Page 34 of I Don't Need Your Romance

I’m doing better this morning, but the cloud is still over my head. Maybe the dance competition will distract me from my problems.

Raven puts on the music, then pulls out of the parking lot. She glances at me before putting her attention back on the road. “Are you excited to see the routine?” she asks after we’ve been driving in silence, minus the music. It’s one of Raven’s favorite songs, but I’m hardly listening to it. My thoughts drift to when Gina used to have her music booming throughout the house and how many times my parents asked her to turn it down. It’s not my memory—it’s from one of the videos she filmed of herself.

“Sophie?” Raven says. “Everything okay? You’ve been pretty quiet.”

“Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. You know, Gina and Adam’s death anniversary was yesterday. My parents went to the cemetery and I was with them on video chat.”

The car slows down at a red light and Raven wraps an arm around me. “I’m so sorry. That must have been so hard.”

I nod, biting my lip. “I know it was so long ago and I was only three, but I feel so much loss. And seeing the sorrowful looks on my parents’ faces was so hard. I wish I knew how to make them feel better, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do. Other than being there for them. Still, it won’t bring my brother and sister back. I think we’ll always have holes in our hearts.”

She gives me another side hug before the light turns green and she presses on the gas. “I wish I knew what to say to help you feel better.”

I give her a grateful smile. “Having you and the others as my friends has been great and amazing. I love you guys.”

“And we love you.” She drops one hand from the steering wheel and we lock our fingers together.

A few minutes of listening to the music and breezing through the streets pass before I say, “My siblings’ deaths are not the only thing on my mind. Damian…he did something odd yesterday.”

Her body stiffens. “Define odd.”

“Nothing bad! I just hung up with my parents and was feeling pretty crummy. Then Damian entered the library because he forgot his leather jacket. I must have looked messed up because he asked me if I was okay. I lied and said I was. He was about to leave, but then he sat down next to me. Like,rightnext to me. Not across from me like he does during our lessons. He didn’t say a word. Neither of us did. We just sat there in silence until I left and he left too.”

Her eyebrows dip. “So he sat with you? Why?”

I hold up my hands. “I’m not sure, but it made me feel better, you know? I didn’t feel alone. It was comforting. He didn’t haveto say anything or do anything. Just having him sit next to me helped a lot. I can’t explain it, I just felt so much better.”

“That was nice of him.”

I nod, my thoughts returning to yesterday and how good I felt.

“Did he possibly overhear your conversation with your parents?” Raven asks. “Did he maybe find out about your siblings and felt bad for you?”

I shake my head. “I don’t think so. He seemed confused why I looked messed up. I don’t know what conclusion he drew, but maybe he figured I didn’t want to be alone?”

He’s been through some hardships as well—his eyes tell a story—so perhaps he knew how I felt.

“Well, if you ever want to talk or make sense of stuff, you know where I live,” Raven says. “Really, Sophie, you can talk to me about anything.”

I smile at her. “I know, thanks. But I think I’m good now. I’m ready to try to move on and have fun at the competition.” I laugh lightly. “I can’t fill the auditorium with negative energy or Carly will kill me if they don’t place.”

She returns the smile. “I’m glad you’re starting to feel better.”

“Yeah, I’ll be back to my old reading-obsessed self soon.”

She clutches my hand again.

We listen to music and talk about random things for the remainder of the drive. When we finally arrive at the host school, we find a parking space and climb out of the car.

We stop to take in the school. It’s pretty big, but not as big as Harrington Bay Academy. Looks quite old, like it was built in the early 1900s or something. There’s this creepy feel to it, kind of like a haunted house.

I shiver at Raven. “You think they want to spook away the competition?”

Raven laughs. “Pretty sure that’s illegal.”

“Well, it’s not like you can see ghosts. What if they have a whole lot of them haunting the competition to force them to quit?”

“Doesn’t matter,” a voice says from beside us. “Our team will overcome anything and everything—natural and supernatural.”