Echoes of the Heart, Casey, L.A. [reader novel .txt] 📗

the projector was turned off and the lights to the room were turned up. Mr Jones stood up from his seat on the small, makeshift stage that was put together every year for graduation. He shook hands with the principal, who was on the stage with him, then Mr Jones moved to the microphone stand.

“Thank you for your hard work on the film, Sarah. I’ll cherish it forever.” Mr Jones smiled. “And thank you to the students and my colleagues for your lovely words. I’ll be honest, I’m trying my very best not cry right now but it’s very difficult because, from the bottom of my heart, I have loved my time at this school. I remember all of my students, past and present, and I appreciate every single one of you.”

Everyone clapped again when he wiped under his eyes; I was right there with him wiping my own tears away. The man was an absolute gentleman and I wished nothing but the best for him. He deserved everything that was good in the world. He deserved to go on a six-month-long cruise with his wife; he had always talked about that when I was in school.

“Now that I’ve got the tears and the thank yous out of the way, I get to the very exciting part of my day. I’ve had permission from the top gun of this school to dish out this warning.” Mr Jones rubbed his hands together, grinning. “If I see a single student rush towards this stage, or get up out of their seat, it’s an instant suspension. That goes for any parents too, if you run up on this stage, your child will take the fall for you and will live in a bubble of shame for the rest of the term.”

Everyone laughed apart from me because I knew what was coming. There was no way Mr Jones would put out a warning, even jokingly, if anyone other than who I thought it was was going to be coming on stage.

“Please, join me in welcoming past students and global superstars, Risk Keller, May Acton and Hayes Hurley. They’ve taken a break out of their busy schedule to come home to Southwold and attend this ceremony for my last year at Sir John Leman High School. They’ve brought along Angel Reyes too!” Mr Jones beamed. “Our very own Southwold boys are home! Give it up for Blood Oath!”

The noise. Christ. The volume was deafening, but when the side door to the hall opened, I had to put my hands over my ears because the sheer volume actually hurt. I didn’t get to see a thing because everyone jumped to their feet while I remained seated. I seemed to be the only person who wasn’t overjoyed to see Blood Oath, but they didn’t have history with the lead singer and guitarist like I did. I remained seated, and for a solid two minutes, all that took place was screaming, cheering and clapping.

My bum was glued to my seat the entire time.

When the crowd finally retook their seats, I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience and that was because I saw him for the first time since I made him walk away from me nine years ago. The sight of him took my breath away and as an asthmatic, that was dangerous. I took deep breaths, but never took my eyes off him. Risk had changed, and he hadn’t at the same time. His hair was still the same white-blond it always had been, but the style was different. He was rocking that typical Viking look. His hair was shaved on the sides and braided on the top of his head right back down his neck.

He was still gloriously tall but he wasn’t skinny anymore. He had put on weight, but from what I could see, it only seemed to be muscle. His shoulders had always been broad, but now they were muscular and looked very strong, so did his biceps . . . he had actual biceps. Even his bloody thighs looked bigger. I swallowed as I continued my visual assessment of him. It wasn’t hard to see why women, and a lot of men, lusted after him. Not only did he have a voice that sounded like a wet dream, he looked like one too.

He was more gorgeous than ever, he looked so healthy. I had heard he had gone to rehab after an incident of some kind with drugs and it obviously had done him the world of good. He truly looked incredible.

Risk, May and Hayes gave Mr Jones a big hug while Angel, the only non-original member of the band, shook his hand and smiled at something Mr Jones had said. I looked to May and Hayes and noted there were changes in their appearances too. May’s transformation was incredible, even down to his blood-red hair. He was no longer overweight; his body looked just as fit as Risk’s did. Hayes wasn’t as muscular as the other two, but lord, he was a handsome man. A handsome man who had married his girlfriend of two years in a shotgun wedding last year so Anna had told me.

The three guys I once knew so well might as well have been strangers to me. The realisation of this smacked into me with the full force of a train. Yes, I had incredible difficulty getting over Risk, I was still struggling with it but seeing them made it clear to me just how stuck in the past I was. It’d been nine years since we were in each other’s lives. Nine. They were famous rock stars now while I still worked in the same old diner and still lived in the same one-bedroom cottage near the pier. My best memories were in the past with Risk and the others, while they made new ones every day . . . this made something inside me shatter.

I couldn’t do this. I thought I could, but I couldn’t.

I stood up and quietly made my way across the row so