Sweet Harmony (30 page)

"No." She edged her chair away, her breathing heavy. "You're in jail."

"You earned this," Nathan said, his eyes dark. "You came between two best friends. It's a crime against humanity, you repulsive witch."

"I didn't mean to." Her heart was thundering. "I don't want them to split up. I'm trying to keep that from happening. Please."

"You're selfish," Nathan said. "You stayed at the academy and now they don't talk anymore."

"I'll go," she begged. "Just please put the match down."

"It's already too late." Nathan struck the match and the flame glowed. "You deserve to burn."

"No!" she screamed.

The guy tossed the match onto her body. She was consumed by a wild inferno. She could smell sulfur and was overwhelmed by the glowing orange hands of flame.

She awoke with a start, sweat running down her neck

"No," she screamed. "I'm too young to die."

Somebody hovered above her. She thrashed wildly, wanting to escape.

"Annamarie!" The person touched her shoulder. "Sweetie, it's me. It's your dad."

She blinked
away the tears. Dad? It took her a moment for her eyes to adjust.

"O-oh
." Her bottom lip quivered. It really was her dad.

"It was just a nightmare." He smoothed back the sweaty hair from h
er face. "You're in the hospital. You're fine."

Even though she wasn't burning alive
, her heart still thundered in her chest. What an awful nightmare. Her dad hugged her, something he so rarely did before it surprised her.

"I've never seen you like this," her dad
whispered in her hair. "What did that Nathan boy do to you?"

It wasn't just
Nathan. It was everything. She couldn't withstand the guilt of being the person causing a fight between two people she cared about. She wasn't like her mom who could tease men.

"Dad, I want to go home
right now," she said.

Take me away before it's too late for Daniel and Jaiden.

Her dad pulled away from her.

"You want to go home?
I'd planned on taking you back, but now that I see you've become so popular, I'd changed my mind." Her dad sighed. "What about your boyfriend? And that other friend of yours, Jaiden? He seems quite taken with you too."

"I
still want to go." She grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Let's disappear. They remind me too much of what happened."

It was a lie. Daniel reminded her of nothing but safety.

"Don't you want to at least say goodbye to them?" her dad asked.

"
I don't even want to tell them I'm going," she said.

She didn't know what she looked like at that moment, but even her stoic, strong-willed dad looked like his heart was breaking.

"If that's what you really want," her dad whispered.

"It is." She nodded.

"I'll book a flight for us in a few days. I don't want to move you before I talk to the doctor," he said. "I'll get a private physician back home. I'll find a good psychiatrist too. Whatever it takes."

"Okay." She nodded, her breathing heavy as her
heart cracked. "Thank you, Dad."

Her dad grunted and hugged her so hard her ribs ached.
It was so unlike him—but then again, she wasn't being much like herself either.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Two days later, Annamarie stared out the window, mulling over her thoughts. Tomorrow was the day she went home. She couldn't believe that she wouldn't be in New York City anymore. The city had grown on her—as had a couple of guys. She groaned.

"That's a pretty disappointed
groan for somebody whose doctor says is making a great recovery," Daniel said from behind her, making her jump.

She whirled around and saw the guy standing
in the threshold.

"
You're a half an hour early," she said.

"I rushed out of school," Daniel said. "After all, it isn't every day that you ask to see me.
Normally, I have to force myself on you."

She forced a smile on her face. "It's just that there are always all these people around when we meet. I thought it would be better if the two of us were on our own for a little while."

This would be the perfect opportunity for her to see him one last time. She'd even sent her dad away.

"You really must have suffered brain damage," Daniel said. "What's up with you? You don
't normally say stuff like that."

"What?" She cocked her head. "Don't like it?"

"No, I like it." Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a nice change from being nagged."

She suddenly had the urge to throw a
punch. After all, she wouldn't have the opportunity to hassle him after today.

"Watch your words," she warned him. "My face is damaged, but my fist
s aren't."

"Your wrists are," he said.
"You can't punch me."

Good point.
Her wrist wounds were still in a lot of agony. Stupid injuries. Why did both her head and wrists suffer? Thinking and punching pretty much made up her whole life.

"I could still throw a pillow at you," she muttered.

"We had such a good start and now you're being all cranky again," he said.

"I'm not cranky," she said.

"You're always cranky." He grinned. "You have permanent PMS."

Last day
together or not, he was dead. She didn't care about her head or her wrists. She marched over to Daniel and punched him in the arm. Her wrist wound burned worse than she expected.

"Ouch," she said.

"Don't do that." He grabbed her arm and examined the white bandage wrapped around her wrist. "Geez. Look what you've done."

Blood
oozed through the white cloth.

"
Why did you have to make a comment like that?" she asked. "If Dr. Weiss asks why I'm bleeding, I'm telling her it was your fault."

"You'd better not." He scowled at her.

"Or what? You'll whine at me?" She pulled her arm away.

"I could do a lot worse than that," he said.

"What, will you throw a punch?" She glowered at him. "Fight me. I dare you."

"Unbelievable." He rolled his eyes. "You're face looks like an eggplant and you're still asking me to
fight you."

"It's because y
ou're such a jerk." She poked him in the chest.

"I know." He grinned. "But I'm a jerk who knows your weakness."

What weakness? He wasn't going to poke her in the cheek, was he? That would really hurt.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She had to fight the urge to punch him again, even with her hurt wrist.

"This weakness."

Daniel pressed his lips against her own while cupping her face. It surprised her so much that she
froze. His mouth lacked its usual hard passion, but her face was so injured it would have hurt if he'd kissed her with the usual intensity. When he pulled back, she was stammering and blushing.

"See?" Daniel grinned triumphantly. "Every time I kiss you, you go red and lose your ability to talk. It's your weakness."

"Shut up," she muttered, unable to look him in the eye. "I thought I looked like an eggplant. Why would you kiss an eggplant?"

"Didn't I tell you?" He elbowed her playfully. "Eggplant is one of my favorite foods."

"You…you…" Her nostrils flared and she kicked him in the knee.

"Ouch!" He hopped around, clutched his
leg. "You're so much trouble."

"Hmph." She sat down
on the bed and glared at him.

As she watched him hop around the room, the irritation faded. She pressed her hand to her mouth and thought,
At least I had one last kiss.
Finally, Daniel stopped hopping.

"I can't believe you kicked me," he said.

"I can't believe you said I look like an eggplant." She said the words, but her heart wasn't in it.

Daniel groaned and sat next to her on the bed.

"I'm going to have a bruise tomorrow," he said.

"Yep."

"We'll match because we're both bruised," he said. "It's like wearing identical t-shirts only better."

Even she had to
laugh.

"Wow," she said. "A couple with bruises. Real romantic."

"Ah-hah!" Daniel pointed at her triumphantly. "You didn't deny it."

"What?" she asked.

"That we're a couple," he said smugly.

She watched him, wondering what he'd say when he came to her room tomorrow afternoon and
found out she'd disappeared. Probably he'd flip a table over or something. Even though she had to leave him, she didn't want him to think she'd done it because she couldn't stand him. She knew they fought a lot, but still…

"Daniel, I'm going to say something that will surprise you," she said slowly. "If you tease me about it, I'll t
oss you out the window."

"What is it?" Daniel stopped smirking.

Gosh, why was talking about her feelings so hard? It wasn't like she was spilling some world changing secret.
Get on with it!
she thought, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Imightlikeyou," she said so quickly
the words blurred together.

"Huh?" Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Is this a game or something?"

"I…I…" Her fists balled. "I like you, okay?"

Daniel's mouth fell open. Immediately, she regretted saying anything.
She was such a dope.

"I was j
ust kidding." She let out a nervous laugh.

"Don't do that." Daniel wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Don't pass something like th
is off as a joke."

She
buried her face in her hands because she was certain she was as red as a ripe tomato.

"This is embarrassing," she muttered.

"Why?" Daniel squeezed her tighter. "I don't think so."

"It just is." She shrugged.

At least the fact he wasn't smirking took the edge off her discomfort.

"Well, t
hank you for telling me," Daniel said. "It was nice hearing the words. I mean, I already knew, but—"

She jabbed him in the ribcage with her elbow.

"Ouch!" Daniel yelped.

"Daniel, one of these days…" One of these days she'd what? She was leaving tomorrow.

The thought immediately sapped all of her energy. She couldn't even threaten Daniel.

"You'll what?" Daniel
asked.

She didn't say anything. 

The glimmer disappeared from Daniel's eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Daniel asked. "
You were fine for a second there, but now you're in your own world again. Are you thinking about Nathan or something?"

"My head hurts.
That's my problem." Unfortunately, her heart ached a lot worse.

His jaw clenched.

"Come on," he said, laying down on the bed and trying to pull her down with him.

"What are you doing?" She
squirmed, trying to escape his grip.

"Trying to get you to rest, you idiot," he said. "What d
o you think I'm doing? I'm not a creeper. I'm not going to do anything weird."

She felt bad for struggling. The two of them had laid side by side in bed many times and Daniel
had always behaved like a perfect gentleman—well, besides the heckling and everything. With a sigh, she lay down and placed her head on his chest. Once again, she heard his heart thundering. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. She couldn't believe this was the last time she'd get to hear it.

As she sighed, Daniel laid a kiss on her forehead and gently stroked her back.

"Don't worry," he said. "Your headache will go away soon."

"Yeah…"

Unfortunately, she had a feeling her heartache wouldn't.

****

As Annamarie sat on the bed, tracing the spot where Daniel had laid, the door to the room opened. Her dad walked in with a fat black bag. It was her suitcase, she realized, recognizing the karate sticker she'd stuck to the front of it.

"I packed up all
the things in your dorm room and talked to Mrs. Carmichael," her dad said, laying the suitcase by her bed. "We should be all set to leave tomorrow morning."

"What time
are we leaving?" she asked.

"Our flight
takes off at eight-thirty, so we'll have to be in a taxi by at least four," her dad said. "You know how New York City is. Just getting to the airport takes a while."

She blew out a sigh and her dad's face fell.

"Annamarie, are you sure you want to do this?" her dad asked. "You're acting awfully depressed for a person who is supposed to want to go home. I know as a father I should be hauling you out of here after what happened, but this is the first time I've ever seen you have friends and a boyfriend. I know I never said this to you, but when we were traveling, I always thought you looked so…so…lonely. I figured that's why you were always making trouble."

The words seared her heart. She'd always thought her dad was too involved in his own music to
notice.

"I have to go
back to London," she said. "I don't have another choice."

"
I know this isn't about your nightmares." Her dad stared at her, studying her face.

Darn it. Her dad was so smart.
She guessed one didn't become an esteemed concert pianist by being an idiot.

"Just trust me when I say it's better that I leave," she said.

"I do trust you." He chewed his bottom lip despite the words, then brightened. "I have something to tell you that will cheer you up."

"What
's that?" she asked.

"You'll have somebody to pick on when we get
back to London," her dad said. "I took your brother out of boarding school. He's waiting for us at home. I talked to him over the phone and he said he's worried sick about you."

"Does he know about Mom?" she whispered.

"He's a smart kid," her dad said. "I think he figured it out before you did. He just didn't call to scream at me like a certain someone."

"I get my temper from you, Dad." She rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the
jab. "How did he take coming home to London?"

"Yuri
is flexible." Her dad shrugged. "Like your mom, he makes friends everywhere. I never have to worry about him."

Her dad gave her a silent look that suggested she was the one he
worried about.

"Dad, I—"

The door opened and Jaiden walked in. In horror, she glanced at the suitcase on the floor. She hadn't wanted anybody to see that she was leaving, especially Jaiden. He might feel guilty enough to tell Daniel she was going home.

"Annamar
ie, what's with the suitcase?" Jaiden asked.

I guess I have some talking to do.

"Hey, Dad, can I have some privacy with Jaiden for a moment?" she asked.

"Yeah." Her dad squeezed her shoulder. "Stay tough, Annamarie."

"Don't I always?" she asked.

Her dad nodded and left the room, leaving her and Jaiden in a sea of awkwardness. She was having trouble finding the right words to say. It would help if her head didn't feel like it was filled with an army of
stinging bees.

Jaiden was the first to speak.

"Are you going somewhere?" Jaiden asked.

"I'm
heading home to London," she said.

"What?" The color drained out of Jaiden's face. He turned to
ward the door again. "Your dad is making you go, isn't he? I'll talk to him. Maybe he'll see reason."

"Jaiden, wait." She hopped off the bed.

The guy froze and turned around.

"This isn't my dad's choice
. It's mine," she said. "He was going to let me stay at the academy."

For a moment Jaiden didn't speak. His normally bright green eyes were dark in his frustration.