Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 76696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76696 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“What the fuck?” Bill seethed thickly, holding his nose, which was bleeding pretty badly. Blood dripped down his lips and chin, and onto his ugly-ass shirt. Brian glowered at him. “I told you to stay away from her! Why couldn't you listen for once?”
Bill shrugged, still holding his nose. “I thought you exaggerated when you said she was scared of men. I didn't know that it’s so...” He chanced a look at Amber, apparently trying to come up with a word to describe the situation. “...serious.” He finished lamely.
“I'm sorry, Brian. If I'd known,” Jason trailed off, shrugging helplessly.
Brian ignored him and approached Amber, then knelt a few feet away from her.
“Amber?” he said softly. “Amber, it's me, Brian.”
She didn’t react. Cautiously I moved closer to them and Brian sent me a desperate look but I didn't know how to help him. He crawled even closer to his sister and frowned deeply. “Jason, give me the blanket,” he ordered.
I followed his gaze. The towel had slipped slightly because of the way Amber pressed her legs against her body. Her thighs were completely exposed; I would have been able to see more if I’d moved my gaze further up. I averted my eyes, not wanting to violate her in this way. She didn’t even notice that she was half naked. I crouched down beside Brian as he tried to cover her with the blanket. She jerked back, letting out a heartbreaking whimper. Brian closed his eyes for a moment, fighting tears. I squeezed his shoulder and he looked at me gratefully. He moved still closer to Amber and put the blanket over her legs. She’d become a statue. “Amber,” he whispered again. She didn’t react in any way, but her shoulders were shaking.
Brian drew in a shaky breath, looking close to breaking. “Amber,” I tried to gain her attention but got nothing.
A knock startled all of us and we turned toward the open door. Kevin stood there, his eyes wide as he looked at Amber.
“I got home a few minutes ago and I heard a scream,” he said eventually. He shared the apartment down the hall with Jason and Bill. If he heard the scream, the entire floor must have too.
Brian pinched the bridge of his nose. “Amber...I don't know what to do. It's probably best if we call a doctor.”
Kevin spoke up again. “Reagan came home with me, maybe she can help.”
Maybe a woman wouldn't frighten Amber so much.
“Yes, can you get her?” Brian asked.
Kevin nodded and with a last glance in Amber’s direction, he disappeared from our view. I straightened and began pacing. I felt like I was going to burst from tension. Kevin returned with Reagan at his side. Brian practically jumped to his feet. “Reagan, thank god, you're here. Maybe you can get through to her.”
Shock crossed Reagan’s face when she spotted Amber. Her red hair was up in a high-ponytail and her shorts and workout-shirt were drenched in sweat. She must have jogged here. She tensed and for a heart-stopping moment I thought she’d say she couldn’t do this, couldn’t handle Amber. But Reagan snapped out of it. Slowly she approached her and lowered herself to the ground a good distance away from Amber before she crawled closer to Amber, who was still rocking herself on the ground. Reagan extended a hand and touched Amber's shoulder. Amber jerked back, but Reagan didn’t let go. “Shhh. It's alright. Everything is alright,” she cooed. Amber relaxed visibly. Reagan didn’t look very intimidating anyway with her freckles and lanky limbs.
“Go away,” she mouthed at us, her eyes imploring. Brian hesitated but I gripped his arm.
“Come on, Brian. Let's go into the kitchen. Reagan needs some time alone with Amber.”
“I guess you are right.” Kevin, Bill and Jason started to follow us but I turned around to the two idiots who’d caused the mess, “You,” I pointed at them. “Get lost. You've done enough damage for one day.”
Jason looked really miserable but Bill just shrugged and left the apartment. Asshole. I shook my head at his behavior and walked into the kitchen. Brian, Kevin and I sat down around the table and stared at each other for a moment. Apparently, neither of us knew what to say. Kevin kept throwing glances my way. Maybe he'd finally realized that Amber wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship. Especially not with me. I wasn’t the right guy for a girl like her.
“Reagan will help her,” he said eventually. I wasn’t sure if it was meant to console me, or Brian. Brian didn’t even raise his head from where he rested it on the table. No sounds were coming from the living room. I wished I knew what was happening. What if Reagan couldn’t talk Amber out of her panic attack? Seeing her like that, so broken and frightened, it was the worst thing I'd ever witnessed. I hated feeling so fucking helpless.
Amber
Someone touched my shoulder. I tried to get away from the person, away from the pain that would surely follow.
“Shhh...It's alright. Everything is alright,” a woman said. Her voice sounded kind, not threatening at all. I relaxed but I didn’t dare to lift my head yet. I didn’t want to see what was going on around me. Someone sat beside me and our shoulders brushed lightly. I shivered but didn’t pull back. Something about the person made me calm.
“Amber?” The woman asked softly.
Hesitantly, I turned my head to the side and lifted it from my knees. Kind brown eyes returned my gaze. Next to me sat a girl about my age, with long legs crossed at the ankles in front of her, red hair pulled into a ponytail. She looked like she’d been working out when she found me. She was wearing turquoise Nike running shoes and matching shorts.
She smiled. “'I'm Reagan. A friend of your brother.” God, I hoped Brian hadn’t called her out of the gym to deal with me.
I wiped the wetness from my cheeks and sat up a bit straighter. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I’d lost control of myself. I remembered hearing Brian’s and Zach’s voice while I was drowning in my panic.