Dreamers (The Dreamers Series) by Brooklin Skye Page B

giving me yet another reminder of the fact that I’m entirely alone. I honestly believed you were different somehow. I was so wrong about you. You’re no different than any of the others. Everyone I’ve ever known looks through me like I don’t exist. Why couldn’t you just be different? I wanted it to be you. I needed it to be you.”
    He jumps to his feet angrily, his hair whips across his face as his movements are quick and cold. He snatches my shoe from the floor, shattering it through the mirror with a single throw. He falls to the floor and begins rocking himself, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face.
    I don’t know what to do, he’s destroyed. The emotional spiral in which he has been trapped for so long seems to have finally come to a head. My heart burns as I watch him. I have to comfort him somehow.
    “Nick, I didn’t mean to lie to you. She asked me on a date after you and I last spoke. I had no way of letting you know what was going on. I’m sorry if I made you feel invisible, that wasn’t my intention at all. After our conversation I honestly had the impression that you wanted Heather and I together, so I’m truly baffled by your anger. I do want to help you, and I will. Nothing has changed.”
    Everything screams for me to cradle him, pull him from his sorrow, yet I know I can’t; he would only push me away again. His wall is still too strong—stronger than I could ever wish to penetrate. He hates me, no matter how deeply I want to pull him into me—I simply can’t reach him.
    “I thought that’s what I wanted you to do. I’ve changed my mind. You showed me that there is another way.” He wipes his eyes.
    The wind is sucked from my lungs as I realize he’s crying. This is a side of Dominick I never expected to see. Enmity certainly wasn’t that shocking—that’s Dominick, so angry, vengeful, arrogant—never sad. He refuses to make eye contact, discreetly absorbing the tears with his white t-shirt sleeve.
    “Dominick, please look at me.”
    Sad, red-rimmed eyes crawl slowly from the floor to my face, as vulnerability oozes from his pores. I want to hold him, pull every dreary ounce of despair from his aching heart.
    “We’re going to get you home, even if it kills me too. I won’t leave you to deal with this all alone.”
    The tense cloud begins to thin and our breathing becomes easier again as his body relaxes. As quickly as it came on, the sadness melts away. Whatever I said seemed to be exactly what he needed to hear.
    “You’ll never leave me?” A faint smile plays on his lips. “I knew you’d learn to like me.”
    “Ugh, you’re so full of yourself—and yes, I kinda like you, but just a little.” I wink. “You’re stuck with me now.”
    Our meeting ends with hope in the air and Dominick smiling—and wow, what a beautiful smile that is.
    ***
    “Sydney, what happened to the mirror?” Heather gasps.
    The sun is shining through the window. It’s going to be a bright day, not the most pleasant thought after an evening of drinking.
    “What time is it?”
    “It’s seven. I just came in to kiss you goodbye before work. That’s when I saw all this.”
    “I’m really sorry about that. I got up to puke in the middle of the night and stumbled over, knocking it off the wall. I’ll clean it up. I’m not going to school today; I don’t feel well.”
    I hate lying to her. Unfortunately, it’s unavoidable for the time being. I soothe my own conscience by reminding myself that I will have plenty of time to make it up to her later, when she fully understands the situation.
    “Why don’t you just rest? I’ll sweep this up real quick.”
    I can’t let her clean his mess. That’s wrong on so many levels.
    “No, I’m doing it. Lounging around all day will do nothing but make me feel worse. I need to work the hang over away.” I force a smile.
    “Okay, I guess I’ll go then. There’s coffee and Tylenol on your night stand.” She leans in for a kiss on