Read Online Alone by Marissa Farrar - Free Book Online Page A

pier
so much?” he asked.
    She feigned shock. “What do you mean?
Isn’t it obvious?”
    He shrugged.
    “ Okay, okay,” she continued.
“How can you not be happy here? Everything about the place is aimed
at making people happy.”
    This was what she told him. The truth was,
she found escapism in the bright lights, the tourists, fake
frivolity. The structure of the pier spoke to her with the way it
jutted out from the land, suspended over the water. She felt the
same, not quite joined to the rest of the real world, never
actually heading anywhere.
    “ And you were happy here
once?” he asked her.
    “ Yes, I was.”
    They walked toward the end of the
pier, to where a tall wire enclosure had been erected, fencing them
off from the reinforcements. They stood together in front of the
wire, peering through at the huge machinery—flat-bed trucks,
borers, cement mixers—all brought in for the job.
    “ This is as far as we can go,”
she said. In her heart Serenity knew she wasn’t just talking about
the barrier. Whatever was happening between them, it couldn’t go
anywhere. If she tried to leave Jackson, he would kill her. She
knew people existed; organizations who thought they would be able
to protect her, but they were wrong. They didn’t know Jackson, how
he fooled people. He seemed harmless. No one would ever believe
what he did to her and his charm would be the key to finding her
again. He would smooth talk some unsuspecting person and they would
point her right out to him. It was the ‘lost little boy’ act he
pulled off so well; everyone assumed he was harmless.
    She sighed and Sebastian reached out to
take her hand. The contact almost stopped her heart. Serenity
stared at his hand on hers, his pale skin against her own and
wished she could find a way to join him to her forever.
    “ Everything will be all
right,” he said quietly. “All you have to do is make the decision
to change what you don’t like about your life.”
    She shook her head and a little well of
indignant anger bubbled up inside her. Easy for him to say such
things, he wasn’t living her life. She forced herself to pull her
hand free of his.
    “ You have no idea what
you’re talking about,” she said. “You don’t understand what it’s
like to be in my position.”
    “ You’re right, I don’t. But I’ve
had some hard times myself, and I know you can’t always rely on
someone else to change your life. You need to find the strength
inside yourself to do what you think is right.”

“ Don’t we find our strength from
the people we love?” she asked, looking up at him, her eyes
imploring. “If we’re alone, what is the point in having strength
for ourselves? If our lives are devoid of love, what’s the point in
continuing on?”
    He reached out and tucked a stray lock
of her hair behind her ear. His hand stayed on her face, fingers
lightly touching just below her cheekbone.
    “ We keep going because of
the possibility,” he told her gently. “Even when things are at
their worst, there is always the chance things will
change.”
    Mustering the last of her courage,
Serenity reached up and put her hand on top of his, pressing his
palm against her cheek. She closed her eyes, committing to memory
how it felt to be touched with nothing but tenderness. He wrapped
his other arm around her waist and pulled her close, their bodies
pressed together. Serenity let her head fall against the solid wall
of Sebastian’s chest and together they watched the lights of Santa
Monica pier while she tried hard not to cry.
    “ Let me take you home,” he
said.
    She nodded her answer against him.
Though she didn’t want to go back, the worry that Jackson might be
calling the house haunted her. Together, they walked back up the
pier. A number of cabs waited at the end and Sebastian walked up to
the first one, opening the back door for her.
    “ I don’t have money for a
cab,” she said, feeling foolish.
    “ Don’t be silly.