Four Years Of Hair For A Wedding And He Cut It For A Scene Chapter 02

Four Years Of Hair For A Wedding And He Cut It For A Scene Chapter 02

Garrett froze.

Before he could answer, Audrey grabbed her wrist and whimpered.

“Ow. God, that really hurts…”

The crew swarmed around her.

“Garrett, forget this. Get her to a hospital!”

“She’s just having a meltdown.”

“She waited four years for this. You really think she’d walk away? She’s bluffing.”

“But if something happens to Audrey, that’s on all of us.”

Garrett glanced at Audrey’s wrist and made up his mind.

“Elena, just stay here. Cool off. Think about what you did.”

He hesitated, then softened. Barely.

“Don’t make this bigger than it is.”

“Audrey’s the investor’s daughter. I can’t let anything happen to her.”

“When I get back, we’ll talk. I’ll explain everything.”

Then he put his arm around Audrey and walked away.

Nobody looked back. I was still on my knees.

Scraped and bleeding, my knees dug into the dirt. Blood from my scalp ran down my face, staining the stark white of my wedding dress.

Behind me, someone sighed.

“Elena.”

Father Silas was standing a few steps back, watching me.

I broke.

“Father Silas, I’m done. I’m not getting married.”

“I want to take my vows. Cut my hair. All of it.”

But Father Silas shook his head.

“The Lord showed me something else. You are meant to leave North Crest.”

I stared at the ground.

“I can’t. You know the rules. If I don’t marry by twenty-five, my life belongs to the convent.”

A voice cut in from behind us.

“Then I’ll marry you.”

I looked up.

I hadn’t even heard him approach.

He was wearing a windbreaker, a notepad tucked under one arm.

“Julian…”

Julian Mercer was a professor. He’d come with Garrett’s crew to study the folk traditions around North Crest.

The day the team arrived, I saw Garrett, and something in me just knew. I volunteered to be their guide before anyone else could.

When they had us sign in, I took the pen and froze.

“You don’t know how to write?”

“I never learned,” I whispered, my face burning.

The whole group laughed.

“Wait. Seriously? She can’t even write her own name?”

“I mean, Garrett’s good-looking enough to make even the illiterate girl throw herself at him.”

“She can’t read, and she thinks she has a shot?”

Audrey laughed too.

“Elena grew up in the convent. It’s not her fault she never learned.”

“But it must be hard for Garrett, right? Having to explain every little thing.”

“She can barely read, but she follows Garrett around like a lost puppy.”

“Way out of her league, don’t you think?”

“Garrett’s going to be somebody. What’s she bringing to the table?”

“Audrey and Garrett. Now that makes sense.”

“Some people really don’t know their place.”

More laughter. Louder this time.

I wanted to disappear. Just dissolve into the ground and stop existing.

My eyes found Garrett without meaning to. I was waiting for him to say something. Anything to shut them up.

But Garrett just smiled.

“Come on, guys, lay off. Half those jokes are going right over her head anyway.”

That got the biggest laugh of all.

Only Julian spoke up.

“Elena can’t write, sure. But she speaks two languages. How many of you can say the same?”

The laughter died. Nobody had a comeback for that.

That night, Julian found me sitting alone in the corner.

“Want me to teach you how to write your name?”

I nodded before I could even think about it.

After that, I started listening when Garrett and Audrey talked. Really listening, memorizing words I didn’t know.

Every word I couldn’t figure out, I brought to Julian.

I wanted to understand what they were saying. I wanted to be like Audrey.

She was beautiful, sharp, and Ivy League-educated.

Garrett could say anything, and she always got it. When he talked to her, his whole face lit up.

And I’d just be standing there. Invisible.

Eventually, I thought I was ready.

I used the words Julian taught me and tried to join a conversation.

I got one word wrong. Just one. And it changed the whole meaning.

A beat of silence. Then the whole room cracked up.

“Does she even know what she just said?”

“Is she trying to sound like Audrey? That’s adorable.”

“Never mind. She probably doesn’t even know what that means.”

“Audrey went to a top school. And her? Come on.”

“She’s been bothering the professor every day, asking him to teach her how to read. He’s here for research, not to run a remedial class for free.”

I stood there with my face on fire.

Audrey gave me this look, all pity and no warmth.

“Elena, honey, maybe it’s time to stop.”

“You’re so far behind, and we just… live in different worlds.”

“A few night lessons aren’t going to close that gap.”

Garrett shook his head, half-smiling.

“You don’t have to push yourself like that.”

“And don’t keep bothering Julian. He’s got his own work.”

I held the paper with all my practice words and felt my face burn so hot I thought I’d catch fire.

…

Julian held out his hand.

“Come with me.”

“I’ll take you out of here.”

I thought about what Garrett told me once.

That outside North Crest, there were libraries. Museums.

That girls out there could study, work, go anywhere they wanted.

Everything I’d only ever let myself dream about was suddenly being offered to me.

I put my hand in his.

“I’ll go.”

Father Silas smiled.

“Elena, the Lord never wanted to keep you here.”

“The time has come.”

“Go. It’s time you saw what’s beyond North Crest.”