UNDER EDITING & SLOW UPDATING
" you're a terrible person, hargrove. you just- "
" jesus, dannie, i don't care. "
where a girl struggling with the secrets of her past meets a boy struggling with the pains of his present and future.
[{ stranger...
" when in this charming car, this charming man. why pamper life's complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger's seat? "
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"Could you tell me your full name, miss?"
"Dannie– um, Danielle. Henderson."
"Miss Henderson, are you okay to answer some questions for me?"
"Sure...I guess so."
"It's my understanding that you were a key witness that night. Could you tell me a bit more about what happened? What exactly did you see at Starcourt Mall?"
Did she really even know what had happened? Everything seemed like such a blur.
The past year of her life seemed to run together with such heightened emotions. Shock, fear, love, heartbreak, loss, happiness, anxiety. Every one of those emotions came flooding back as she recalled certain moments. The first day he moved here. The Halloween party. The rides home from school. Those late-night conversations over the phone or when he would pick her up to escape. Sneaking out to see each other during the summer months. The last day he was himself. The time he put his hands on her. The day that she... The day she was living now. Without him.
If only she had stayed curious. If she hadn't discovered the truth about herself and the world around her. If she hadn't found out what it was like to love him. If she had kept to herself, just her and her love for music and her best friend... He would–they would–still be here.
She thought about what she would give to return to that first day when his eyes stayed locked on her and only her as he approached his new school. Maybe things would be different if she hadn't looked back and held his gaze for so long. She could've made more of an effort to keep that beautiful boy away from her. She could've kept herself more in the dark about certain things. She could've restrained her feelings and let him seek help elsewhere. She could've continued living what she thought was her "normal" life, plagued by mysterious visions and nightmares of what she hadn't discovered yet. But she didn't. She held that arrogant and gorgeous boy close and wanted to help save him by being the light in his darkened world.
In the end, she couldn't. She couldn't save anyone.
But the road here was worth it, even if this was how it had to end.
He had altered her very being, both for good and for worse, and she wouldn't change that.
