[🏅featured on YA, TeenFiction, StoriesUndiscoverd, Romance, Wanderlust reading lists ]
❝When Aahana's parents refuse to take her on a summer trip, she runs away with a travel blogger to spend the summer of her life. But things complicate when they...
SHE thought going out for a walk alone would help clear her mind but it didn't. It wasn't just anger that she was feeling. It was a swirl of mixed emotions. Aahana had been deceived and used for being gullible plenty of times yet what Kavya had done was still hurting her. She thought she had moved on with it. She had to forgive Kavya to move on but it was painful. Aahana would be in a different place if Kavya had been by her side. They would've joined the theatre club, auditioned for different roles in the same movie. She had seen many dreams with her—the dreams that Kavya crushed.
Aahana couldn't sleep. She was sitting quietly on her bed, listening to her breathing as well as Everett's. He was sound asleep. Their fingers were interlaced, like every night of the week.
She sighed. One more night and he, too, will be gone.
With a heavy heart, she sank into her bed and under the covers, hoping sleep catches up with her. It took her longer than one hour but she did fall asleep only to dive into a nightmare.
"No...no...no..." she murmured. Her eyes were placed close. She started to wriggle under the sheets. Her screams grew louder. It woke Everett up. He jolted awake and rushed to her. He shook her, trying to wake her up.
"Aahana, wake up!" She fluttered her eyes open. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead. She sat up and took deep breaths. Her heart was hammering in her chest, trying to break free. Everett poured her a glass of water. She chugged it and fell into his chest. His rhythmic heartbeat calmed her. His hands were wrapped around her as he rubbed her arms.
"It's okay, babe. I'm here." He kissed her head. She was close to him. It felt better. She was slipping into ease.
"What happened? Do you want to talk about it?" His voice was as gentle as honey.
"N...no. It was an ordinary nightmare." She breathed into his chest.
But it wasn't. The nightmare was far from ordinary.
Everett was leaving her too.
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The rays of sunlight hit her face which woke her up. She fluttered her eyes open and although she had been waking up after every twenty minutes, she felt surprisingly fresh. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She heard the water hitting the floor and assumed that Everett was taking a shower.
She didn't have dinner last night. Maybe she should have. Her stomach was aching with hunger. She stepped out of her bed and rummaged to find some clothes.
A few minutes later, he strode out of the bathroom in black jeans and a grey t-shirt. He smiled at her. His eyes glistened.
"Are you sure you don't want me around?" he suggested.
"Yeah. I need to do this alone."
He nodded. "All right. If that's what you want. Go take a shower. I'll order something up."
