41. Ivy Thompson
IVY THOMPSON
W hen it’s our turn to get off the Ferris wheel, I exhale a silent sigh of relief. It was difficult telling JJ the truth, but I immediately felt better for it—he deserved to know.
He listened, he asked questions, he reassured me.
He makes me feel seen.
But as we reach the bottom, reality slowly begins to slap me in the face. The bubble around us now bursts, and my heart weeps.
JJ helps me out, and I thank him. He glances over his shoulder briefly before landing a quick kiss on my lips. I’m smiling as soon as I feel the warmth of his skin. “I wish we could stay here all night,” he murmurs against me, lips slipping downwards with disappointment.
“Me too,” I admit, enjoying the rawness of his blue eyes.
As we exit the ride, JJ pulls his hand away from mine, and my fingers turn to ice cubes. I wrap my arms over my chest as the night comes creeping in, the sun slowly setting and lighting up the sky with the most perfect shade of orange.
“There you are!” I hear from behind me.
I whip my head to find Daisy, Isaac, and Harriet approaching us. My mouth morphs into a forced smile as I see them, my heart hammering in my chest because I know I’m standing right beside JJ.
“Where have you been?” she asks as she slinks an arm over my shoulder.
I quietly clear my throat. “I went to the toilet; the queue was long. Then I bumped into JJ for a bit.”
Daisy glances up at JJ, who has his hands shoved into his pockets, smiling down at us. She muffles a laugh. “Yeah, ‘bumped’... sure .” I glance up at her to find her winking at me.
I twist my head and look over at Isaac and Harriet, who are talking to each other, but Isaac catches my eye and offers me a timid smile. “Let’s go get a drink,” I say.
“Hell yeah,” Daisy cheers as we walk towards the bar.
JJ tags along with us, and Finn is already there with two beers in hand, Joel and Cal beside him. My chest tightens at the drinks he’s holding, and I pray he doesn’t go crazy tonight.
Finn beckons us over and asks JJ where he’s been. I try not to listen in on the conversation, but JJ mutters something about a call, and he didn’t realise how long he was gone.
I grab a drink with Daisy when my brother appears at my side. The stench of beer wafts into my nose, and that’s when I know he’s drunk. I curse to myself when he beams at me with a wonky smile.
“Why are you intoxicated already?” I ask.
Finn scoffs. “I’m having fun, Iv. Lighten up.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek before I make him worse.
“So are you coming to the house party tonight?” he asks.
Daisy’s eyes light up. “Party?”
“Fuck yeah,” he slurs. “We’re gonna have a wild night.”
I roll my eyes before pinning him with a stare. “You’re already having a wild night.”
“Shhhhh.” He presses his finger to my lips, and I swat him away.
“We’re at a civilised fair; you couldn’t wait until later?” My eyebrow raises.
Finn laughs loudly. “Alright, boring.”
“We’ll be there,” Daisy replies, and I glance at her, sighing.
Finn glances at something behind me, and his expression twists into a look of pure anger. “Motherfuckers,” he spits, and I furrow my brows.
I make the mistake of looking over my shoulder to find Tom, Julian, and a group of their friends. My body shakes at the sight of them, but they’ve already clocked us and are making their way over.
Joel and Cal step towards Finn, knowing what’s about to go down.
“Shit,” I hiss under my breath.
Why can’t they leave us the hell alone?
I sense someone beside me, and I glance up to find JJ moving closer. His eyes aren’t on me; they’re zeroed on Tom as he strolls over to us cockily.
“Look who it is,” he sings patronisingly. “Cute little family meet up.”
“Back the fuck off, Tom,” Finn’s slurred voice booms across the fair and draws attention to us.
“What?” Tom drawls as he shoves his hands into his hoodie pockets. “Can we not come and say hi?”
Finn’s shoulders tense as Joel places his hand on his arm to pull him back before he causes a scene. I wish they’d just ignore us, let us go on with our lives, but they’ve got a vendetta against me.
My stomach acid crashes into my sternum, bile rising in my throat.
“You can fuck off,” Finn grumbles, taking a step closer. “I don’t know what your obsession is with us. Unless you want a repeat of the pub.”
Tom tilts back his head and barks out a laugh. “Obsession? More like trying to get justice for our friend. Who was once upon a time, your friend, too, Finn.”
I see the hatred in Finn’s eyes. I haven’t taken a single breath, I don’t know if I can. “He tried to kill my fucking sister, you asshole. What justice do we need to serve other than for him to rot in jail forever?”
“Because that bitch cheated on him, made him go crazy,” Tom shouts.
Finn’s fists clench, and I flinch from the aggression in his voice.
“But you’d know all about that… wouldn’t you, Finn?”
“Shut up,” he growls.
My brows furrow as I glance between them, not fully understanding.
“What?” Julian laughs. “Doesn’t she know?”
Every bone in my body begins to tremble as I dart my eyes between them pathetically.
“Oh god. She doesn’t know.” Tom swats Julian’s shoulder.
“Know what?” I bite.
Tom chuckles before poking his tongue into his cheek. Then his eyes flick to mine, and I freeze. “That your brother gave your secrets away. He came straight to us as soon as he found out you cheated on Ben.”
Suddenly, I’m being knocked off the Earth’s axis.
No. No. That can’t be true. Finn wouldn’t do that to me.
My eyes find Finn’s, and I see the sheer panic behind them.
Everything crashes into me at once, so intense I can’t breathe.
I blink, and a tear rolls down my cheek.
“Please tell me that’s not true,” I rasp to him, barely recognising my own voice.
“He’s lying,” Finn dismisses, but the guilt is written all over his face. “I didn’t say anything, Ivy.”
Tom snorts. “Really, Finn? I still have the text messages. If you want to see them, Ivy. To know that your own brother stabbed you in the back, but rightfully so, brought you to justice.”
I shake my head over and over, staring at my brother in disbelief.
“Tell me that’s not true.”
“Ivy—”
“How could you do that to me?” I whisper beneath my rolling tears.
“Wait—” He steps forward.
“How could you lie to them about that?”
“Ivy, listen?—”
I take a large step back. “No. Don’t you dare. Don’t you fucking dare.”
My hands begin to shiver uncontrollably. I spare him one more glance before I walk away as quickly as possible.
“Ivy, wait. Let me explain.”
My head remains low as I fold my arms over my chest.
“Ivy, I fucked up, okay? Ben, he was?—”
“I don’t care what Ben was doing.” I whip my body towards him and grit my teeth.
“I care about the fact you made up a lie that put me in the fucking hospital. Ben only freaked out because someone told him I cheated, he reared us off a bridge because of that reason. I almost fucking died, Finn. How could you do that to me?”
Finn’s face crumbles, red eyes glistening. “I-I panicked, okay? I never thought it would lead to that. I knew he wasn’t good enough for you, I know you needed to break up with him.”
“Then why didn’t you just talk to me like a normal human being?” I laugh, but my voice is hoarse. Tears continue to stream down my face at the humiliation of what he’s done. “I don’t understand why you’d do something so cruel.”
I shake my head dismissively and turn back around again, needing to get out of here before I break down.
“Ivy—”
“Leave me alone, Finn. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
Or ever.
Finn doesn’t follow me after I speed off through the fair. An arm clings onto mine, and I feel Daisy step into me. “That’s so messed up.” She brings me into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Ivy. I can’t believe Finn would do something like that.”
I sniffle, incapable of words right now.
We stay like this for a long while, and I’m grateful she doesn’t say too much, she holds me tight as I cry into her shoulder whilst she strokes my arms.
We might have had our differences in the past, but I know she has my back.