by Wendy Knight
Levi glanced sideways at her and nodded, his hands twisting on the steering wheel. "You can have anyone. Or anything. Probably even famous people, Harli. You're that talented and that gorgeous." He blew out a sharp breath as he pulled up next to the curb. She always asked him to stop on the road, so her mother wouldn't see him and figure out how to use him to hurt Harli.
"Levi." She turned in her seat so she was facing him. "What are you trying to say?"
He ducked his head, the light from the street lamp turning his black hair into gold. "Harli, what are you doing with me?"
She sucked in a breath, her heart trying to escape from her chest.
"I—I—I'm just a stupid boy with a messed up mother. I'm dirt poor. I'm a year older than everyone else in my grade. I don't have anything to offer you." He peeked up at her. "But since I met you, I feel like there's sun in my life. Like you're my sunshine. And I don't know how to go back to a life in the dark if I lost you."
Harli jerked her head up. She'd been so caught up in her memories, she'd nearly fallen asleep. "Nice, moron. Way to be a stellar driver." Her head throbbed, reminding her that it was trying to kill her, so she pulled over and killed the engine. She dug through her purse, and then her bag, and then the glove compartment. "Oh no. No no no no no," she moaned, dumping everything out on the seat and pawing through it frantically.
They were gone.
Her migraine meds were gone.
She'd been driving for seven hours. She had about an hour left to Phoenix. And her medicine was seven hours away, in the opposite direction. Panic gripped her chest, pulsing in her head. "It's okay. It's okay," she told the empty truck, her hand shaking as she started it back up. "I've survived migraines without medicine before. No big deal." But it was a big deal. Her migraines knocked her on her butt. Before her meds, she'd spent hours and hours throwing up if she even thought about moving her head, hiding in the dark and cool of the basement. To say she was afraid of her migraines would be an understatement.
She stopped at the next town she came to and bought some over-the-counter stuff, praying with everything she had that it would help. Levi's concert started in two hours — she had enough time for a nap if she didn't care what she looked like when she actually went to the concert. Assuming she could even get in. She found a park with shade and pulled over, popped a pill, and laid her seat back. "A nap will help. I'll just take a quick nap and let the medicine work. It will be fine."
An hour and a half later, she pried her eyes open to check her phone. "Holy creak!" she gasped, jerking her seat up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her head did feel a little better, but the concert started in a half hour. She rolled onto the freeway while scrubbing the blood from her forehead. She navigated traffic while she rubbed in foundation and swiped on mascara when she stopped for a traffic light.
Phoenix was huge. She'd been there before, but never on her own. Luckily, the event center was pretty hard to miss, as was the billboard with Levi's face flashing across it announcing Shattered Assassin's concert. But she spent far too long trying to find a place to park. By the time she had, their opening act was already on stage. She changed her clothes in the car, watching anxiously for anyone who might see her half-naked and tangled in a tank top. Grabbing her favorite boots, she yanked them on and ran for the building.
Luckily, there were still scalpers selling tickets outside the door. Harli had been banking on that when she'd realized she was really coming to Phoenix. She picked the one who looked the least frightening. "How much?"
"$120 each. Good seats, close to the floor." The man held the tickets up so she could see it.
"Let me just ask around a little." She gave him a small smile and backed away. She didn't have time to barter, but she knew better than to take his asking price.
"Okay, for you, because you're such a pretty little thing," the man grinned, showing chewing tobacco between his stained teeth. "I'll go $100."
Harli winced. "I don't know. Let me ask around. I'll be back."
He sighed, throwing his free hand in the air. "Okay, fine. Ninety dollars and that is as low as I go. You won't find tickets cheaper than that."
Harli squealed. "Done. Thank you!" She snatched the ticket and shoved her money at him. Before he could change his mind, she raced to the entrance — which was a tad hard to do in six inch heels.
Music already blared through the arena as she made her way down to her seat. The deep bass tugged at her migraine, pulling it out from behind the medicine. She winced and sank into her seat, rubbing her left temple as her vision blurred.
But then Shattered Assassin took the stage, and the stadium erupted in screaming. Harli's eyes found Levi immediately, and she refused to blink because she would lose a second of him. He strode around the stage like he owned the world, so confident. So, so gorgeous. He laughed and talked and introduced himself like he was having a one-on-one conversation with the whole arena. The first several minutes were a blur of pain, adrenaline, and Levi.
Mostly Levi.
And then he sang, and his voice coursed through her blood, igniting her, bringing her back to life. Her hands itched to play along with him, her fingers tapping on her leg along with the drums.
"Hey, you here alone?" A guy slid into the empty seat next to her. She blinked in surprise — she'd been so caught up in the music she'd forgotten she was surrounded by people.
"I—No. Yes. Sorta?" she winced at her own awkwardness. Holy creak I am such a dork.
"Do you mind if I join you? My seat's up front but my friends are totally lame." He pointed a few rows ahead of them, to where his lame friends were turned around, cheering him on.
"No, of course not. Just so we're clear though, I have a—" hmm. What did she have? Levi wasn't technically her boyfriend. But she sure as heck hadn't driven eight hours to hook up with some random guy. "I have a very protective best friend." Yes. Kim was safe. She suddenly remembered to feel guilty about ignoring her calls and texts all day. She dug her phone out of her pocket just as the next song started.
"This song is amazing. When my girlfriend left me, this was the first song I heard." Random Boy had to yell to be heard over the music.
"It is amazing. I'm Harli, by the way." She stuck her hand out, which is what she assumed people did when having a conversation at a rock concert.
He laughed and took her hand. "Johnny." He was cute, underneath the scruff of hair covering his face. Dishwater blond hair and blue eyes.
But when one is in love with a rock star, regular boys didn't really stand a chance. And when one was in love with the boy before he was a rock star, regular boys didn't even exist.
Chapter Thirteen
HARLI WASN'T THE BEST COMPANY. HER head hurt badly enough that moving was problematic, let alone dancing. And talking was pretty much out of the question. After a while, her new friend Johnny gave up trying to make any sort of conversation and just listened to the music.
If she wasn't so desperate, she would have given up and gone back to her car to wait out the storm. But she was desperate. She needed to see Levi, to touch him and kiss him and tell him she was stupid. That being without him was harder than sharing him with the world.
Poor Johnny. I bet he's trying to figure out how to politely go back to his friends. She peeked at him through the tangle of curls hiding her face. Like he'd been waiting for it, he immediately turned to her. "Hey, we're going to the after-party. Wanna come? They said the band usually stops by."
Harli had been wondering how she'd get to Levi. She wasn't sure he even checked his phone until he got back home at night, which meant she couldn't exactly just call him and be like, Hey, I'm here. Let me come over. Johnny to the rescue. Apparently it paid off to make friends with random strangers. She smiled as brightly as she could manage through the almost-blinding pain, and nodded carefully. "I would love that. Thank you!"
The band tried to leave. They walked off stage, waving and yelling goodnight, but the crowd roared their protest so loudly that H
arli could feel the ground under her feet shaking, and she was positive her head would explode. When Shattered Assassin came running back out for their encore, she was simultaneously thrilled and devastated. I'm seriously not sure how much more my head can take. Come on, headache, give me a break.
Somehow, she survived, between sneakily rubbing her temple and the bridge of her nose while no one was watching. The lights came on and people started filing out, most of them drunk and stumbling. "The party's in room 1061 across the street." Johnny offered her his arm and she took it, grateful that he would hopefully not let her go tumbling down the cement steps.
"Hey guys, this is Harli. She's gonna hang with us tonight. That cool?" he asked when his friends reached them just beyond the exit.
"Someone as hot has you will always be welcome," a tall blond guy said.
Harli smiled but she could only see half of him by now. Her left eye had gone almost completely blind, and she was trying really, really hard not to throw up. Just make it to Levi. He'll take care of you. Just make it to Levi.
She held on to Johnny's arm even when they got to the elevator. When they made it to the tenth floor, she let him go and bolted into the hall, following the noise and praying there was an open door with a bathroom. She'd even take a semi-secluded garbage can at that point.
But she lucked out, if throwing up behind the privacy of the bathroom door could be considered luck. The bathroom was big, probably even bigger than her mom's bathroom at home. The hotel was swanky —very high-end. It was a far cry from the beginning, when she'd had to beg hotel managers to let them stay in their hotel rooms for free in exchange for cleaning them afterward.
Harli moaned, leaning her head against the cold bathroom tile. Digging her phone out of her pocket, she slid her shaking hands over the screen to Levi's name.
"I need help"
The door swung open and a small herd of girls flocked in, crowding around the mirror. Harli dropped the phone, whimpering. "Oh my gosh, I didn't even see you there. Do you need some help?" One of them knelt next to her, cold hands on Harli's shoulders.
Harli raised her head, trying to speak, but her one good eye found Levi in the crowded room behind, and she was effectively rendered mute. He had his arm around one very… well-endowed blond girl. A second one had her hand in his back pocket and her lips on his neck. Laughing, he backed out of the room, and both girls followed him. Harli sobbed once, and promptly threw up anything still left in her stomach. The nice girl held her hair back and got her a wet cloth to dab on her face. "Is there anyone I can call for you?"
Harli couldn't answer. Her vision faded and she crashed forward, welcoming the cold relief of blackness as she passed out.
LEVI'S PHONE BEEPED IN his back pocket, but his hands were full trying to hold off the two girls currently climbing all over him. Michael was gonna be pissed that he'd left so quickly, but Levi couldn't keep these damn girls off him when there were so many people shoving into them. Everyone assumed he was a man whore, but he wasn't gonna cave. It wouldn't be worth it in the end, even if it could make him forget Harli for even just a few minutes. Anything to stop the constant ache in his chest because she wasn't with him.
And so far, hadn't even contacted him in two weeks.
After he'd bought her an apartment, for hell's sakes.
His phone fell out of his pocket and bounced on the floor. The second girl — he hadn't gotten their names yet — bent down to retrieve it, purposely giving him a clear view of everything under her shirt and her skirt.
He tried not to roll his eyes. Could she even try to be a little different than the other three hundred girls here tonight?
"Who's Harli?" The girl stood up, wiggling the phone in front of him, her full pink lips pouting. Like he wasn't supposed to text other girls despite the fact that he'd just met these two a few minutes ago.
But he ignored her as he snatched the phone from her hand, opening up the message.
"I need help"
Harli hadn't put a period at the end of her text, which wasn't like her at all. She was almost neurotic about her grammar since she'd worked her tail off for the last six years to keep a 4.0. To go to college. And she used her perfect grammar in her text messages.
So she hadn't finished her text. His mind raced, wondering why, wondering what was wrong, panic nearly strangling him. "I've gotta go." He pushed his way toward the elevator, not taking his eyes from his phone. "We're done. Go back to the party."
"What? We just got out here!" The one wearing too much bright pink cried.
He shook his head, edging his way into the elevator, and hit the button for the right floor. As the doors slid shut, he waved absently as he punched in Harli's number.
She didn't answer. Swearing, he called Jace. "Where is she?" he asked before Jace could even say hello.
"What? Who?"
"Harli. She just sent me a text-she said she needed help—what do I do? She's in trouble, Jace!" His voice shook as he stormed around in circles in the small space.
I need help.
"I'll check your apartment and call you back."
"Thanks." Levi paused, staring at his own terror-stricken image in the mirrors at the end of the hall. His eyebrows clashed, his face was nearly white. His heart seemed determined to strangle him.
The doors slid open to his floor and he leaped out.
I need help.
"She's here, Levi."
He froze, mid-panic. He recognized that voice, but it was a voice he hadn't heard in six years. Slowly turning in a circle, he searched the hallway. There weren't a lot of places a sister could hide — maybe behind the potted plant or under the table — but she wasn't there. He was alone.
But he'd heard her voice, as clearly as he'd heard Jace's.
He'd lost his mind. Once again, Harli had driven him to insanity.
"She needs your help, Levi. Go back to the party."
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. But he hadn't pushed any buttons.
His entire body shook as he took three steps forward, into the possessed elevator, and hit the 10 — where the party was. He was apparently listening to ghost sisters now.
But he didn't know what else to do.
So he stood silently in the elevator, wondering if they'd commit him if he admitted his long-dead sister spoke to him, and willed the doors to open.
When they finally did, the music from the party exploded into the small space. He'd been gone, like, five minutes, but the crowd of people had doubled. He couldn't see beyond the few groups right in front of him, they were crowded so tight together. He heard his name called several times and felt several fingers clawing at his arm, but he shook them off and shoved his way through the crowd. "What's wrong?" Colin asked when Levi pushed him out of the way.
"Harli's here somewhere and she's in trouble!" Levi yelled to be heard over the music.
"Did you say Harli?" A blond guy with bright blue eyes leaned toward him. "I was with her during the concert, but when we got here I lost her."
Holy shit, his ghost sister had been right. Harli was here.
"But she for sure came up here with you?" Colin yelled.
The guy nodded. "She's not someone you forget, you know?"
Yeah, Levi knew. He turned in a circle, but he couldn't see her anywhere. "Where are you, Sunshine?" he murmured under his breath.
"I'll look that way, you look this way." Colin half-shoved him in the direction he was pointing.
The blond guy also searched the crowd. Levi didn't even know his name, but he thought absently that he would like to kiss him. In gratitude, of course. He ran a hand through his hair, noting again that it was possible he'd lost his damn mind.
"Levi!" his new friend yelled from across the room.
Levi spun toward him. Blondie was waving his arms like he was bringing in a plane. Levi shoved through the crowd until he made it to his side. "She's in here," Blondie said, pushing open the bathroom door.
At first, Levi didn't see h
er. There was a dark-haired girl with bright green eyes sitting cross-legged on the tile floor. She looked up at him, hopeful. "You got her text. I wasn't sure you would have your phone."
Levi frowned, coming into the bathroom. Blondie followed him and shut the door behind them. It wasn't until the roar of the crowd was muted that he heard the soft moaning.
"I think she might have alcohol poisoning. I came in and she was almost passed out. She tried to talk and fell over. I didn't want to leave her… these parties aren't the safest place to be a girl and unconscious." She scooted back as Levi crossed the smallish space to kneel next to her.
"Harli? Sunshine, can you hear me?"
Harli whimpered, her fists pressed against her eyes. Her beautiful face was completely gray, and her dark curls were a tangled mess across the tile as her breathing rose and fell too quickly to be normal. "We've gotta get her to a hospital. Can you guys clear me a path to the door?" He didn't wait for their answer as he scooped her up. She moaned again, burying her face against his chest, and then suddenly flinging herself to the side. He nearly dropped her, barely succeeding in helping her land on her feet before she stumbled to the toilet, dry-heaving. "Shit," Levi murmured, pulling her hair back and rubbing her back.
"Should we call 911?" Blondie asked.
"I'll just take her to the hospital." He looked over his shoulder at the girl. "Can you call the concierge and tell them I need a car immediately?"
She nodded and escaped to find the room phone. Harli's body finally gave up fighting, and she collapsed against the floor, her head smacking the toilet with a sickening thud. Levi scooped her into his arms again, panic levels rising when he felt how fast her heart was racing. Her entire little body was trembling against him as he followed his new blond friend through the crowd and out the door. He could hear the murmuring and the questions, but he ignored them, focused only on her pale, gray face.
Blondie stayed with him all the way to the lobby, and then helped Levi tuck her in the car. "Thank you. So much," Levi said as he backed away from the passenger side. "Send me a message on the Forums. I'll make it up to you." He jerked the driver's door open, "and if you could find that other girl, tell her the same thing." Blondie nodded, slowly raising his hand as Levi threw the car into drive and shot out of the parking lot. In the rearview mirror, he could see the dark-haired girl coming out the lobby doors.
