𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛

My heart beat slowly increases the minute I walk through the carnival. I didn't ride my bike since it's in walking distance, so my feet scrape along the dirt. The bright lights already bring back memories. Just last year Hunter was dragging me away from his friends to get our favorite ice cream flavor. I shiver at the thought of running into them - especially Kyle. I will never be able to look at that asshole the same.

Shaking off the thought, I awkwardly push forward. I can already feel the depression sweeping through me. This place is making me sad. It's making me miss Hunter even more.

My eyes suddenly latch onto an unexpected sight. The twins. I stop walking the second I see them talking to a group of girls who just graduated with me.

One of the girls, Bianca, is giggling at something Ethan said. His hands are on her waist, which makes my stomach turn. They just got here a few days ago. He's getting all handsy when he doesn't even know her. He's wearing a white tank top that shows off his muscles, so it's no surprise that she's touching his defined biceps.

I shift my attention to mystery man, aka window creep. I still don't know what his name is. His arms are crossed over his chest and a serious expression is on his face. The girl who is attempting to hold his hand is named Gabrielle.

She has her body pressed against his, but he doesn't seem fazed. He doesn't seem interested, either. His brother looks happy to be surrounded by a fresh display of girls, but he looks mad.

Within a split second, his head turns in my direction. That's when our eyes meet. Crap, he just caught me staring at him.

He tilts his head a little, so I quickly look down. Trying to get out of the embarrassing situation, I dart away as fast as possible.

My entire body is shaking with nerves as I try to catch my breath. Maybe it was a bad idea to come here. I'm always tired of hearing my parents nagging about how I just sit in my window all day. They really don't see that my heart has been broken for ten months now.

Just when I think this night couldn't get more uncomfortable, I look to my right. Every emotion in my face falls when I see four familiar people walking in my direction. Chase and Dave are laughing while tossing popcorn at each other. Kyle has his arm tightly locked around Aubrey, who is smiling up at him.

The sight of them cuddled up together makes me sick to my stomach. I can't believe they're this close to me. I haven't seen them since Hunter's funeral - and Kyle didn't even go to it.

"Myers?" Chase suddenly calls the minute he sees me.

Crap, what did I get myself into? Kyle's eyes slightly widen as Aubrey sucks in a breath. Dave wastes no time jogging over to me, along with Chase.

"Uh, hey." I squeak, suddenly feeling stiff.

"Crazy running into you here." Chase looks down at me with those beautiful blue eyes. Those were eyes I used to dream about, but now they make me queasy.

"Yeah." I shortly respond, glaring at Kyle and Aubrey.

"Nice to see you again, Hope." She sends me a weak smile, which I don't return.

"How have you been?" Dave asks with an awkward grin. "We've been meaning to stop by your house but things have been hectic."

"I'm fine." My heart rate increases as I glance back at Aubrey. She looks extremely guilty, but doesn't pull away from Kyle's grip.

"Congratulations, by the way. On graduating." He adds. Dave has always been the sweet one of the group.

"Oh, thank you." I nervously gulp, glancing back at Kyle who is standing feet away from me. He's really not going to say hello?

"You should ride the ferris wheel with us." Chase steps closer to me, causing me to move backwards.

"Oh, I was just leaving." I manage to mutter.

"Come on, one ride won't hurt you." He shoves the idea down my throat.

"I'm okay, thanks." As I go to walk away, Chase aggressively grabs onto my wrist.

"We haven't seen you in awhile. We should catch up." His grip tightens as a lump forms in my throat.

"Let go." I whisper, squirming under his touch.

Before I can yank my arm away, another person rushes up to me. "There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you."

My eyes shoot up to find the mystery twin standing by my side. He's glaring at Chase, who immediately drops his hand from my wrist.

"Are they bothering you?" The stranger clentches his jaw.

"Sorry, we didn't know she was here with anyone." Chase begins to mutter.

"I'm fine, we should go." I turn to look at him. I'm glad he caught on fast.

"Come on." He says while gently taking my hand in his.

My head is spinning as I try to process what the hell is going on. Ethan's brother quickly pulls me through a crowd of people. He lets go of my hand once we're further away.

"Sorry, that probably wasn't the best way to introduce myself to my new neighbor." He stands in front of me, and I can finally take in his full features.

I lightly gasp at his perfect face. His eyes are soft yet dangerous, his jawline was handcrafted by god himself. His brown hair falls lightly onto his forehead in a beautiful flop.

"Thank you, for getting me out of that." I break out of my trance.

"I'm Grayson, by the way." He extends his hand. "You already met my brother."

"I'm Hope." I lightly shake it, feeling my nerves going haywire at our contact. "You guys just got here from New Jersey, right?"

"Yeah, we're staying with our grandma for the summer." Is how he vaguely responds.

"I know." I gulp while pulling my hand away from his.

"Who were those guys?" I didn't expect him to be so confident and talkative. He seemed so creepy and brooding from our window stares.

"They were friends with my brother." I shake my head at the thought.

"Did he stay home to avoid the drama?" He raises an eyebrow.

"No, uh, he passed away last August." I awkwardly clear my throat.

His beautiful features wash away, and a sad look is replaced. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, really." I lie while looking past him. My eyes land on the ice cream stand, which surprisingly has no line.

Grayson turns around to meet my gaze. "You want some?"

"Oh, it's fine-"

"Come on." He says while walking away from me.

I nervously gulp while running to catch up to him. I have no idea what to think in this moment. Grayson is making my thoughts hazy. He's not what I expected him to be.

"What flavor do you want?" He turns his head to look at me.

"You don't have to buy me ice cream." I let out a small sigh.

"What flavor?" He asks again.

"Rocky Road." I give in.

He simply nods his head and orders one cup of Rocky Road and one cup of plain chocolate for himself. I thank him again as he hands me the cup.

"Ethan said there's nothing to do in this town." He takes a large bite of his delicious dessert.

"There isn't." I shrug while digging into mine. The taste immediately reminds me of Hunter.

"Is that why you always sit in your window?" He catches me off guard.

"Something like that." I mutter while looking down at the cup of ice cream in my hand. "Is that why you stand in front of yours and watch me?"

"You caught my interest." He admits with a shrug.

"Because I sit in the window?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Something like that." He repeats my previous words.

"Those girls you were talking to just graduated with me." I randomly blurt out.

"They're very, uh, pushy." He says with a low laugh. It's a sound that vibrates through me.

"They're not very nice." I say in the sweetest way possible. I really want to tell him to run for the hills because they're total snobs.

"My brother loves the attention, I like to stay more lowkey." He explains while eating more from his cup.

"I hate attention." I agree while looking back at him.

"You have a very unique name. I like it." He changes the topic of conversation.

"Oh, thanks." I can't help but blush at his words.

"You're welcome." He grins while continuing to stare at me.

My smile begins to fade the minute I feel water droplets hit my face. I look up, and see the darkest sky possible. The loud sound of thunder fills the atmosphere.

Before I even glance at Grayson, the rain starts to grow heavier. Everyone is rushing out of the carnival in fits of panic.

"Crap, I have to walk home." I curse, mostly to myself.

"Let me drive you." He says over the loud sound of the sudden monsoon around us. He quickly pulls out a set of car keys from his pocket.

"Are you sure?" My body and hair are already soaking wet.

"We live on the same block, don't be ridiculous." We throw out our ice cream and head for the parking lot.

"What about Ethan?" I say while trailing behind him.

"He was going somewhere with Bianca. He kinda ditched me." Grayson rolls his eyes.

My mind drifts off to my own brother. He would never ditch me, ever.

Thunder continues to roar through the sky as we reach the Sedan. Grayson struggles to unlock it, but finally gets it open. I hop into the passenger seat and shiver from the coldness.

"I've never seen so much rain in my life." He says while putting the keys into the ignition.

"Welcome to Washington." I can't help but laugh.

His smile fades once the car doesn't start up. He tries a few times, but nothing is working.

"Fuck this piece of shit." He growls with frustration.

"Maybe we should call a cab." I suggest, but it's no use. The car finally starts, causing Grayson's smile to reappear.

"Let's get out of here." He says and I nod in agreement.

"Thanks again for the ice cream." I smile while looking back at his damp face.

"Not a problem at all." He nods while keeping his eyes on the road.

"I wasn't even going to come tonight." I can't believe I'm actually telling him all of this.

"Well, I'm glad you did." He looks back at me with a warm smile. His dimples are in perfect view.

"Me too." I whisper.

The heavy rain pounding onto the top of the car makes my stomach turn. The squeaking of the windshield wipers suddenly stops, causing me to furrow my eyebrows.

"What the hell!" Grayson yells while squinting his eyes. "I can't see anything."

He's right, there's not a single view of the road ahead of us. The rain is too heavy, and it's coming down at an intense rapid speed.

"Pull over." I suggest.

"I don't even know where I'm going." He says with a rushed tone.

Bright lights begin to appear in my peripheral vision, causing a gasp to escape my mouth. "Grayson-"

The force of another vehicle slamming into the passenger side of our car sends my body forward. The crash is loud, and the car spins in a million different directions.

All I can feel is sharp pains hitting every square inch of my body. I try to catch my breath, to make sense of what just happened, but I can't. I let out one last intake of air before everything goes black.