Chapter 29
“Um, nothing to see here, people!” Dylan speaks loudly. “They escaped from a mental hospital! Just go back to your pizzas! There’s nothing to worry about!”
“You two couldn’t have yelled at each other somewhere more private?” Max grumbles. “You know, at one of your houses, or the abandoned park down the street, just not in the middle of a pizza place!”
“We didn’t even come here so you dumbasses could yell at each other!” Dylan whisper shouts, “We came here because I needed to tell Noah something!”
“Oh, shit.” My eyes pop wide open. “Right. Sorry, Dylan. Go ahead.”
I step away from Noah sheepishly.
“Thank you, Nevaeh.” He says sarcastically while standing up before sighing deeply and turning to Noah.
“You alright, Dylan?” Noah raises an eyebrow.
“I–uh-” He looks at me and I give him an encouraging look. He looks back at Noah. “I’m….I’m gay.”
Noah doesn’t look fazed. “I already knew that.”
“What?!” Dylan, Max and I all shout in unison, looking at him with wide eyes.
“How’d you know? Max told you, didn’t he?” Dylan turns to Max with narrowed eyes and points an accusing finger at him. “You told him, didn’t you?”
“If I told him, would I be yelling ‘what‘ at the same time as you and Nevaeh?!” Max slaps Dylan’s finger out of his face. “Now get your dirty ass finger out of my face!”
“Max didn’t tell me.” Noah states. “It was pretty obvious.”
“But…” Dylan trails off.
“Dylan, you’re my best friend.” Noah starts, placing his hand on Dylan’s shoulder. “I know you and Max better than anyone. I’ve known since we were thirteen.”
“How’d you figure it out?” Dylan question.
“I saw you making goo–goo eyes at Antonio Rodriguez in Math.” Noah smirks.
“You saw that?” Dylan’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. “Kill me now.”
“Ouch! Fight me you ceramic hitch!”
Crash!
“On a scale of one to ten, how mad do you think mum will be?” My fifteen–year–old self mumbles after a moment.
The
‘Shadow
Chapter 29
“Twenty,”
I grimace as Heaven and I stare down at the broken vase.
“Maybe she won’t notice.” I shrug uncertainly.
“Yeah nah, I think she’ll notice the empty spot where her favourite vase used to be.” Heaven states before turning to walk away. “Welp, good luck!”
“Where do you think you’re going? I grab her shirt and pull her back.
“To get a snack.” She says, pulling her shirt out of my grip.
“No, you’re not.” I start. “You’re helping me put this vase back together.”
“Why?” She whines. “Why can’t you just say that the Ghost of Christmas Past did it or something?”
“I would rather not get my ass beat for lying.”
“Forget lying!” She exclaims. “You’re going to get your ass beat for breaking mum’s favourite vase!”
“Would you just go get some glue and tape?” I sigh in exasperation.
“Why do I have to help you?”
“Because you’re my twin.” I shrug. “If I go down, you go down with me.”
If I go down, you go down with me.
Obviously that wasn’t the case, seeing as Heaven’s gone and I’m still here.
“Nevaeh Carter. Please make your way to the main office. A voice booms over the loud speaker, snapping me out of my memory. “Nevaeh Carter. Please make your way to the main office.”
The whole class turns around to look at me.
“I got called to the main office.” I say loudly. “Look at me like I killed someone, why don’t you?”
Everyone turns back around as I grab my hag and walk out of the classroom.
Why the hell would they be calling me to the main office?
I soon as I get there, I see someone I haven’t seen since before I moved to America.
“Aunty Mila?” I stand there, my mouth agape.
“Aroha.” She sighs out my middle name which means ‘Love‘ in Maori, enveloping me in a tight hug.
I immediately wrap my arms around her, not wanting to let go.
The Heiress’s Shadow
Chapter 29
Aunty Mila is my mum’s younger sister and was always more of a mother to me than my real mum. While mum was always more invested in Heaven and Lucy, Aunty Mila always focused on me. She’s also the middle so she knows what it’s like to be neglected and not feel as important. She doesn’t have any kids so I was always like a daughter to her. She was the one person who bragged about me to her friends and work mates, not Heaven or Lucy. She made me feel like I was just as important as my sisters. It hurt when mum dragged me away from her and moved us half way across the world.
“What’re you doing here?” I question, pulling away from her after a moment.
“I came to see you, baby.” She whispers, pushing my hood off and running a thumb over my cheekbone. “My beautiful niece. I haven’t seen you in so long. I missed you.”
I bite my lip, pushing back the tears that were threatening to spill. “I missed you, too, Aunty.”
“Let’s go.” She pulls away. “I’ve signed you out for the day.”
“Where are we going?” I question while pulling my hood up as I follow her out of the school.
