End of tomorrow

Chapter 8

Alessa stopped in her track, turned around and gaped at Lily in disbelief.

"W-what?"

Letting go of Hailey's shoulder, she strode to where Alessa was standing. Alessa flinched at the anger and hatred in her own sister's eyes.

"It's your fault," she spat. "You could have stopped him coming to prom.! You could have told him he was going to have a car crash so he could have come with us! You could have - you could have told us a-anything!"

Alessa took a sharp breath, guilt making her chest heavy. Guilt for not being able to help Jason.

"Told him what?" Lily's head shot up at the cold voice and met a pair of dark blue eyes. She gasped in fear and stumbled back. She had only seen Alessa this angry once when she had made the mistake of making a cruel joke about homosexuals.

"Told him not to come to prom because he was going to have a car crash? Told you anything because you would have believed me? Huh?" with every question flung at Lily, Alessa took a step forward so she was now standing in front of Lily and Hailey again.

She pressed her lips, closed her eyes and took deep breaths to cool down the anger bubbling within her before it burst. Lily had no right to accuse her pf not helping. She had felt guilty but she was in the same situation as them - she had no clue how it happened. It made her realise how others must have felt in these situations.

A hand grasped her shoulder. She looked up to see Ethan's concerned eyes.

"Feel better?" he whispered in her ear. Alessa nodded. A small smile appeared on his lips before he went back to supporting Jack.

Alessa hurried beside Sarah and Henry. Sarah looked sympathetically and gave Alessa's arm a squeeze. Besides her, Henry supported a confused look and directed this at Alessa. Alessa shook her head - she wasn't in the right frame of mind to explain anything to anyone. Sarah might have to fill him with anything he doesn't know.

*

The journey home was filled with a stifling silence with the news of Jason's death still hanging in the air. Jack had snapped out of his dazed stupor and held his head with his hands with Lily's arm firmly wrapped around his biceps, head resting on his shoulder. Hailey had taken to sitting by herself and was gazing out of the window, trails of fresh tears evident on her cheeks.

Alessa sighed in relief when the limo halted in front of their lawn and she scurried out of the limo before Ethan had the chance to stand up and open the door for her. She would have to apologise to Ethan for that next time.

Still wearing her dress, Alessa dropped her head, which now had its own heartbeat, on to the pillow and listened to her mother's attempts to inquire about their night and their reasons for coming home so early.

Alessa dashed to the toilet, nearly tripping on her feet from the sudden dizziness from her headache. She grabbed a black oversized shirt and shorts and locked herself in the toilet. She hated wearing too much when she slept - she feels suffocated and unable to breathe properly. Especially when she has her nightmares

Just as she pulled her shirt over her head, a familiar click-clack paused in front of her door. Alessa froze, her arms mid-air as she prayed Lily doesn't start something she won't be able to finish.

A sigh of relief escaped Alessa's lips as she heard Lily's footsteps fade. She pulled the shirt to her mid-thigh and staggered out of the toilet. Every step she took momentarily blinded her with her head sending searing jolts of pain through her body. Slightly panting, Alessa set eyes on her bed and with one final push she collapsed with a flomp! Not bothering to pull the covers, Alessa shut her eyes, a foreboding feeling threating to take over the rational part of her mind, the part that still held hope.