The Read And Weep Bundle: Anonymous, Perfectly Hopeless, Run Read Free Page A

stay far away from me because I just might do the same to yours.” Even depressed she still was sarcastic.
    This brought a smile to his lips. “I’ve been told I’ve ruined some myself. There’s one thing we have in common.”
    “Did you kill your best friend?” This was her go to. The answer that separated her from everyone else in the world, it was the thing that shut them all up.
    “ Almost.” His eyes darkened and he looked away—bothered. “I barely knew the kid. He was just along for the ride. We met at a party and once all the drugs were gone we wanted more so he hitched a ride.”
    Elle’s heart slowed down for the first time in months. Goose bumps rose on her skin. For the first time in a long time she wanted to interact.
    “Do you hate yourself?”
    Hart shook his head. “I was just kidding, I never almost killed anybody . It’s a line from one of my favorite movies.”
    “ You’re an asshole.” She knew she hated herself. And she was sure she always would.
    “I don’t hate anything. And I don’t think you should either,” he told her.

Chapter 5
    Elle stared out the window and listened to her mom go on and on about her hopes and dreams for her recovery. How rehab was a saving grace and not the worst thing that could ever happen to her.
    She wished there was no visitation. She wished she didn’t have to look at her brother sitting across from her with his arms crossed staring out the same window she was because he hated to be there with her. At one time they were close.
    “Are you getting enough to eat?” her mom asked, taking in her bony features. The idea of food repulsed her since the night of the accident.
    Elle’s attention shifted to Hart when he walked into the room. He took a seat at one of the tables. But she noticed there were no visitors for him. She watched him pluck his journal from inside his shirt pocket, it was curled and formed perfectly to fit. He started chewing on his pen cap and busied himself writing.
    She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Didn’t he care that he was all alone?
    “Honey. Are you alright?” Elle’s mom asked. Elle knew she was worried there was already a distraction for her.
    “He’s alone,” s he said to her mother. At one time her mother was just as caring as she was, before she messed everything up.
    “Maybe his family was unable to make it today. Let’s forget about this resident and talk about your plans.” Her mom tapped the table with her polished nails trying to draw Elle’s attention back.
    “What plans would you have in mind, Mother?” She asked. Her finger rounded her ear just in time to catch her hair before it hid her eyes. “The one where you think everything is going to go back to normal once I complete this bullshit?”
    Her mother swallowed and toyed with her necklace sighing. Elle was trying to run her off.
    “I need something to drink. I’ll be right back.”
    She watched her mother walk away. Nick took her seat. He wasn’t going to let her get away with causing their mother even more grief.
    “Why don’t you quit being such a bitch?” He was blunt. A real pompous asshole and at one time she appreciated him for it, but not now. “You should be happy someone still gives a shit about you.”
    She stared at her nails. “But not you.” Nick was four years older. He had already been to college, tied down a successful job, went on trips, dated beautiful girls and just about everything in between. He was all about business and doing things his way.
    “You’re my sister I care about you. But all of this is a big inconvenience for everyone involved, including y ou. Look where you are now. You’re trapped in rehab with drug addicts who are going nowhere in life. That wasn’t supposed to be you and you know it.”
     
    ***
    Hart stopped writing; he brought his attention to Elle and the rather dapper young guy at the table. The one that looked like he was scolding her rather than paying her a warm visit, he