CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel)
Read CRASH (A Logan Brothers Novel) Online
Authors: L. A. Shorter
L. A. Shorter
©2013 L. A. Shorter
Exposure Sample - First 6 Chapters!
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, places, events, and incidents that occur are entirely a result of the author's imagination and any resemblance to real people, events, and places is entirely coincidental.
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Elle
I hadn't seen my dorm room this
bare since the day I'd moved in.
Who knew that after only a year
and a half I'd be moving out again. I'd certainly expected to last
the full term. But then again, you can't always control the way your
life goes.
Brad Scott had seen to that.
The name made me shiver with
rage and fear at the same time. The guy had been my boyfriend from
day one. Literally, day one.
I'd met him at a freshman party
the first day I'd arrived. He was sweet, and I was scared. Leaving my
comfortable life behind in California wasn't as easy as I'd thought
it would be. All my friends from high school were excited to be going
on this new journey, but not me. I was happy where I was. I hadn't
wanted anything to change.
That first day at college was
the loneliest of my life.
I was surrounded by people, but
never felt so alone. I knew no one, the world was suddenly so big.
I'd been ripped from my little pond and thrown into an ocean. It
looked to me as if I was the only one who felt that way. Everyone was
smiling, everyone with bright eyes, full of promise.
Not mine. You only had to look
at them to tell I was a bucket of nerves.
Watching my mom and dad driving
off outside of the window of my room was hard to bear. I felt like a
child being sent to school for the first time. It hadn't helped that
my mom had cried her eyes out herself. That wasn't what I'd needed.
As I sat there after they left
there was a knock at the door and a guy stood there, a stack of
flyers in his arms. He had handed me one and mumbled something about
a party that night for our halls. It seemed like a good opportunity
to meet some people and settle my nerves. A few drinks were always
good for that.
It was that night that I met
Brad.
He had a look on his face like
mine. Nerves. Shyness. Loneliness.
I was drawn to him. He looked
like a kindred spirit. No one else seemed to have that look on their
face. It was the same look I'd seen in the mirror, a reflection of my
own.
We ended up seeing a lot of each
other. Turned out we were on the same course, so had more in common
than we thought. He was sweet and funny, in his own way. At least,
that's how I looked at him at first.
We were together for the first
year. By the second we were beginning to grow apart.
At least, I was beginning to
grow apart from him.
It took me a while - I knew it
would - but I began to make friends, get involved. Outside of regular
study I did dance. I wasn't the best in the world, but it was a
passion of mine from high school.
It took up a lot of my time,
made me a lot of friends. But Brad, he just latched onto me. He
didn't have much going on, besides work, and didn't have much of a
circle of friends. He wanted to spend every spare moment with me.
It was suffocating.
I
went home for the summer after first year and was happy for the time
away from him. He'd call me everyday, text me constantly. It was like
the more I got involved in other things, the more friends I made, the
more needy he got.
I knew over that summer that I
would break up with him the next year. I couldn't cope with him any
more.
I guess he knew as well. That's
why he asked me to marry him.
He tried to trap me, set up this
amazing proposal so that it was almost impossible for me to say no.
It was hard, but I did. It broke his heart.
I thought it would end there.
But no, that was just the start. He grew depressed, became intense.
He'd call me late at night after drinking heavily, he'd come to my
dorm and cry outside.
He began making my time at
college a living nightmare. I started missing lectures just to avoid
him. I asked to be moved to another dorm so he didn't know where I
was.
I knew he'd find me, though, I
knew he'd just follow me home one day and find out where I had moved
to. It became impossible, untenable. I had no choice.
I had to leave.
Elle
“
Are you really gonna let this
weirdo push you away? What about your life here?”
It was my friend, Sarah, from
dance. She wasn't happy that I was leaving.
“
I don't have a choice. He's
literally obsessed. I don't know what to do any more.”
“
Get a fucking restraining
order. It should be him leaving, not you.”
I knew she was right. I'd worked
hard to fashion a good life here and now I was being uprooted because
of my creepy ex. It wasn't exactly fair.
“
Wheels are in motion I'm
afraid. Can you not see all the packed boxes everywhere?!”
“
Screw that. Unpack them. It's
not too late. Look, gimme his number. I'll tell him to leave you
alone, or else!”
I laughed. “Or else what?”
“
Honey,
I know people, OK. I'll make sure that guy
never
bothers you again.” I didn't quite know whether she was serious or
not. Although I did know she grew up in a rougher part of New York,
so there was probably some truth to it.
“
Sarah, that's sweet, but I
don't want that. Sure, he's a bit of a freak, but I don't want him
beaten up.”
“
Or worse,” she cut in, her
jaw clenched.
“
Yeah, or that. Look, I'm not
going too far. You can come visit me. I would say I'd come back and
visit here but, well, you know...”
She was shaking her head, a
mixture of anger and disappointment on her face.
I had got that from a few people
when I'd told them I was leaving. They couldn't quite believe that I
was being forced out by a guy. It was like something you read about
in the paper. It wasn't something that actually happened to you, or
your friend.
“
Well fuck him, I'm gonna make
his life a living hell when you're gone.”
“
No,
don't do that.” I'd had enough of people trying to fight this
battle for me. Frankly, it was getting on my nerves. “Just leave
it, OK. It's not the end of the world, people move colleges all the
time.”
“
Yeah well, I can't promise
anything. I'm not sure the guys are gonna let it slide if they see
him.”
That's exactly why I hadn't
wanted to tell everyone. I knew my guy friends wouldn't take it as
easy as I was. Frankly, I didn't know why I was taking it so easy
myself. The last thing I wanted to do was uproot and change colleges.
It had taken an age to assimilate myself here. Now I'd have to go
through all of that again.
But then, I was changed now.
This whole situation, it had given me a more assertive edge, had
hardened me a bit.
“
Look, can we just drop this.
It's happening. Nothing's gonna change that now. I'm moving, accept
it.”
Shit, that came out a bit more
aggressive than I wanted.
“
Look, sorry hun,” I
continued, my tone apologetic, “I know it's only because you care.
But seriously, I've just had enough of talking about all of this. Can
you just do what you came over here to do?”
Sarah nodded begrudgingly and
grabbed a box.
“
Fine, let's get these into
the car. Wouldn't want you hanging around here any longer than
necessary with that freak around. He's probably got a sniper rifle
trained on the building right now.”
“
Babe, don't even joke about
that. Seriously.”
She smirked as she walked out of
the room, box in hand.
Sniper rifle. Machine gun.
Pistol. I wouldn't put it past him.
....
Sarah helped me pack my things
into my cute little Mazda2 before treating me to a final cup of
coffee to send me off on the road. I'd said my goodbye's to people
already, but Sarah had been my closest friend there for the last year
or so, so it was a little harder with her.
I shed a tear as we said
goodbye, although her eyes stayed dry. She was just like that -
tough, unemotional. I knew she'd miss me, but just didn't show it on
her face.
By early afternoon I was off on
the road, my compact little car filled to the brim with boxes and
bags. I could hardly see out of the back window it was stacked so
high. It wasn't like I had loads of stuff, it was just that the car
was so damn small.
My mind drifted from one place
to the next as I cast myself off into the unknown world beyond. I was
never one for change. I hated it, in fact. So this - a change that
was forced upon me just when I was getting settled - was a real kick
in the teeth.
But then, at the same time, I
felt a huge surge of relief as I zipped down the highway, every mile
taking me further and further from Brad. He'd become so damn creepy
over the last few months that I genuinely felt afraid for my safety.
To be escaping him, getting away
from his weird stare and mournful eyes, was liberating. I knew that
having to find my place in a new college would be nothing compared to
what I'd been dealing with over the last few months.
What had started as a normal
reaction to a break up - you know, drunken texts and calls, pleading
to get back together - had evolved into something so much weirder and
more sinister. I could have handled that if, like a normal person,
he'd have gradually moved on and got over it.
But
no. Not Brad. He became more obsessed, more insular and isolated. I'd
accounted for pretty much his entire social life, and his world had
come crashing down when I left. A normal person might react by
finding a new social group, getting involved in other things. But no,
not Brad. I continued to be his everything, his entire life outside
of his work. Only now, now he was on the outside, looking in.
It was so fucking creepy that I
had no option but to move.
“
Get a restraining order.”
It wasn't only Sarah who said that. Frankly, I didn't think that
would make a difference. I changed my phone number, I was changing
college. I even thought about changing my name.