Chapter 206
HANNAH
TWO WEEKS LATER
I thought it was time Willa and I hung out a little. Lately, she had been so wrapped up in Devin it was hard to get her alone.
I all but sprinted to her room, gave a cursory knock at the door and threw it open, smiling.
The smile faded and died once I finally was able to process what I was looking at.
"Willa?" I called softly.
She didn't hear me. Sobs that hurt my heart to hear escaped from her lips. She was curled up in bed, arms wrapped around her body, shoulders shaking as she cried.
"Willa," I said again.
This time she heard me. She raised her head a little from the tear-soaked pillow. She swiped at her eyes, made a great effort to stop crying but then gave up. Her head thumped back on the pillow.
I rushed to her to take her into my arms. She wouldn't let me. She fought me and tried to pull away.
"I'm okay. I'm fine," she kept saying in between great heaving sobs that announced she was anything but fine. "It's nothing."
"Don't be silly!" I said, finally managing to pry her arms apart.
I hugged her. Tightly. And then the dam broke. She stopped resisting. She cried, blubbering on my shoulder. She squeezed me so hard I could barely draw in a breath but I didn't mind one bit.
She was finally getting it- whatever 'it' was- out of her system.
I rubbed her back in soothing circular motions and murmured for her to let it all out.
That made her cry even harder. After a long time, her sobs became sniffles, occasionally interrupted by hiccoughs.
"Feel better?" I asked her. I felt her nod. "Care to tell me what the problem is?" Some hesitation then she shook her head.
I gave her a little time then firmly but gently gripped her shoulder to put her at arm's length.
She tried to hide her face. It was all swollen, and red.
"Don't look at me," she croaked, grabbing one of the Kleenex littering the sheets and scrubbing her face with it, succeeding only in spreading the tears around her face "I'm a mess."
"It's me, Willa," I said. "I'm not anyone else. Tell me what happened."
Willa looked at me, then away. She hung her head.
"I'm better now, thank you," she said in a tiny voice. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."
"You know as well as I do that I'm not leaving here until I know why you're crying. You never cry. Are you ill? Hurt?"
Another hesitation then she nodded. My hands immediately flew over her checking for bruises and injuries.
"Not there," she said.
"Then where?" I huffed. "I swear, Willa, you're freaking me out. If you don't tell me what the matter is right now, I'm going right out to tell Cade or-"
Willa's lips moved. She said something that sounded a lot like 'Devin'.
"What was that?" I said, moving closer to hear her better. "Did you say, Devin?" She nodded. "What did he do?"
The story came out in fits and starts, interrupted by bursts of crying but the summary of it all was that Willa had broken up with Devin.
I sighed. In relief.
"Is that all?" I said. Another nod. "You got me scared for a moment there. I thought something worse had happened."
I wasn't surprised they had broken up. Not really. Although I had to admit I hadn't quite expected it to happen so soon.
Devin was like a butterfly, always flitting from flower to flower. A shallow good-looking boy with his parent's wealth backing him up.
"It's bad enough," Willa said, blowing into a tissue.
"Who broke up with who?"
"I did," she said.
"Great!" I exclaimed and she glared at me. I put up both hands in a placating gesture. "Alright. I'm sorry but you've always known how I felt about Devin. Tell me exactly what happened."
"I was a fool," she said bitterly. "I should have observed him closely... though I guess I should be thankful he showed me his true colours early enough. He's controlling, Hannah. You won't believe how much. He always wanted to know where I was every single moment of the day even when we were in school."
I nodded, remembering how Willa had missed a class when she went to be with him.
Deep red colour suddenly flooded Willa's cheeks. "The worst part is I don't get to know where he was, who he was with, or who was always calling him on the phone whenever we were together. When I complained and told him it wasn't fair he said I was getting too clingy."
"He actually said that?" Willa nodded. "Talk about gaslighting!"
"I still like him." She paused. "I think I'm half in love with him already but I just couldn't take it anymore."
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