Page 15 of Ordinary Secrets (Secrets Trilogy #1)

15

ARELLA

It’s beginning to turn into something.

Three days have passed since Trey and I hung out, and every morning since, I have woken up to his text that says, Good morning, beautiful .

Whenever his name pops up on my phone, the corners of my lips get yanked upward. They stay that way while I read his message and giggle at all the funny things he says.

He has asked if we could hang out again this week, but our schedules didn’t match up. While he’s free during the day, I’m at work. While I’m free in the evenings, he’s at work. I didn’t realize how much goes into what he does. Everything from rehearsals to recording sessions to writing sessions to planning out their videos and filming them. Then there’s all the meetings they have with their manager and potential collaborators. It all sounds complicated, but he seems to enjoy it.

When I’m not actively texting him, I’m on YouTube, watching as many of his band’s videos as possible. I knew they were good after seeing them perform the one time, but I didn’t know they were this good. The production value and creativity of their music videos are impressive. Their millions of subscribers and even more millions of views tells me I’m not the only one who’s impressed.

On my lunch break today, the first thing I do is check my phone, hoping Trey has texted me. I can’t hold back my smile when I see his name.

Hey! You free tonight? My manager rescheduled my band’s social media meeting to next week, so I’m open.

I’m flattered that his first thought after finding out he has some free time was to ask if I’m available.

Sorry. I have a movie date with Javina.

I feel the same, but I won’t ditch my best friend to hang out with him, no matter how badly I want to.

Will I ever get to see you again?

I’m free tomorrow night?

I play a show every Friday and Saturday, then I’ve got meet and greets afterward. I won’t be able to have alone time with you. How about Sunday?

My heart does backflips in my chest. He wants alone time with me. Why does that excite me so much?

Sure! We can hang out after I’m done nannying at five.

I’ll take it!

Later that evening, it’s late and dark on my drive home from the theater—so dark that I don’t see the shattered glass outside my door until it crunches beneath my shoes. It’s everywhere. My first thought is that someone broke my window, except I don’t have a window by the door.

Crushed purple flowers are scattered all over my front stoop. Ripped into fourths is a little card. Careful not to touch any glass, I pick up the card pieces and hold them together like a puzzle. In all caps handwriting, it reads:

Filling our time apart with plan A.

—T.G.

A wide, ridiculous smile spreads across my face. When Trey said he was going to do cheesy romantic things to win me over, he wasn’t kidding. It’s kind of working.

After shoving the ripped card into my purse, I scowl at the mess. Who would do something like this?

Suddenly, it clicks. There’s only one person I know who’s low enough to trash someone else’s property—especially my property. It only takes me a second to wrench my keys out of my purse, but it’s too late. The sound of his heavy footsteps rushing from around the corner sends a chill down my spine. Before I can do anything else, he slaps a palm over my shoulder and flips me to face him.

“Wish you coulda seen how big that vase was. Seems like that guy was tryna compensate for somethin’.” Nathan’s slurred words make the little hairs on my arm stick up.

My ex looks different from the last time I saw him. Now he’s got a buzz cut, which is a huge upgrade from the long, greasy mop he used to have. Even with the upgrade, he still looks as cold and callous as ever.

“Who’s T.G.?” Nathan towers over me, speaking so close to my face that his gin-and-cigarette breath poisons my air.

“None of your business.” My voice comes out smaller than I wanted it to. I can’t stand how much this man affects me. Within seconds, he’s already turned me into the scared little girl I was when I was with him. All that progress I’ve made over the past eight months, gone.

“Ari, Ari, Ari.” Each time he says my name, a nasty bite nips at my skin. “Everything you do is my business.”

I try to sound more firm this time. “Leave, or I’m calling the cops.”

“Right.” He chuckles low in his throat. “How many times has that helped you before?”

None... “I’m serious,” I say, my voice growing stronger as I channel whatever confidence Javina always has. “If I keep calling about you, someone will figure it out eventually.”

Nathan rips my purse from me. It falls to the ground behind him with a thud. Then he seizes me by my shoulders and yanks me toward him until his nose touches mine. I cringe, trying to push him back. It does nothing.

He’s bigger. Taller. Stronger. And he’s angry. “You won’t be calling anyone about me.”

I don’t know what gives me the courage to do it, but I hack one back and spit it into his face. He releases me with a growl.

“You little bitch!” He swipes at the loogie dripping down his eye, then smacks me in the face. My head whips to the side as I yelp.

Ignoring the pain, I jab my keys into his stomach.

“Fuck!” He groans and keels over, grabbing his torso.

I take advantage of his temporary weak state by bashing my knee between his legs where it hurts. He cries out as I shove him to the ground.

After thrusting my key into the doorknob, I stumble inside. A hand clutches my ankle, and I fall face first against my living room carpet. My head bounces back as pain erupts up my jaw. I taste blood where my tongue got caught between my teeth.

“Let go!” I jerk my leg back and forth until he loses his grip. Then I kick him in the face, and I’m not even sorry.

Nathan’s head snaps back as he roars, “FUCK!”

Finding my balance, I pick myself up and slam the door shut. Then I click the bolt lock in place and sink to the carpet with my back against the door. My chest heaves for air as my eyes water.

I knew it. It was only a matter of time before he showed up again. For a while there, I thought he had finally forgotten about me.

Not a chance.

He probably did that on purpose—gave me time so I’d think I was safe and lower my defenses before he came back to haunt me.

A fist bangs against my door three times. “You little bitch. My fuckin’ nose is bleeding.”

Good! I need to call the cops. This time, he didn’t just verbally harass me. He hit me. The police have to do something about him. They just have to.

Now, where’s my pho —I almost face-palm myself. My phone is in my purse. The one that Nathan chucked to the ground on the other side of this door.

With my heart still pounding and my tongue throbbing, I steal a look through the peephole. It’s too dark to see anything, so I flip the light on. A dim yellow glow illuminates my front stoop.

Nathan’s not there. Neither is my purse. Did he take it?

I don’t dare twist the lock open to check. Not yet. Not until I know he’s gone. Knowing him, he’s probably hiding around the corner, waiting for me to come out.

“I asked you first!” Nathan barks.

Who’s he yelling at? As if he can hear me, I tiptoe toward the living room window and peer out between a small opening in the blinds. Sure enough, there’s that lame excuse for a human standing on the sidewalk with a phone pressed to his ear.

But not just any phone. My phone.

“Who are you? Why are you calling my girlfriend?”

Is he seriously still calling me that?

“She’s not available right now. How ’bout you give me a message, and I’ll relay it to her?”

Who’s on the other line? No one ever calls me besides Javina and my grandparents, and Nathan’s not brave enough to talk to any of them that way. My grandparents don’t even know he’s abusive. They think we broke up because he met someone else.

As he treads farther from my window, he says words I can’t make out. All I can see is the side of his face when it twists from anger to something dark and dangerous.

With the bottom of his shirt, he wipes off the blood trickling down his nose. He’s back to yelling again. “The fuck did you just say?” A short pause. “You listen here, douchebag. If you think you can come here and kick my ass?—”

I don’t stay to listen to the rest because it finally clicks who has called me. Within seconds, I’m out the door, because the last thing I want is for Trey to be involved in this.

“Nathan! Stop!” I run to him, reaching for my phone.

Big mistake.

He backhands my face with so much vigor that I plummet to the ground. Before I can even think about standing, he grabs me by my hair and jerks me up. I scream and punch at him, but it does nothing.

“Are you seein’ this Trey guy?” Nathan holds my phone out to me. Trey’s name appears on the screen, the call still in progress.

“Arella?”

“Let go of me!”

Nathan tightens his grip on my hair. “What did I say about seeing other men? I’ll show you what happens when you disobey me.”