Chapter 14 Ali
Ali
Thursday passed in a blur. My parents had a long weekend in Vegas planned with my godparents, something that was a kind of ritual for them right before a tour began for my rock star family.
Mom and Aunt Lucy were as close as sisters, just like Abi and Hayat, and they needed a little extra bonding time before being separated for an extended period.
They left early Thursday morning and wouldn’t be home until Sunday evening.
With them away and Abi still mostly zoned out with whatever drama she was experiencing, I locked myself in my bedroom.
Thank fuck Hayat was there to take care of my sister.
I was too deep in my own nightmares to be of much use to her.
Using the automated system, I called in sick so the school wouldn’t alert Mom and Dad to my absence both Thursday and Friday.
I did my coursework via the online classroom portal to keep from falling even further behind.
With Sixx’s help earlier in the week, I’d finally started getting caught up.
After how accommodating my teachers had been, it would be stupid to give them a reason to regret their decision.
Mostly, I tried to pretend my world wasn’t collapsing around me. That lasted all of a day before I was on my knees in the bathroom, the consequences of my poor decision-making twisting my stomach until I was literally puking my guts out.
Fuck Gaviria and his threats. I didn’t care if he released those pictures and videos to the entire world. He would get what was coming to him one way or another.
And fuck Evan. I’d begged and pleaded the entire way home after what had happened in the locker room.
He never once answered me, just sat in the driver’s seat looking pissed off.
At me. As if I were the villain in what was happening with Gaviria.
We were done. There was no going back for us.
He wasn’t my brother any longer. Our friendship was officially over.
He didn’t even ask about picking me up for school.
There were no concerned texts to check if I was okay after what he’d witnessed his coach do to me.
With how shittily Evan had treated me following the locker-room incident, it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t bother to reach out.
Something broke in me that day. I’d never see Evan the same way again, and I grieved the end of a friendship that had been such a huge part of my life. We couldn’t go back to how things were before that moment. He’d irreparably shattered a part of my heart.
I’d been at my most vulnerable, on my knees in a pool of my own vomit, scared and alone. But instead of helping me, he’d accused me of wanting what Gaviria was doing.
I wasn’t blameless in what had happened—my eyes were wide open to my own faults. I had so many regrets, a million things that I would change if I had a second chance. But hitting rewind and correcting the errors I’d made wasn’t an option.
Without a doubt, I knew I had caused Evan pain as well, but he was the one who’d destroyed our connection. While I couldn’t go back in time to repair the damage I’d done, I could make damn sure I didn’t make the same mistakes again. One of the biggest was that I would never trust Evan again.
Oh God. He was going to tell Sixx, and he’d probably get a sick kind of thrill from it.
Evan hated Sixx, and Sixx barely tolerated him.
It used to bother me, the two of them making me feel like I had to choose.
There’d never been a choice, though, not for me.
Sixx came first, no matter the situation.
I didn’t try to call Sixx to attempt to counter what would happen, to put my own spin on it.
There was no fucking spin. I only had the truth, and I knew Sixx would see it.
Talking to him wouldn’t change anything.
Where the sound of my voice would normally slow him down, calm him, in this situation, I was well aware it would more likely push him closer to the edge.
Except for the random texts from more unknown numbers, more gross messages from Gaviria, my phone stayed suspiciously silent.
Sixx’s silence wasn’t unexpected. If he reacted the way he normally did to things that upset him this badly, he would keep as much distance between us as possible because of his fear of accidentally hurting me.
Once Evan told him what was going on, Sixx would do what Sixx did, and Evan would have to live with the consequences.
Before, I would have tried to save Evan.
Not now. He hadn’t saved me when I’d needed him, and I would not be responsible for saving him ever again.
From the moment Evan spilled everything he knew to Sixx, I knew there would be no way of stopping what came next.
All the weeks of trying to protect the boy I loved would be for nothing.
That realization kept me on my knees in the bathroom, emptying my stomach until I thought I would pass out.
No one came to check on me, and like the coward I was, I didn’t call anyone to see how much damage Sixx had caused.
On Friday, I briefly heard a commotion from Abi and Hayat, but I barely had the strength to lift my head.
I’d been camped out in the bathroom for more than twelve hours at that point, my head pillowed on the rim of the bathtub.
The coolness of the porcelain felt good on my skin, the one small mercy I’d been granted.
I had a crick in my neck, and my legs had gone numb sometime before dawn.
Every inch of my body hurt, especially my heart.
A sudden ping hit my phone. Weakly, I reached for it.
Sixx: I’m going to fix this. And then I’m coming home to you. I love you.
All the air whooshed out of me. A tiny flicker of hope gave my heart a small jolt of adrenaline.
Me: Please come over now. I’m scared. For you. I can’t lose you. You’re the only good thing in the whole world. Don’t take any risks. Don’t leave me. Nothing matters but us. You’re all I have. All I want. I love you.
After hitting send, I waited for a response. One minute ticked into two. Then three. Ten. No notification that my message was delivered. He’d turned his phone off again.
I tried one more time.
Me: I need to know you’re safe. It’s the only reason I didn’t say anything about what was happening. If I lose you, life will be pointless. Please don’t leave me. Please, Sixx. I’m not okay. I AM NOT OKAY AND I NEED YOU!
No delivery receipt.
Pulling my legs to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and dropped my head to my knees.
Tears spilled down my face, soaking into my pajama pants.
It was over. I’d fucked it all up. Sixx had probably already killed Gaviria by now.
I was simply waiting for the call. His mom or one of his aunts would tell me he was in jail. Or…
Eight dead.
Sixx would be number nine.
With a sob, I grabbed the rim of the toilet, my stomach spasming so hard I struggled to breathe. There was nothing left inside me to come up, just a few drops of yellow-green bile. My ears started ringing, the world going dim around the edges.
And then I heard the buzz of my phone.
Heart stopping, I reached for it. My hands were shaking, and I dropped it in my rush, the screen landing facedown. I fumbled, and it took a few rings before I could pick it up. Seeing Bentley’s name on the screen, I fought back another sob and accepted the call. “Tell me he’s alive!” I cried.
“Christ, Ali,” he groaned, his deep voice breaking in a way I’d never heard from my cousin. “Are you okay?”
“Bentley, please tell me Sixx is alive,” I begged.
“Yes, of course he’s alive. I’ve been with him for the last two days, trying to keep the destruction to a minimum.
Otherwise, I would have called to check on you before now.
” His exhale was full of exhausted frustration.
“Fuck it. I should have just checked on you instead of shadowing him. I’m sorry, Ali. I’m so sorry.”
Head pounding, I tried to make sense of what he was saying. “Why are you apologizing?”
“Because you’ve been going through a nightmare. I wish you would have told me. I could have helped you.”
“How?” I whispered, slouching against the side of the tube once again. “How would you have helped me, Bentley? What could you have done?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart, but I would have found a way.”
My tears fell faster. “Not telling you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was just scared of what Sixx would do.”
“When this is over, we’re going to have a long talk, okay?” His voice was so soft, it eased a tiny bit of the ache in my heart.
“O-okay,” I choked out on another sob.
“That’s my girl. Take a few deep breaths for me. We’re going to figure this out.” He waited for me to suck in a breath, hold it in, and release it. “Again.”
When I had my sobs under control, he cleared his throat. “I don’t want you to panic, but Sixx disappeared on me. I was babysitting him, making sure he didn’t kill Evan. I’m not saying I wouldn’t help bury that body, but I figured it would upset you.”
“Maybe not as much as you might think,” I muttered.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “We were at Evan’s house for a while the other night. Then we staked out your school.”
“Oh God.” Dropping my head back down on the rim of the bathtub, I squeezed my eyes closed.
“Evan showed us a picture of the coach. Gaviria.” I gagged at the sound of his name. “He didn’t show up for work yesterday, though. So we went back today. We spotted him as soon as he pulled into the parking lot. I thought Sixx would confront him then, but he didn’t.”
A chill skated up my spine. “That doesn’t sound like Sixx.”
“Right?” Bentley grunted. “He sat there watching the guy’s car for a few hours.
We saw Gaviria leave for lunch and come back.
Still, Sixx didn’t move. That’s when I got stupid, Ali.
I let my guard down. Sixx suggested getting food, taking a piss break, grabbing coffee.
Neither of us had eaten since yesterday, and I needed caffeine.
We walked in, and he went to order while I made a pit stop.
I should have known better. He ditched me. ”
“Can you track his phone?” Bentley did that all the time. With Sixx or Charlotte and sometimes even with me.
“He turned it off.”
“Fuck!” On shaking legs, I stood. Pins and needles flooded my feet and legs as I stumbled to the sink. “We have to find him. Maybe we can stop him before anything happens.”
I’d been scared that he would let his violent side free once Evan told him what he knew. Instead, Evan was apparently alive, and so was Gaviria. For the moment. This changed everything. I had a chance to save Sixx from himself if I got to him in time.
“I took an Uber home to get my car. Now I’m on my way to pick you up. Should be there in less than thirty minutes. Be ready.”