Broken Silence (Silence, #2)(6)

“Oh how hard can it be? Just call the internet people, there must be someone in charge of the internet!”

I laughed. Mum turned and glared. Leona giggled along too even though she had no idea what she was laughing at. Mum had no fucking clue when it came to anything technical.

“It’s the router, Jenna, not the entire internet!” Dad said, shaking his head and walking off to his study where the router was.

Holding Leona over the sofa, she started laughing and squealing immediately, knowing what I was about to do.

“Ready?” I said slowly, making her squeal louder. I dropped her on the cushions, and she screamed like she was being murdered. Kids were so easy to amuse; all you had to do was chuck them around a bit.

Leona had been with Chris-the-dick all morning, so she was on a sugar high. All she had to do was smile at him, and he gave her whatever she wanted – usually sweets. At least Chris-the-dick stuck around. He surprised everyone there. As much as I hated to admit it, he was a good dad. I still wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire though.

Grabbing my mail from the side table, I escaped to my room. Having Leona around was great, but at the end of the day I was exhausted. She had too much energy. I flopped down on the bed and ripped the first envelope open.

Please have something decent in here. The estate agent had sent me a few new houses. I had seen about six already, but they were shit holes. Refurbishment I could handle, but I didn’t want to do anything structural.

Two out of the five were okay, and I would make an appointment to view, the rest I threw in the bin. House hunting was something I was meant to do with Oakley. When we were together, I thought about stuff like that. We were eventually supposed to move in together. I hated that I would now be living alone.

Oakley was on my mind more than usual lately. The trials were starting soon. I hoped those scum would rot in prison for the rest of their lives. At first, I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to hear the details. I had given a full statement of what happened the day she called me and it was going to be read out in court.

Now, though, I wanted to be there. I needed to watch them go down, and I wanted to see her again. It would only be on a screen, but it was still better than old photos. I would get to hear her voice. I only got two weeks of hearing her speak again and that just wasn’t enough.

“Hey,” Chelsea said, letting herself into my room. Damn, it was quarter to eight already. Moping around in your own self-pity really passed the time!

I smiled and sat up. “Hey. You look nice.”

She wore an extremely low cut, extremely tight black dress. It looked painted it on. I wasn’t used to seeing quite that much of her, but I wasn’t exactly complaining. Oakley would never wear anything like that. It wasn’t her style, and she certainly didn’t need to do anything to get herself noticed.

Chelsea laughed and slapped my shoulder playfully, running her hand down my arm. “Thanks. You look the same as earlier!”

“Yeah, I should get changed.” I got up and grabbed a pair of jeans and black shirt. Usually I would change in my room but Chelsea sat on the bed, clearly going nowhere. She’s a great girl but was becoming more forward, and I didn’t want to lead her on.

I walked back in my room after changing in the bathroom to get Chelsea and go downstairs to safety. Kerry and Ben would be here soon. She was lounging on my bed as if it was hers. Make yourself at home. “We should wait downstairs; they’ll be here in a minute,” I said, nodding towards the door.

“Sure.” She swung her legs off the bed and pushed herself up.

Sighing, I followed her downstairs. Thankfully, my parents were out to dinner, and Mia was probably trying to get Leona to sleep.

“They’re here,” Chelsea said, peering out of the window. Good. Kerry was sitting in the back of the car. It was as if she knew I wanted to escape any awkward scene with Chelsea because she rarely let me have the front seat.

“Ready to get smashed?” Kerry said the second I was in the car.

“Beyond ready,” I replied. I wanted to get so off my face I couldn’t even remember Oakley’s name.

We walked into the club, and I headed straight for the bar with Ben. After ordering a beer, Coke, glass of wine and a disgusting blue WKD, Ben and I carried the drinks to the table the girls had managed to get. It was still quite early, so the club wasn’t very full yet, still there weren’t any free tables now.

Chelsea shot me another flirtatious look and sipped her WKD. She knew that I didn’t want more than friendship from her; I had made that clear. Did she think I would change my mind if she showed off more skin?

The few dates I had been on since Oakley had ended in fuck all. I felt as if I were cheating, which pissed me off so much because she was the one that left me behind. Oakley left me, and I felt like I couldn’t see anyone else.

Everyone told me to move on – everyone but Kerry, anyway. She wanted me to wait for Oakley. ‘When the time is right you’ll be reunited and live happily ever after’, she told me multiple times. I knew that was crap, but I couldn’t help hoping.

Three beers, two JDs and Coke, and five shots later, I was wasted. The women were more attractive, and I wasn’t a pathetic mess waiting for someone that had fucked off and was staying fucked off.

“Cole,” Chelsea slurred, gripping my arm to hold herself up. “Come dance with me?”