Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
KIARA
About thirty minutes later, Anthony Banks is finally done with his set. After thanking the crowd for coming out, Yolanda and I head to one of the many drink vendors and get some strawberry lemonade.
Yo pulls out her phone and shows me some of the videos she took to upload onto Instagram.
“Oh, crap. I forgot to take pictures and videos.”
When I go to grab my phone out of my back pocket, my fingers only graze the rough fabric of my jean shorts. I switch my lemonade to the other hand and check the other pocket, but it’s not there, either.
“Did I give you my phone?” I ask Yolanda worriedly.
She looks up and frowns. “I would have already given it back to you. Did someone take it?”
I shake my head and start looking around on the ground. “That’s impossible. It was right in my back pocket. These shorts are so tight, I would have been able to feel someone take it.”
I even had Yolanda take my phone out of the pocket to see if I could feel it, and I did, which is why I chose these shorts.
“Okay, don’t panic,” she says calmly. “Let’s retrace our steps. It probably fell somewhere.”
Even she doesn’t sound so convinced about that.
We spend the next twenty minutes looking around the venue, but my phone never turns up. We end up going to the lost and found to see if anyone had turned it in, but it’s not there.
And somehow, in some way, I know Zyran is responsible for this.
“He’s here,” I say through gritted teeth, frustrated as all hell.
“Who?”
“Zyran,” I snap, storming away from the lost and found. I don’t even know where I’m going, but I look around to see if I can find him.
It’s not so much the phone I care about as much as it is what’s on the phone: the pendant of my locket.
He’s already on thin ice with me, so if anything happens to it, I swear I’ll never forgive him.
Yolanda runs to catch up with me. “Wait a minute. How do you know he’s here? Did you see him?”
I shake my head and stop dead in my tracks when I see a tall man with black hair and blue eyes. I start to walk over to him to demand my phone back, but then I realize it’s not Zyran at all.
Sighing in defeat, I flinch when Yolanda grabs my arm and turns me to face her. “You’re going to go crazy if you keep letting him get to you like this, Kee. Just calm down before you go off on some innocent person.”
My eyes never stop scanning the venue, never stop searching for the man who insists on ruining my life. “It has to be him, Yolanda. I can feel it.”
“Hello!” She knocks on my forehead like she’s knocking on a door—but gently, of course. I glare at her. “We’re at a fucking festival, babes. Any one of these people could have taken your phone. And, anyway, you can just get a new one.”
I shake my head furiously. “My locket was attached to it.”
“Kiara—”
I wave her off impatiently. “I know, I know. The chain broke, so I put it on a string and attached it to my phone to keep it close until I got it fixed. I wasn’t expecting my phone to get stolen , so it seemed like a good idea.”
Yolanda continues to stare at me like she can’t believe she’s friends with such an idiot. “Listen—something deep down is telling me you’re wrong. I can feel him here, Yolanda.”
Now she’s looking at me like I’ve lost my damn mind. “Maybe we should call it a day?—”
“No! We’re going to stay, and we’re going to have a good fucking time, even if it kills me.”
She rubs my arm and follows me as I march toward a different stage.
“Okay, if you say so…”
***
When this set is finally over, the sun is starting to go down. It’s so beautiful being down here by the beach, but I can’t enjoy it because I’m still fuming over my phone and locket being missing.
Suddenly, I gasp and grab Yolanda’s arm. “Yo!”
“What?!” she yells, alarmed.
I mutter out an apology before continuing, “I can use your phone to track my location. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?”
We look at each other for a moment, feeling so stupid. That’s one of the best features ever created.
Yolanda whips out her phone excitedly, ready to see where my phone is, when the smile on her face drops.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She swallows and shows me the screen.
You thought you could get rid of me that easily, little butterfly?
“Oh, my God,” she whispers, dark brown eyes wide with fear. “You were right, Kiara.”
I don’t bother with an ‘I told you so’; I just snatch the phone out of her hand and type a reply.
Where the hell are you???
His text was sent twenty minutes ago; he could be anywhere by now. Yolanda grips my arm with her eyes glued to the screen as we wait for a reply.
Behind you.
We turn around and scan the area for him.
“I don’t even remember what he fucking looks like,” Yolanda hisses.
I’ll never forget.
I walk back in the direction we came from, eyes never leaving the sea of bodies, but I don’t see him.
Just tell me where you are, asshole. I’m sick of your shit.
Why does he insist on making things more difficult than they have to be? I guess I kind of asked for it when I practically invited him into my life.
I wait for a reply, but it never comes, so I pull up my text chat with Yolanda and click on my location.
“It’s showing that we’re practically right on top of him,” I say, zooming in all the way. I look around again, but I just don’t fucking see him.
“That could be because we’re at the same event,” Yolanda reasons. While I know she’s right, I think that even if we were in two different parts of the venue, his location wouldn’t be right where we are, in front of the Hilton Hotel.
Another message comes through, this time with a picture attached.
If you want your stuff, you’ll have to work for it, Kiara.
In the picture, he’s wearing the locket wrapped around his wrist as a bracelet, and he’s purposely holding up my phone to taunt me.
I let out a frustrated huff. When I go back to check my location, my little picture is now moving—fast.
I gasp. “He’s leaving!”
Yolanda pulls her keys off her belt loop and leads the way to her car. “Let’s go.”
I grip her phone and follow her down the path toward the exit. I’m so pissed that I have to miss the rest of the festival because Zyran wants to play this little cat-and-mouse game.
Why are you doing this to me? When will you learn to just stop???
Yolanda and I hop into the car and take off. “It looks like he’s going down Main Street.”
Yo flies down the road toward Main while I watch my little picture like a hawk and wait for him to respond.
“I don’t know where the hell he’s going,” I say, irritated. “He’s taking all kinds of turns. It makes no fucking sense.”
“Just tell me where he is now,” Yolanda says impatiently.
“Umm…”
I’m hunched over in the passenger seat now, eyes focused on the streets he’s taking. When I see a familiar street name, I slump back in the chair and run a tired hand across my forehead.
“Well?”
“He’s going to my house.”
Yolanda floors it in the direction of my home. The butterflies in my stomach are running wild as I type out another text.
I can see you, asshole. You better be ready because I’m tired of this shit.
I can practically hear him laugh when his next text comes through.
Keep that same energy when you pull up, mama.