CHAPTER 39: The Silence

Ariana’s POV

I turned my phone off.

The screen went black, and with it, the noise, the outrage, the lies, the think pieces, the strangers dissecting my life like it belonged to them.

I sat on the edge of my bed for a long second, my phone still warm in my palm, then dropped it into my bag and zipped it shut.

“Enough,” I whispered to the empty apartment.

The place still didn’t feel real.

It had high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, pale wood floors that caught the afternoon light. A soft gray couch that looked like it belonged in a magazine instead of under me. The city stretched beyond the glass, it felt distant in a way that felt muted from up here.

A knock echoed through the space. I checked the time on the wall clock.

She is right on time.

I opened the door.

Lily blinked at me once, then squealed. “Oh. My. God.”

She brushed past me, her heels clicking as she spun in a slow circle. “No, because why are you living in a Pinterest board?”

I laughed despite myself. “Hi to you too.”