Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 621(@200wpm)___ 497(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
* * *
I woke to the sound of people out in the corridor of my dorm. I blinked in the room, clearing the sleep from my eyes. I felt cold. When I looked to my right, I expected to see Bonnie. But she wasn’t there. “Bonnie?” I called. There was nothing.
I sat up. Her clothes were gone. A sinking feeling dropped within me. I threw the duvet back and picked my jeans and jumper off the floor. The jumper smelled of her.
Where the hell has she gone?
My shoes were on in seconds and I was out the door. The cool breeze whipped at my face as I took the path that led me to the other dorms. I had no idea what time it was, but it must have been late morning or early afternoon. Students milled about, some eating in the quad, some just chilling out.
When I arrived at Bonnie’s dorm, a student was just coming out. I caught the door and walked down the corridor until I arrived at her room. As I went to knock on the door, I noticed it was slightly ajar. I pushed it open to reveal her room.
Boxes were all over the floor. Everything had been packed away. Her bed was stripped, and the walls were bare. I stepped into the room and saw Bonnie sitting on the chair at her desk, her eyes lost as she stared at the box beside her. She was dressed in leggings and a long jumper, all black, and her hair was thrown back in a bun. She was holding a notepad in her hand.
She looked up, and her face drained of color. She didn’t say anything as she met my eyes.
My eyebrows were drawn down in confusion. “I’m moving out,” she said, clearly reading my mind. I was a statue, glued to the spot. Bonnie tried to smile, but then her lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. “I wasn’t meant to fall for you,” she said quietly. Brokenly. She laughed, but it held no humor. “We didn’t see eye to eye. And it was meant to stay that way.” She tucked some of her loose hair behind her ear. My heart thundered in my chest, beating a million miles an hour.
“But then I heard you play in the music room that night. Saw how it seemed to hurt you, impact you.” She shook her head. “And it did something to me…something I couldn’t seem to move on from.”
A tear fell down her cheek. I watched it travel down her skin until it hit a box at her feet. “I tried to tell you, Cromwell. I tried to tell you we couldn’t be together. It isn’t fair. Nothing about this is fair.”
“You’re not making sense,” I said, a sense of dread eating at every part of me.
She stared at me for a few strained seconds. “I have a broken heart.”
My confusion didn’t lift. Then anger quickly took me. She liked someone else? She’d kissed me. She slept with me, and all the time she’d liked someone else. “You…Bryce?” I asked, my words curt and tone harsh.
Bonnie shook her head sadly. She stepped forward until she was in front of me. She took my hand and brought it to her chest, right over where her heart was. “Cromwell, my heart is literally broken.” Her wet lashes left marks on the top of her cheeks as she closed her eyes. “I have heart failure, Cromwell.” She smiled sadly. Devastatingly. “My heart is dying.”
It was as if a strong wind blew into the room. I couldn’t breathe. My chest pulled tight, so tight that I felt it ripping at my muscles.
“My heart is dying…”
“No,” I said, my voice sounding hoarse and graveled. “No…” I gripped Bonnie’s hand and pulled her to me.
“I’ve tried everything, Cromwell. I’ve had surgeries. Valve replacements.” She sighed, breathing out a slow, controlled breath. I wondered if it was to stop herself from falling apart. “I even saw the best doctor in the world for it, to see if there was anything they could do. In London, this summer.” The reason why she’d been in the UK suddenly became clear.
“Bonnie…”
“But there’s not. My heart is too weak to keep going.” She sniffed and wiped at her cheeks with her free hand. “I didn’t plan for you.” Her trembling hand fell on my cheek. Her hand was cold. “I knew I could never get close to someone. It wouldn’t be fair. To either of us.” She smiled at me, a devastated, watery smile. “But your music made me see you, Cromwell. It called me to you. The boy who hears color.”
Her head fell to my chest. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve had the strength to walk away. But with you…I just couldn’t.”
Bonnie’s legs seemed to falter. I caught her and helped her back to her seat. “You okay?” I asked, then felt stupid. Of course she wasn’t.