Vile Games (book two)

1 - a festival surpise

song for chapter:
remind me to forget - kygo
| you left your mark |
(highly recommend + put on repeat)

jaylee's pov
2 years later.

walking through the ripped up grass, beads of sweat dripped down the side of my face, my chest breathing in heavily as I tried to catch my breath.

"okay, jay." osmans voice caught my attention, causing me to turn my head in the direction that it came from. he was walking towards me, a small hand towel and a water bottle in his hand. "that performance was fucking amazing. might have even been your best one."

"thanks, osman." a forced weak smile grew across my lips as he handed me both the water and the towel. I gently dabbed the towel on my forehead as I wiped away the sweat, trying my best to hold back my emotions.

"hey," osmans hand gently held onto my mid back for comfort, taking notice that something was wrong. "don't be upset." his voice was soft, not wanting to see me hurt.

his actions caused something to crack in me. my eyes began to water as a slight panic took over my body. "that wasn't even fun. I don't know what came over me." my words were rushed, thinking back on my performance.

his arms wrapped around me tightly, automatically making me feel comfortable. "it's okay to be emotional, jaylee. you're a singer." he tried to uplift my mood.

"all of my songs are about people i've lost in life. my brother, cesar, raven, ella, froy, grayson... ethan." my voice was almost inaudible at the end. "it isn't even enjoyable." I admit, exhaling a large breath as my chin rested on his shoulder.

"it's okay." both of his hands rubbed up and down my back quickly as if he were trying to get me to shake it off. "just calm down and relax." he slowly let go of the hug, holding onto my shoulders so that he could look at me.

I sniffed my nose, nodding my head as I wiped underneath my eyes with the pads of my thumbs.

how has my life come to this. I just performed at a huge festival and the first thing I do when I get off stage is cry? over my own songs? over personal issues?

"let's enjoy the festival while we're here, okay?" he raised one of his eyebrows at me, wanting me to be able to enjoy the experience. "when we get back we can have a movie night at my house and eat a shit ton of popcorn." he tried his best to uplift my mood.

I nodded looking up to him, exhaling a large breath as the corners of my mouth pulled into a small smile.

my eyes traveled behind osman, causing the smile to slowly fade away off of my lips. my eyes widened slightly, shocked from what I was looking at.

froy, grayson and raven.

both grayson and raven having their hands intertwined with one another.

all of them had huge grins across their faces as they walked in my direction. I could hear faded laughs coming from their mouths from excitement as they looked at me.

a warmth spread inside my body, causing my adrenaline to start pumping. "oh my gosh." I spoke in a whispered tone, not believing that I was actually looking at them right now.