Chapter 96
CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
ASTRID
Wind whipped across the rocks at the Overlook, tangling my hair into knots.
I left the guys in the car and walked toward Diya, who sat at the edge, where the ocean met the land.
Nobody would’ve found her here, even if they had looked.
It was far too dark, and she was hidden away behind a couple of larger rocks anyway.
When it was low tide, we used to walk all the way down the rocks to the sand, but tonight, it was high, and the water was extremely rough. Too rough.
My stomach twisted into tight knots as Diya’s shoulders trembled.
I wasn’t sure she’d heard our car approach or my footsteps.
“Diya,” I murmured softly.
She didn’t move.
After walking slowly so I wouldn’t scare her, I found myself at the rock that she was sitting on, her shoulders still bucking forward and back, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“I knew you’d be here,” I said to lighten the mood.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said between sobs.
“Everyone is worried about you.”
“No, they’re not. And I deserve it.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “You don’t deserve it.”
“Yes, I do.” She stiffened, the tears wavering in her eyes. “I thought about jumping.”
My chest tightened, and I pulled her even closer, hugging her to me as much as I could. Hearing her say those words … I … I couldn’t fathom it. I didn’t believe that she’d really wanted to hurt me. I thought that … that maybe she had been framed in a way that she shouldn’t be.
But Diya wanted to kill herself.
Kill herself.
Bile rose in my throat at my best friend, who was hurting so badly that she wanted to end it, and I swallowed it down. How? How could she feel that way? What was going on with her?
“Your brother has been looking for you,” I said.
She laughed emptily. “Calix hasn’t looked at me the same since that night.”
“You didn’t help them, Diya.”
“You don’t know that,” she said, finally looking at me. “You don’t know what I did.”
I grabbed her hands, brow furrowed. “Then tell me.”
She hiccuped and glanced at the cars behind us. “If I tell you … they’re gonna kill me, aren’t they?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head for emphasis. “They’re not going to touch you, no matter what you did. I know you’re angry about me and your brother, and you’re feeling sick because of the baby. I don’t blame you. Just tell me … what happened?”
A long silence stretched between us, until she finally pulled her hands away from mine and wrapped her arms around herself, looking down at her knees pulled to her chest. “Mira told me in the morning that you and Calix were fucking. I didn’t want to believe her because she’s a bitch, but she showed me pictures, videos. And it hurt so fucking badly.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I should’ve told you.”
“Don’t apologize,” she said. “Mira told me that I should talk to you in the afternoon, and I listened. I thought … I stupidly thought that she wanted to help me through it. We used to be best fucking friends, so I thought she still had a heart. But she didn’t.”
A hot tear slid down my cheek, and I pushed it away.
“So, after you left, I texted her and told her that you were gone. I told her that she could come over because I needed someone to talk to. I didn’t know she was working with them.
I … if I had known …” A loud sob escaped her mouth, and suddenly, she was wailing in agony.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! You almost died because of me. ”
Again, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me, lacing my fingers into her hair and gently stroking her head. I couldn’t imagine the pain she was going through right now.
She blamed herself for this, and the guys blamed her too.
“I don’t blame you,” I whispered into her ear. “I promise that I don’t blame you, Diya. You’re my best friend, and I understand why you did what you did.”
“That doesn’t make it right.”
“But you didn’t know.”
“I should’ve.”
“Well, you didn’t,” I said, the wind howling around us. Waves slammed against the rocks, soaking her feet. “Now, please, come home with us. Everyone is worried about you and your baby.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I am,” I said. “Calix is. Your stepdad is. Come home.”
Diya looked at me, then back at the car, her head down. She stayed silent for a long time, then finally nodded. “Okay, okay, I’ll come home. But I … I don’t expect you to forgive me. I don’t expect them to trust me, okay?”
While I did forgive her, I nodded along because I knew she wouldn’t give it up until I agreed. I stood to my feet and held my hand out until she took it. We might not ever get back to the friendship we’d once had, but at least … things had been cleared up for me.
At least, we were good.