Finale: Part One

"Hello?" I answered my phone, wondering who would be calling me on such a strange phone number.

"An inmate from the Charles County Correctional Facility has requested to speak with you. Will you accept the charg-"

I ended the call as soon as I could, shivering in disgust as I thought of who it might be, Dylan or his father. My sperm donor.

I cleared my thoughts and went back to what I was doing, finishing up some homework before one of my final exams.  It turned out that being pushed down the stairs, kidnapped and injured for long periods of time didn't do much to help one's grades.

I had kept track of the media as of late but it was probably not a good idea. There were swarms of girls who either loved me or hated me, some happy that Sebastian had a girlfriend and was happy, some angry that I had 'stolen him' from them.

We didn't give the press a statement or released that we weren't actually dating or not dating anymore, since the whole thing was a charade anyway. And besides, I had been kidnapped and basically tortured, if he had gone out and said that he had 'broken up' with me immediately after that whole ordeal, the press would have crucified him.

I heard a knock at my bedroom door and stiffened immediately.  How hard was it going to be for a girl to pass twelfth grade math?!

"Come in!"

My mother strode through the door looking a bit worse for wear and I was scared of what was going to come out of her mouth.

"Hey hon, how you holding up?" she asked me and I automatically wanted to roll my eyes. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that, or how I was doing, I'd be richer than Bill Gates.

"I'm fine mom, for the millionth time, you don't have to keep treating me like I'm made of glass or something. What is it?"

"Well, there's been swarms of paparazzi in front of the house recently and Sebastian's manager thought that it might relieve some pressure on you to get them to go away..."

"Okay, so why are you looking at me like my dog died?" I asked her, wary of the apprehensive look on her face.

"Well, sweetie, he thinks that you should schedule an interview through video chat with one of the better known magazines or news outlets and let everyone know that you and Sebastian broke up, and that you were the one who broke up with him," she told me and I was wrong. It was worse than if my dog died.

"A-and Sebastian is okay with this?" I asked her, hating the fact that my voice breaking gave away how fragile my feelings were at that moment in time.

"Just give yourself some time to think about it, it's completely up to you but his manager seems to think it's the best way to go concerning all of this drama surrounding you at the moment and-"

"Drama?!  Drama.  Really?  You're going to classify all of the shit things that have happened to me in the past months under the label of 'Drama'?!  If that isn't an understatement and pushing under the rug of what I've been through then I don't know what is!" I screeched at her, pawing at my chest just hoping that the black hole would come back.

But it didn't.  It never came back and all I feel is this staggering emptiness that surrounds my heart and my soul, a numbness that consumes my every waking thought and feeling.  At least when I'm around Sebastian some of the pain comes back.

Its like the saying that I would rather feel the pain of all of the things that I went through than absolutely nothing at all.

"I didn't mean it like that, you're twisting my words!  I was talking about the media and the press bringing unwanted drama to not only you but to your father and I as well!"

Her face turned a bright tomato color and I instantly felt bad for yelling at her.

"I'm sorry," I conceded with a thick sigh, wishing more than anything that the pain would just come back.

And when she hugged me right after I exploded at her, the strangest thing happened.

I felt the pain.

***

It had been a few days since I found out that Sebastian's manager wanted me to tell the world that I broke up with him.  I wondered how many death threats that one would get me.

I didn't message Sebastian about it, too scared that he would underplay it and his feelings for me.  I knew he felt something for me, there was no way that he could kiss me as passionately as he had and not feel something.

We were both just scared. Scared to make the first move, scared to be rejected, and worse of all, scared to ruin what we have.

He became my closest friend, even closer than Josie, who was staring at me like I had grown a third eye on my forehead as I explained to her my predicament.

"Are you insane?!  That boy loves you it's written all over his damn face!" she shouted at me over the thick glob of ice cream lodged in the back of her throat.

I would have laughed had it not been for the aching pain in my chest, but I was just happy that it was back.

"How do you even know that?" I asked her, thumb in my mouth as I nervously bit my nails.

"Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

When I gave her a confused look she stared at me as if I were the stupidest person on earth.

"You have got to be kidding me. A blind person could see the chemistry between you!"

"Actually not because a blind person can't see," I pointed out, just wanting to be facetious.

"Regardless, you know what I mean and stop trying to be silly to deny it.  You need to tell him how you feel, before you lose him forever."

"But how would I lose him forever though?" I asked her, emphasis on the word 'forever'.

"You go on the news and say you broke up with him.  He thinks you didn't care enough about him to fight for him.  He goes and finds himself someone to make him forget about you.  He never can.  You despise him for finding someone else yet you do the same.  Fifty years later you're both married to people you can't stand and bam!  Both of your lives ruined forever all because you were too scared to admit your feelings!  What's the worst that could happen?  You tell him how you feel and he laughs in your face and you never see him again, you move on with your life despite some emotional trauma.  Do you die? No!"

"Okay okay.  Best case scenario?" I asked her, wanting to know her version of what my happily ever after looks like in her eyes.

"Best that could happen: He declares his undying love to you, he gets down on one knee and produces the most gorgeous promise ring to you.  He asks you to  promise that you two will be together until the end of time, and this is just a placeholder for an engagement ring that will come in the future.  You both get swept up in the most romantic kiss anyone has ever had and then you both ride off into the sunset together and make joint music albums together, the end!"

"That was ummm..."

"Elaborate?" she filled in.

"Sure, let's go with that!" I added and we both ended the night laughing at her ideas of what our kids would look like.

***

"And our next performer is Mr. Jason Scott!" I heard the announcer say over the loud speaker.  I held my breath.  He was the last person to go before I closed the show and I was getting more and more nervous as the time went on.

I had told everyone about the talent show and they made sure that Sebastian would be in attendance.  We hadn't really texted or talked on the phone much since his manager suggested I tell the entire world that we break up, but I made sure to call him a few days before the performance to invite him to come.  He sounded really excited to come and I was all the more nervous for that fact.

I wrung my hands together and them smoothed them down the hem of my dark blue dress that accentuated my curves, fearful that my heels would make me slip and fall on my way out onto the stage.

I heard the cacophony of applause and the sound of cameras clicking.  I dreaded going out there and seeing all of the paparazzi ready to record everything, but I had to remind myself that it was probably just the parents of the students performing.

We made sure the press didn't catch wind that I was performing at the talent show, and hopefully it stayed that way.

I heard my name being announced and I took a deep, steadying breath and walked out onto the stage from behind the large curtain, my heels click-clacking on the premium wooden floor.

Harsh, bright lights that burned my forehead protruded into my line of sight and while I could make out that there were hundreds of people in the auditorium, I couldn't pin point a single face, so I decided to look at the back wall, not trying to single out any one person in particular.

I made my way to the piano set out in the middle of the stage and took another deep breath. Here goes nothing.

I sat down at the bench, heart hammering away in my chest as my fingers began flying over the keys as I transcended into my own little world, blocking out the harsh lights and the hundreds of other people.

I allowed the words to tumble freely from my mouth, my throat constricting as I tried to hit the high notes.  I played it safe during the try outs and didn't reach for the highest note at the end, but when I realized the amount of emotion I needed to coney in my performance, I went ahead and the note came tumbling and soaring out of me, the black hole in my chest constricting until it finally burst in a dam that I didn't know was there.

I finished the song and when I turned to see the audience in a standing ovation, I lost it.  I didn't even bow or anything, I just bolted and ran as fast as I could down the steps until a familiar voice caught my attention.

"Holly, wait!"

It was coming over the loud speaker.  I turned my head to see him on the stage I had just recently occupied, holding the microphone in one hand while staring at me with a look of pure torture on his face. It looked like he'd been crying.

"Please, come back," he said, his voice still giving me chills. I looked around me and could finally see the faces of the people in the audience since I wasn't blinded by the spotlights.  They all looked very confused, especially when the paparazzi burst through the auditorium doors with their flashing cameras and giant video recorders.

And then he began to sing.

Stay with me, show me how I'm supposed to feel.

Is this even real?

You know you're my everything now,

Everything keeps breaking somehow.

And I know in the end, all will be said

But if you don't say it how do I pretend

To be okay with this, just want to fall

Fall apart in your arms, for you to be the one who's strong

You helped me face it all,

Now let me help you to stand tall

I felt the tears receding as I gravitated back onto the stage, his pleading eyes reminding me that he was there for me and only me.

His voice was heavenly, and I couldn't believe he was singing a brand new song I'd never heard to me.

It made me wonder when he'd written it.

I don't  want you to take your time,

Please just say that you'll be mine

I'm too scared to say the words,

I know you can't break my curse

But if you'll let me in your head,

I'll never let you go, Red.

He stopped singing at the last word that he sang, and my breath caught in my throat. I didn't even realize there was music playing in the background until it was over. I was halfway on the train to freakout town. It was about me, the entire song.  I went over in my head all the words that he'd sang previously and realized that they were all for me, all about me.

He pulled the microphone away from his mouth as he leaned close to my ears.

"It's only you, Red."

***************

Author's Note:

I'm not crying, you're crying!  Who's cutting onions in here?!

This book has ONE CHAPTER LEFT OMG IM DYING INSIDE ARGH

If you're looking for another read to satiate your desires until the next chapter or if you can't wait until my next book after this, take a peek at some of my other novels that are already finished!

The next book I will be focusing on is one that I recently began writing, the description is below:

Freya is a novel about a girl who isn't necessarily human nor is she inhuman.  What is she?  And what will she do when two enthralling men capture not only her eyes, but her heart as well?  And what will happen when she is faced with the ultimate war: The battle between Heaven and Hell?  Read more of Freya's story in the riveting novel.

1.  How do you think the rest of the story will pan out?

2.  Will the epilogue have babies?!

3.  Will the epilogue have SMUT?!

4.  Which would you prefer?! lol

Please, let me know what you think! I love you all!

-Kristen :)