Voices

c h a p t e r 1 5 : f e a r

When Basil said 'friends', I thought he meant one or two of them, not a whole group. I'm not sure if I can handle it if there are so many people.

"Basil!" a girl calls out.

"Fran! Hi!" he replies, waving his arm.

I wonder who these people are and how they know Basil. I suppose they're people he knows from his internship.

"Fran. It's been so long," he says when we reach the group, hugging one of the girls.

Her platinum blond hair is in a pixie cut and it's too dark to see her eyes, with large, black rimmed glasses framing her eyes. She's around about my height, a small sling bag slung across her right shoulder.

"Louisa?"

My ears perk up at the sound of my name being called and I turn to look in that direction.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" I blurt out, freezing.

My eyes meet his and it's almost as if the whole world has melted away and there's only me and him. My heart starts racing and I feel so nervous around him but I can't stop staring into his eyes. It's hypnotising. A sense of belonging washes over me and it's almost as if I've found a home. Shaking off what must be a false feeling, I force myself to break the eye contact, averting my gaze to the rocky ground.

There's something about Sam that makes me feel like everything will be alright. But I can't. He seems so happy, so contented with life. I can't take that away from him. He deserves a good life, one without me in it. I'll just drag him down with me when I eventually explode.

I've already made the mistake of befriending Basil. I can't make that same mistake with Sam.

As much as I don't want to admit it, Basil and I will always be connected. Through Troy. Hopefully, one day, my mum comes to her senses and divorces him but until then, he's my step brother.

But Sam is not connected to me in any way, and, as much as I wish otherwise, I think it's best for both of us if we keep it that way.

"I'm here with my family," he mutters, nodding towards the others in the group.

"Speaking of," a woman — presumably his mother — starts," I'll leave your sister here. Your dad and I will bring Sandy around the fair. Please look after her."

"Okay, Mum," he replies just as his parents leave, holding the hands of a small kid.

Sandy, I assume.

The other girl moves to stand beside Sam, her eyes alight with excitement.

"This is Stacey, by the way," Sam tells me. "My younger sister. Stace, this is Lou."

"Hi," she says cheerily.

I smile at her. "Hi."

"You two know each other?" the girl — Fran — asks, gesturing between Sam and I.

He nods. "We've met."

"Cool," she replies. Turning to me, she extends a hand and says," Hi. I'm Francesca, Basil's childhood friend."

I shake her hand, forcing a smile. "Hi. Louisa."

"It's so nice to finally meet you. Basil has been talking a lot about you."

I laugh. "We've only known each other for about three weeks."

"That's never stop a romance from blossoming," she says, winking.

I chuckle nervously, turning to look at Basil. "He's my step brother though."

"Key word being 'step'. You two aren't blood related."