Chapter 56

Chapter 56BellaWe talked a little more, about nothing important, just the kind of small talk that felt like medicine, and then she said goodnight and ended the call. I sat there for a minute, staring at the dark screen, letting the words settle. Not stage two. Nog even close. There was still time. There was still hope.I climbed under the covers, suddenly bone-tired. Lara still wasn’t back. Was she really not coming home tonight? My phone buzzed a second later. It was a text from her.Lara: won’t be back tonite. at the club w some ppl. talk tmrwI stared at the message, thumb hovering over the keyboard. What was I supposed to tell her tomorrow? The whole humiliating mess with the camera, getting caught, Black’s stupid smirk when he took it back… Part of me wanted to spill everything, to have someone else carry the weight for once. But another part the bigger part wanted to bury it. Lie. Pretend none of it happened. I typed nothing back, just locked the phone and tossed it on the nightstand.I switched off the lamp, leaving only the blue glow from my phone screen. I heated up a pack of instant noodles in the communal kitchenette down the hall, then brought the steaming bowl back to bed. Propped against the pillows, I put on some mindless rom-com I’d seen a hundred times, slurping noodles while the dialogue washed over me.