Page 59

Elliott

I jump in my seat. I feel the pounding of my heart from the shock of a bag smacking against the countertop, my eyes fling up to see Marcus.

“Here,” is all he says as he gestures to the bag.

“For me?” I look skeptically from the bag to him.

“Yeah.” He looks away, shifting on his feet as I pull the bag towards me.

I look inside to see a bunch of random objects and I start to pull them out one by one. A pocket knife that looked similar to the one he has latched on to his jeans pocket, two books that look like they are in the romance genre, a box of hair dye–black, and four bags of gummy bears.

I stare at the items for a moment and I see him shuffling closer in my peripherals .

He points to the knife, “I’ve seen you eyeing mine and thought maybe you’d want one.

Maybe it will help you feel safer, I don’t know.

” He picks it up and pulls it out of the case to hand it to me.

The handle is designed with a swirl of dark green with inlaid black and gray marbling.

“You press here, and it unlocks the blade...” He points to a button on the side.

I press it and flick the blade out just like I’ve watched him do.

“Yeah, just like that.” I look at him and see a small curve at the corners of his mouth, his eyes lighting as he looks at the blade in my hand.

I close the knife, putting it back in its case, “It’s beautiful…thanks.” I say with trepidation in my voice. “And these?” I gesture to the other items as I put the knife in my pocket. The slight smile in his eyes indicating his approval.

“Well, Kameron wouldn’t shut up about you when he first met you and all. He mentioned you had a thing for gummy bears. You haven’t asked for them since being here and that’s not something we usually have stocked in the pantry so…I got you some.”

I look at him, still hesitant as to why he was presenting me with all of this. Marcus was talking to me willingly and politely outside of the gym, outside of a conversation with Hunter or Kameron.

He sees my confusion but continues, “These,” he picks up the two books, “Well, Hunter was saying how you’ve read all the ones on his shelves, so I got you some that were kind of the same.

You might hate them, I don't know, but here.” he shoves them my way.

I take them as he continues, grabbing the box dye, “And the hair dye–” he tosses it in his hand a couple of times.

“ You said you saw Samuel everywhere. I can’t take away the visions or memories, but I can try to help you see only you, when you look at yourself. ”

My chest rises and falls as I take in his words. The fact that he wanted to ease that part of the pain for me. That he took the time to collect things that would help me feel better…or that he even tried to.

“Why?”

His eyes squint at me, “Why what?”

“Why did you do all of this?” I clarified.

“Because.”

“Because?” I drag out, needing more than that.

“Someone told me that I was trying to help you in the way I would have wanted someone to help me .” He briefly looks away, “You aren’t me.

So I’m trying to give you things that you might need.

” He takes a deep breath, his shoulders sagging as he shakes his head, “It was stupid. Sor–” I jump from my chair and wrap my arms around him for only a moment before taking a step back. His body tenses.

“It wasn’t stupid. Thank you, Marcus.”

“Oh. Okay.” He scans my face and I watch as his eyes soften. “You're welcome.” He clears his throat, straightening his posture.

I lift to my tippy toes without thinking, and bring my lips to his cheek. He takes a step back, startled.

“It means a lot.” I lower my voice, embarrassed that I just did that.

We keep our eyes locked and Hunter enters the kitchen behind Marcus. I dart my eyes to him and Marcus whips his head in Hunter’s direction.

“Hey,” Marcus blurts out, “I was giving Elliott some stuff. You know, yeah–ahem.” He looks back at me before darting out of the kitchen.

“What was that about?” Hunter comes closer, curiosity in his eyes.

“He got me this, said he was trying to help me in the way I need.”

“So he finally heard what I was saying.” He steps closer to bring his lips to mine, “About time.”

“So you told him to do this?”

That makes more sense.

“No, I told him to stop trying to do what he would want. That’s it.” he gestures to the items, “This was all him.”

I look at the items and for just a moment my heart pings, and I’m thankful for Marcus Flores.

Even if he is an asshole.

“Black hair dye?” He picks up the box and I snatch it out of his grasp, making him chuckle .

“That is mine, sir. ” I start packing the items back into the bag and walk around Hunter to head to Kameron’s bathroom. “I think it’s time to finally say goodbye to Eden. ”

***

I read the hair dye instructions for the millionth time as I pace the bathroom floor, hoping I am not fucking this up.

I have the dye in my hair and it says to wait up to forty-five minutes.

I peek my head from the bathroom to the clock on the nightstand and see it’s only been forty.

The anxiety I have is vibrating through me.

I start the water in the shower, then sit on the toilet to wait for the water to warm up.

I haven’t looked in the mirror since I fully coated my hair I can’t bring myself to look. What if I hate it? What if it comes out in patches because I messed up the instructions.

Shit.

Steam begins to fill the bathroom, so I discard the messy hair dye covered clothes on the floor and step into the shower.

I rinse the hair dye out, watching the black water run down my body.

The instructions say to wait until the water runs as clear as possible, so I drag my fingers through my hair multiple times, wringing out my hair and repeating the process until I’m sure it’s all out.

I dry off and wrap my hair in a towel, not ready to look in the mirror.

I walk to the room, put new clothes on, and sit on the bed, legs crossed and my mind is racing. Who knows how much time goes by when I finally gain the strength to push myself off of the bed. Going to the bathroom vanity, I stare at my reflection.

My hands shake as I watch myself unravel the towel on my head, “Good-bye, Eden.” I whisper to myself as I let the towel fall to the floor.

I suck in a sharp breath as I look at myself.

I know it’s just hair, just a different color, but my eyes tear up at the sight.

My irises look brighter with the dark wet strands of hair framing my face.

They’re still a deep blue but there is a sparkle to them, like when the light hits water.

I laugh and sob at the same time, a full belly cackle as I cry.

I have never cried while laughing this hard, it’s a strange mix of emotions.

My reflection blurs from my tears and I wipe my eyes with the back of my hands, dropping them to vanity as I lean into the mirror for a closer look.

I don’t see the same girl Samuel defiled. I don’t see the image of who he self-claimed to be his wife.

No, I see Elliott.

Me.

“Hello.” I say, smiling brighter as I wipe the last of my tears away, along with the girl I used to be.