My Last Seven Days On Earth Started With A Broken Promise Chapter 04

My Last Seven Days On Earth Started With A Broken Promise Chapter 04

Three days left.

I locked myself in my room and didn’t come out.

The paint was gone, but the cut on my palm still throbbed.

Four wishes left in my notebook.

[Fourth wish. Go to the planetarium with Reid. See the moon.]

[Fifth wish. One last photo of the four of us.]

[Sixth wish. Give back everything they ever gave me.]

[Seventh wish. Say a real goodbye.]

A knock at the door.

Reid pushed it open and found me sitting on the windowsill, staring at nothing.

“Quit moping. Get dressed. I’m taking you to the planetarium.”

He said it like he was doing me the world’s biggest favor.

I looked up.

Nolan must have told him about the gallery, but Reid didn’t bring it up. He just tossed a set of clothes onto the bed.

“Tessa feels bad about what happened to you yesterday.”

“She knows you’ve always wanted to go, so she asked me to take you. To make up for it.”

So this was Tessa’s idea of making things right.

I picked up the clothes. Clearly the wrong size for me. Tessa must have bought them for herself and couldn’t fit into them.

“Fine.”

I changed and followed him out to the car.

The car smelled like Tessa’s citrus perfume.

The passenger seat had been reclined so far back I had to sit rigidly forward, my back completely unsupported, just to stay upright.

We merged onto the highway.

Reid drove one-handed and flicked on the stereo.

Tessa’s favorite boy band filled the car.

“Don’t sit there looking miserable when we get there, Marielle.”

He glanced at me. “Tessa’s letting this go. Don’t make her regret it.”

I watched the streets blur past the window. “Mm.”

The phone on the console lit up, buzzing hard.

Tessa’s name flashed across the screen.

Reid picked up instantly. Didn’t even kill the music.

“Reid…” Her voice broke into a sob.

Reid slammed the brakes. Tires screamed against wet asphalt.

“What happened? Tessa, where are you? Stop crying, talk to me.”

“I’m in some alley, I don’t know where. There’s a stray dog and it won’t leave me alone. It keeps barking at me, Reid, I’m really scared…”

“Don’t move. I’m on my way!”

He hung up and wrenched the wheel into an illegal U-turn.

“Planetarium’s off.”

He didn’t even look at me.

“Tessa needs me. Take a cab.”

He pulled over at the highway exit ramp.

We were on the edge of an expressway. No cabs came through here.

“Reid, there are no cabs out here.”

My voice was quiet.

“Then walk to the next light and get one! Jesus, Marielle, Tessa’s in actual danger!”

He reached across me and shoved the passenger door open.

“Out. Now.”

Cold air flooded the car and cut right through me.

I unclipped my seatbelt and got out.

The door slammed. The car tore off, kicking dirty water across the pavement.

I walked the service road until my legs ached. That was when I finally found a cab.

I didn’t go home. I went to the planetarium.

It had the highest observatory in the city and a telescope powerful enough to show the craters on the moon.

The woman at the ticket counter gave me a long look when she saw my face.

I sat alone in the empty theater and watched fake stars bloom across the dome above me.

They were beautiful. And they were nothing like the real thing.

No cool breeze. No magnolia. Nothing that smelled like home.

I pulled out my phone and opened my thread with Reid.

The last message was still mine, from days ago, telling him I was going back to the Moon Court.

His only reply was a mocking meme.

I didn’t send another message. I just raised my phone and took a selfie.

Behind me, the entire fake sky stretched out, vast and empty.

I sent the photo to our group chat.

[Fifth wish. Our group photo. Done.]

Nobody replied.

I put my phone away, crossed out the fourth wish in my notebook, and circled the photo.

Two wishes left.