“Okay. Thanks.”
“You know I got your back, boo,” she says with a laugh, lightening the mood.
“I know you do. Call me at nine and we can watch an episode of The Kardashians together and talk shit like we always do.”
Gia laughs. “All right. Talk to you later. Love you.”
“I love you.”
After we hang up, I think about Mario. He’s my ex-boyfriend, and to say things ended badly would be the understatement of the century.
We only dated for six months. The first three were great, but the last three were awful. It was like a switch flipped inside his brain and everything was different.
He wanted to know where I was and who I was with at all times. If I didn’t text back within a few minutes, he started losing it. If I went out with my friends, he would either invite himself or just show up.
I found him going through my phone one time, and it caused a huge fight that ended with me threatening to leave and then him threatening to kill himself if I left.
After that, things just got progressively worse. My sister caught him driving by our house when I was at work. He would also drive by my job to make sure I was there. He wanted me to quit my job so I could spend more time with him, and then when I refused, he said I didn’t love him.
I’m not really sure what happened that triggered this behavior. Perhaps it was always there, but he made sure to fool me in the beginning to get me to stick around.
The final straw was when I found out he was tracking me through an app he downloaded on my phone. When I confronted him, he flew into a rage about why it was his right to do that, and if I didn’t have anything to hide, I’d let him.
I told him it was over, and for the first two days I thought I got away with an easy break-up. However, on the third night, me and my sister came home from a late-night drive, and found Mario climbing into my bedroom window. Who knows what his plan was? But it sends shivers down my spine to think about.
We called the cops, but he spotted us before they got there and took off. After filing a police report, and under my sister’s urging, getting a restraining order, we didn’t hear from him for a while.
Then the letters started showing up. Not only at my house, which I shared with my sister, but my job, my car, and one was even left with a waitress at a restaurant I was dining at. He was following me everywhere.
They started as love letters, then moved on to apology letters, and after he never got a response, they turned into threats. I was not only scared for myself, but for my sister as well. So, when things became too stressful, and I felt like I couldn’t walk down the street without looking over my shoulder, I decided to move. Gia both hated the idea, and felt some relief. She’s been terrified for me, but now that I feel safe, I still worry about her.
She made sure to tell everyone I was moving, that way word could get to Mario, wherever he was hiding. Everybody she told, was told a different city, so he shouldn’t even know where to start looking. And hopefully he’ll leave her alone knowing I no longer live there.
Life gives you a shitty hand sometimes, but I’m determined not to fold.
7
“What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the band? Don’t you have a show?” I ask, pulling out of the hug.
Merrick gives us his lopsided grin, rubbing the back of his head. “The show got canceled because Sky is sick. We re-scheduled for a few days from now.”
“So, our baby brother is home for a couple days,” Royce says, putting his hand on Merrick’s shoulder and giving him a shake.
“Are the other guys here?” Cill asks.
Merrick shakes his head. “Nah. Just me. I needed to get away and come back home for a little bit. Ya know?”
My brows furrow. “You okay?”
He laughs it off, but I know something’s bothering him. Could it be just the stress of being a twenty-two-year-old touring the country? Sure. Could it be the lack of sleep and the abundance of parties every night? Probably. But I know Merrick better than anyone, and something’s telling me it’s more than that.
“I’m fine, Elijah,” he says, staring into my eyes. “Just wanted to be around family.”
Cill messes up his hair. “Aww, the rock star missed us.”
“Well, I’m fucking starving, and Royce doesn’t have shit in this house, so who’s getting me some food?” Merrick asks with a grin.
“Oh, you think you’re too famous to get your own food now?” Cill teases.
“Did I not tell you about the time I tried to go to In-N-Out in California?”
“What happened again?” Royce asks.
“I went in thinking my hat and sunglasses would be enough to disguise me, but the girl at the counter kept giving me these looks, and then she whispered to a co-worker, and that’s when I started getting nervous. The other girl brings out her phone and searches the internet, I’m sure. Before I know it, they’re screeching and jumping up and down, and once other people started realizing what was going on, I bolted through the doors without my food.”
“Aww, poor baby,” Cill says, putting Merrick in a headlock. “I guess we can get you some food.”
“I’ll just order some pizza or something,” Royce says, instantly grabbing his phone.
Cill recites what he wants while I tug Merrick to the side. “You sure you’re okay?”
He grins, but I see the lie behind his eyes before he says it. “I’m fine, E.” I keep staring at him and he chuckles. “It’s good to be home.”
“You planning on
