Plane Ticket To You

Chapter 28

LUCIA

After a week of tiptoeing around my brother and doing nothing but consume Oreos and watch Gilmore Girls, I was officially ready to tackle everything I had yet to tackle.

However, I knew the things that I couldn't do just yet.

For example, striking up inspiration to start a new writing piece or attempting to win Elias back.

However, after my conversation with my mother, I was finally ready to somehow find a way to put an end to Aaron's hold on me, his way of blackmailing me.

Even though he hadn't attempted to contact me in weeks, I still wasn't naïve enough to assume that he had backed down.

If only I could figure out a way to eradicate his power over me.

For now, I scrolled through my email inbox, cleaning out my mail and getting rid of subscriptions I didn't need anymore. The daunting reminders from various colleges about college applications filled me with dread, even though I now had at least a better idea of what I wanted to do as a career.

I still felt lost.

After twenty minutes of mindless scrolling, a particular email from a few months back caught my eye.

I hovered my cursor over the familiar email, pent-up anxiety and regret filling my chest.

It was the email Aaron had sent, to warn me about the video and essentially, what he had used to blackmail me.

I opened the email, swallowing. 

The video was attached, along with the message that Aaron had written.

You're being unreasonable, Lucia. Come back to me. Here's a little video from that party. Remember it? Remember how drunk you got? Wouldn't want that to circulate online, now would we?

Think on it.

-Aaron

Wait.

My pulse sped as I looked at the sender of the email. katiezimmer001

Katie? She had been a friend of mine. Well, up until I had called things off with Aaron, and she had deemed me too much of a social outcast to continue being friends with me.

I had been in such a panic when I had opened this email originally that I hadn't even noticed that it hadn't even been from Aaron.

Obviously, I knew that Aaron had been the one to put Katie up to it. It just hadn't been him who had the video in the first place and sent it to me.

An idea formed in my mind. What if... what if there was a way to get rid of the video?

I was high off my idea, giddy as I was filled with anticipation and possibility. If I could get rid of the incriminating video of me extremely drunk at the party, Aaron's hold on me would be reduced to nothing because he wouldn't have any fodder to ruin my reputation at school and for potential colleges.

But in order for my plan to work, I would have to get through to Orion first.

---

I drove all the way to Nadine's house, nervous butterflies swarming my gut. If one person knew how to get to my brother right now, it was most definitely his fiancé.

Nadine opened the door, and immediately, her face broke out into a tentative smile at seeing me. "Um, hi, Lucia!"

"Hey, Nadine. Can we talk?"

She widened the door further. "Of course. Come in."

I came inside, toeing off my shoes and eyeing her house. It was chic, with wide windows and minimal furniture.