasn't anywhere I thought she would be or could be, she was simply just gone.

I heaved a heavy sigh and started to leave the bookshop when a familiar face walked through the front door. The bell above the door went off and in strutted Sawyer. She pushed her sunglasses up on her head and scanned the area in front of her. I ducked behind a shelf of books and watched from afar. She moved gracefully across the floor, each stride purposeful and confident. I watched in panic as she talked to the barista, barely making out the words even though I was close to the counter.

"Have...seen a...brown hair...beautiful...comes here oft..." Sawyer asked the barista, who nodded.

"She went..." The barista gestured behind him. Sawyer smiled and sauntered off to the back of the store and right passed my hiding spot. I exhaled a breath I didn't realize I had been holding onto. Immediately, I bolted from the bookshop not wanting to be seen by Sawyer. I didn't stop running until I reached the end of the boardwalk.

I wanted nothing to do with her, I thought I had made that clear. It had been weeks since I had seen her, it seemed like we were a thing of a past and she had understood that. Apparently, she wanted to try again. And to go to my safe haven, of all places, I thought angrily. She knew how sacred the bookshop was to me. It was my happy place, it wasn't to be infringed upon. But, there Sawyer went, infecting it with her arrogance and tainted memories of us. I never thought she would stoop so low as to seek me out in the places I loved to go. It was a new low, even for Sawyer. She certainly wasn't taking our break up with grace or any semblance of acceptance. But, then again, Sawyer was never one to give up on what she wanted. That used to be the biggest characteristic of hers that I loved, now it was the pain in my butt. I wanted her gone, why couldn't she stay gone? If only her and Violet would switch places in that aspect, I thought ruefully.

I stood at the edge of the pier leaning on the railing, looking out at the ocean, watching the sunlight reflect off the rippling waves. I tried to calm my heart as it hammered intensely against my chest. Anxiously, I pondered why Sawyer would want to talk to me and where on Earth Violet could be.