They Promised Every Birthday, They Kept None Chapter 07

They Promised Every Birthday, They Kept None Chapter 07

I’d been driving west for three days when I realized the passenger seat was empty.

The three dolls were still back in that apartment.

Maybe I’d meant to take them.

But maybe I’d left them there on purpose.

Ethan, Liam, and Derek had changed.

What I really wanted to take with me were the versions of them from years ago.

The big brother who wiped my forehead at midnight.

The second brother who cried in the stairwell and came back with a silly face to make me laugh.

The boy who held my hand and promised to spend every birthday with me.

The city skyline had shrunk behind me.

The road stretched open and empty.

Wind slipped through the cracked window, stinging my eyes.

I reached for my wrist out of habit, and found nothing.

The bracelet was gone.

But surprisingly, it didn’t hurt.

Maybe because I’d been hurt so many times that there was nothing left to break.

At a rest stop, I stopped to take my medicine.

Cold bottled water.

Bitter pills.

My stomach twisted.

I leaned against the car door and dry-heaved until I brought up a thin streak of blood.

A trucker looked over.

I pulled up my mask and gave him a weak smile.

“Old habit. I’m fine.”

I’d said that so many times over the years that they’d believed it. ́

Sometimes, I almost believed it myself.

Back on the road, my phone buzzed.

Ethan’s name lit up the screen.

I watched it ring.

Then Liam.

Then Derek.

One after another, like they’d finally remembered I existed.

I stared at the screen for a long moment.

Then I blocked all three numbers.

There was a time when I would’ve slept with my phone in my hand, waiting for their calls.

But they were always too busy.

Ashley needed dinner.

Ashley needed shopping.

Ashley needed a concert.

They never had five minutes for me.

Now they had all the time in the world.

And I didn’t want it anymore.

The buzzing stopped.

I pulled over and watched the sun sink behind distant mountains.

“Ethan,” I said softly, “look-it’s getting dark. You used to say I was too scared to go out at night without holding your hand. But I’m doing it alone now. See?”

I smiled a little.

“Liam, you said you’d take a million pictures of me at the lake. But I don’t look good anymore.”

“No hair. Hollow cheeks. You’d probably say I’d ruin your portfolio. But Derek would stand me, right?”

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Tears rolled down my face before I even noticed.

I wiped them away with my sleeve and pressed the gas again.

The sky darkened.

Clouds burned red in the fading light.

I gripped the wheel and felt myself slip backward in time-to when I was ten, surrounded by three

boys who promised, “Mia, don’t be scared. We’ll always be here.”

I smiled through the tears.

“Liars.”

“But that’s okay. This time, I’m not waiting for you.”