Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Harper’s POV

I woke up in the hotel room still wearing yesterday’s clothes.

The heavy denim fabric of the jumpsuit from the smash room was gone replaced by my own worn jeans and hoodie.

Sunlight cut through the gap in the heavy velvet curtains, sharp and blinding, hitting my eyes with a force that made my head throb.

My skull pulsed with a dull ache, making me feel like someone had hit me with something heavy while I slept.

I sat up too fast. The room spun for a second before settling into focus. It wasn’t my apartment. The ceiling above me was white. Too white. The blankets smelled expensive. My body stiffened instantly.

Then yesterday came back in pieces. I had fallen asleep in the car. Ryder must have brought me here.

On the bedside table, a glass of water sat over a small piece of paper. I reached out, my fingers cold against the glass, and pulled the paper toward me.

Ryder’s handwriting was slant, and precise.

Breakfast is on the table. Door’s unlocked. You can leave anytime.

I stared at the ink for a few seconds, then my chest felt tight.

You can leave anytime? He had never said those words to me in our entire lives. Back then, leaving wasn’t an option.

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Chapter 15

Ethan snorted softly. “You’re basically five years old emotionally. You’l blend in.” I shot him a look.

The familiar smell of glue and crayons wrapped around me like a thin shield.

“Bobby already spilled glue on the blue table.”

I managed a small nod, the heat from the cup seeping into my frozen fingers. “I’ll take the blue table.”

I walked inside, took off my jacket, and sat down at the low plastic table.

Within minutes, the noise of children talking, crayons scraping against construction paper, and the sharp, vinegar smell of school glue.

The class started soon after.

A little girl named Mia climbed into the seat beside me holding safety scissors upside down.

“Miss Harper,” she whispered seriously, “I think Noah ate glue.”

Across the room, Noah immediately yelled, “I didn’t!”

“You literally have glue on your tongue,” Ethan said.

“No proof.”

The room burst into laughter.

I found myself smiling before I could stop it as it kept yesterday at a distance.

Hours passed easier after that.

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Chapter 15

At around two in the afternoon, I was helping Mia tape paper wings onto a cardboard airplane when the front door slammed open.

Fast footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Then-

“Harper!” I froze.

That voice-I turned sharply.

Lily stood near the entrance with a large, battered suitcase sat on the floor beside her sneakers.

Her hair was messy from the wind. Dark circles sat under her eyes like she hadn’t slept at all. But she was smiling.

I froze, my knees locked against the floor. Vancouver was thousands of miles away from the small town we had grown up in.

Before I could even process it, Lily rushed across the room, dropping her bag, and threw her arms around my neck. She pulled me into a hug so fierce and tight that the air left my lungs completely. Her coat smelled like stale bus air and rain.

“You idiot,” she mumbled, face buried in my hoodie. “Why didn’t you me everything sooner?”

“You… how-” My voice came out a hoarse, broken whisper against her shoulder.

tell

“I took an overnight bus,” she mumbled, her face buried in the crook of my neck. Her voice was shaking. “I saw your brothers back home. I saw them packing and talking about finding you. I just… I couldn’t let you deal with this alone, Harper. I couldn’t stay there knowing they were here.”

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Chapter 15

I stared at her.

My throat tightened, a thick, hot ache rising so fast it felt like it would choke me. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face in her shoulder, my hands clutching the back of her jacket until my fingers ached.

Lily was the only person who had ever stayed on my side from the very beginning. With her, I didn’t have to pretend I was strong or okay.

Ethan stood a few feet away, holding a box of markers, looking distinctly awkward as we held onto each other

“You must be Ethan,” she said, wiping her eyes quickly. “Harper mentioned you. Thanks for taking care of her.”

Ethan scratched the back of his neck, ears turning pink. “Uhmmm…No problem. Welcome?”

In the afternoon I showed Lily around the center.

I pointed out the corner where I taught the kids to draw, the shelf of books we read together, and the small rooftop where I sometimes went when the walls felt too close.

When we reached the rooftop, the wind tugged at our hair. Lily looked out at the city for a long moment.

Suddenly, she reached out and linked her arm with mine, pulling her shoulder against mine. “You’ve changed a lot.”

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