Yours In The Next Life (Letters from the Heart #3)

Chapter 1 – Party and Bullshit

Hadley Jones – 16 years old

M usic blasts through the speakers, and the lights are turned down low but bright enough to see plenty of teenagers dancing on tables with plastic red cups in their hands and making out with each other.

It’s loud and depressing—a typical high school house party. Girls in skintight, short dresses giggling over the boys on the football team are standing around in groups with a smug I am above all of you, and I get what I want aura about them.

The others mingle about, laughing and cheering, dancing, or playing beer pong. I would not usually be caught dead at these kinds of things, it’s not my vibe. Give me peace and quiet, rainy days on the sofa under a blanket with a hot chocolate in hand.

Unfortunately for me, one of my best friends threatened to burn my entire book collection to dust if I didn’t come with her tonight, and she’s not exactly the person to back down on a threat. So, I begrudgingly agreed, just this once .

I push my way through the crowd and head into the kitchen. Lilly sits on the counter, waving her hands about, talking to Duncan Valero—another football goofball—who laughs along to whatever she’s saying.

“Hads,” Lilly calls out, “you’re finally here, come say hi to Duncan!” Urgh, do I have to.

“Lilly.” I smile and side-hug her. “Duncan.” My tone is flat, and I scowl at him.

He must think Lilly’s stupid, and me, for that matter. He’s not the type of guy to talk to her in school or settle down. “Any hole’s a go” is his motto; I’m sure of it. Valero here wants a quick bang, and he will soon move on to the next girl in line. I’ll be damned if I let my best friend lose her virginity to this prick. She deserves way more than what he can give. Call me Cupid for believing your first time should be special, not at a house party with some guy who’s a whore.

“She’s not interested,” I whisper into his ear, “now fuck off.” I gently tap his cheek twice and grab Lilly’s hand, pulling her away from him.

“Wait!”

I halt on the spot. “What?” I ask, folding my arms across my chest.

“You’re wearing a dress.” Her smile is wide, and I bite the inside of cheek to stop myself from smiling back at her.

I look down at my short black sequin dress. It’s my sister’s. I’d panicked earlier while searching through my wardrobe when I found nothing to wear. After cursing my way to her room, I begged her to borrow one. Being the same size has its perks, but it’s a shame she doesn’t have my taste in clothing.

“Yeah, it’s Margo’s. I had nothing fit for a party.” I shrug.

“Well, I think it’s suits you.” She smiles, linking her arm through mine and pulling me back through to the living room. Lilly’s been my best friend, my only friend if you don’t count my sister, my whole life. She’s been there for every big moment. She’s sweet and innocent but bites when she needs to. We are yin and yang—in a way.

We dance and sing along to the songs, drinking punch for the next hour like it’s going out of fashion. I tell Lilly I need to go to the bathroom, then stumble my way around people, feeling the effects of the vodka Red Bull kicking in, and head up the stairs towards the restroom.

Washing my hands in the sink, I glance up at my reflection; my long black hair is wild, and my mascara has smudged under my eyes. I’m drunk but look more like I’ve been royally fucked. Welcome to my life.

I wipe my eyes and smooth my long black hair, so it doesn’t look like I fell out of a tree and hit every branch on the way down. Then I make my way back down the stairs, gripping the banister to steady myself and thanking God I’m wearing my Converse and not heels. I’d have tripped long ago and found myself in the hospital if I had.

Searching for Lilly, I come up empty, and nausea rises inside me while trying to find her. Tapping on some random person’s arm, I smile.

“Have you seen Lilly?” I ask.

“Urgh, yeah.” He points upstairs. “Ssshe went up therrre with . . .” He snaps his fingers. “Some guy. I-I can’t . . .”

Not waiting for him to finish, worry settles in. She’s way more drunk than me. What if someone takes advantage of her. I make my way upstairs, then open the doors to see if I can find her.

When I reach the last room, I slowly open the door. My heart racing.

Lilly’s red dress lies on the floor, and she moans. I glance up towards the bed and find Lilly on her back, legs spread wide. My vision doubles, and I take in the guy between her legs, eating her out as if it’s his last meal. Everything slows in those few seconds, and time moves like eternity as I force myself to look away.

Of all people. She knows how I feel about him. Hate burns through my veins, and I let out a scream. Lilly’s fearful eyes meet my teary ones. She calls my name, and I run down the hallway.

Rushing through my parents’ living room with tears streaming down my cheeks, I sprint to my bedroom, ignoring my family’s concern. Then I dive under my covers, clutching the teddy bear I’ve had since I was four years old tight to my chest, and sob loudly.

Luke, of all people, it had to be Luke.

I’ve been in love with Luke Walters for as long as I can remember. We grew up as neighbours. Both have one sibling, same age as one another, and even share the same birthday: September twenty-third. However, we never hung out in school or shared the same group of friends.

We would always spend time with each other on the weekends or school holidays on Mr. Trevor’s farm. I started helping out soon after Trevor’s wife, Darlene, passed away two years ago. He’d stopped by one summer afternoon and asked my mum and dad if I’d like to earn money taking care of his horses.

He didn’t want me to do much with them, only give them a brush and clean out the stables, and maybe take them for a ride if the weather was okay.

Trevor had known my love for his horses. When I was a younger, I used to beg Dad most weekends to go feed them apples after I did my chores for the day. Trevor told my parents there was no one else he’d trust more with his horses than me.

Luke had been helping on the farm for a few months prior to when I started. He’d help Trevor out in the corn fields most days. In the afternoons, Luke and I would sit on the porch with Trevor and watch the sunset. Luke had always been nice to me. If he had a break on the farm, he would come down to the stables and help me out.

One morning when I was cleaning out the barn, he came by, and I was sitting on a pile of hay I had swept up. He sat with me in silence as we watched Trevor saddle up Buck, his favourite horse, before taking him out on a run.

“I think when you die, you’re going to come back as a horse,” Luke said as he glanced down at me before wiping the sweat from his brows with the back of his forearm.

Giggling, I said, “Yeah, sounds about right. What do you think you would come back as?”

“I don’t know, but I’d like to come back as a pair of glasses.” His cheeks pinked, and I raised a brow at him. “You know, so I could see life again but through someone else’s eyes.” He rubbed the back of his neck before jumping up and grabbing my broom to sweep the rest of the hay out of the stable.

“I think that’s cool!” Cool? Urgh! He turned to look at me, and I snatched the broom from him. “I mean, it’s a good idea. Wait, not an idea, I-I mean.” The corners of his mouth twitched into a full-blown smile, and he laughed.

“What? Why are you laughing at me?” His laugh was contagious, and I joined him.

“You. You’re so cute when you trip over your words, Tigger.” He winked at me, and I smiled. His boyish charm glinted through his bright-green eyes. “It’s okay, I know what you meant.”

Tigger , his nickname for me. It’s sweet. Though, I don’t know why he calls me it, guess I’m scared it might be something bad, so I’ve never asked.

I stared at him for way too long, unsure what to say. He was wearing a tight white T-shirt that hugged his broad frame perfectly, clinging to his biceps. His dark-brown wavy hair was a perfect mess on top of his head, and it took almost every cell in me not to lift my hand and brush my fingers through it.

Turning away from me, he bent down to grab my water bottle, giving me the best view of his ass in those tight blue jeans.

“You get a good look, Miss Jones?” His tone was playful as he turned to face me. I bit my lower lip, and his eyes dropped to my mouth.

“Yep.” I admitted, not at all embarrassed. That’s one thing I didn’t need to hide. He knew I liked him, I’d told him, probably too many times, but Luke knew I wanted him.

“I’m gonna get you some water.” He waved my empty bottle at me, then walked out of the barn.

My stomach dropped, and I huffed out a sad sigh. Always eager. My mothers voice came through to the front of my mind. Yeah, that’s me. I had no chance with Luke. When I was around him, I couldn’t help but try.

I wasn’t like the other girls I’d seen him with in school. They were beautiful with perfect hair, makeup, and nails. Cheerleaders with a huge friend circle. The popular ones. They all looked like they fell out of a Vogue magazine.

Then there’s me: curvy, short, and a tomboy. My wild black hair is never styled or straight, all my clothes have a rip in them somewhere if you look close enough. I read way too many books, and most people who are asked to describe me will tell you my fuse is non-existent, and my temper is unpredictable.

In another life, I wouldn’t want to be a horse, I’d want to be his girl.

It wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?

My mattress dips slightly to one side. “You want to talk about it, kiddo,” my dad whispers as he pulls back the covers.

I sniffle and snap out, “No!”

“Okay, then, you want some ice cream?” Mmm, ice cream sounds good, but “No thanks.”

“But it’s your favourite, mint choc chip.” That is my favourite.

I pull the covers the rest of the way off and rub my face, removing the last of my tears.

“That’s my girl. Come on, I’ll get the sprinkles, you can get the scoop.” Dad doesn’t wait for my reply, he just leaves my room.