Annabella's Oblivion (Hard World Tour #1) by V. F. Mason Page A

East.” She still suffered his loss though, it was evident for anyone who looked at her. I felt the lump in my throat; it was hard for me to speak.
    “ I’m so sorry for your loss.” Those words were whispered, and before she could say anything, I stood up, not caring that I hadn’t finished my breakfast. “I have to go. I’m not feeling so well right now.” Running away was a form of escape. I had to face the ugly truth that I wasn’t the only one in this world who’d suffered a loss, but people learned to move on.
    As much as I wanted to get better to play music and not rely on drugs, I didn’t want to admit something was wrong.
    To accept this meant there was something to move on from.
    I couldn’t live with the fact that my brother was dead, gone from me forever.
    I was afraid I’d lose my sanity if I did.

 
    “ Nicky, are you sure?” I nipped on my lower lip and looked around worriedly. I knew he believed in me and everything I did, but I just wasn’t sure.
    “ Baby girl, you have an amazing voice. Trust me. You need to have a guitar to play some of the notes.”
    “ But I don’t know how to play it.” We didn’t have any money to afford it, either, and I didn’t want him to spend his hard-earned money on such an expensive present for me, not when he needed something for the dates he’d started going out on and his other stuff.
    My birthday was almost a week ago and the incident with our parents, if they could be called that. Nicky had tended to my injuries; they weren’t that deep, thank God, just bruises that really hurt. He had wanted to surprise me with the present that was supposed to be a surprise, but due to the circumstances, he had decided to postpone our trip until I felt better, and that day was today. I still felt unsure about the whole experience. He heard me sing a while ago, and although I liked doing it in the privacy of my own room, I didn’t feel like I should put it out there. Nicky would have none of it and wanted me to practice with a real guitar because that’s what most musicians did, and it was hard to convince him to do it differently.
    “ Megan knows how to play. She went to music school and shit. She agreed to help you out.” I looked at him skeptically and raised my brows.
    “ Just like that? For free?” I snapped my fingers at the gesture, not that I had anything against Megan personally. She was a good kid, actually a nerd, with very wealthy parents. She wore glasses, had a bit of extra weight, and everyone made fun of her. I never understood the cruelty of kids, but probably it was a given. I was on the receiving end of it as well and felt bad for other people who experienced it.
    “ Yes.” He smiled about something without sharing, and that had me stopping in the middle of the mall. He acted weird, almost as though he liked the girl.
    “ Nicky, what did you promise her?”
    “ A date.”
    “ She agreed to help me out if you go on a date with her?” I couldn’t say I blamed her, as my brother was considered pretty hot—gross, every time I tried to look at him in that way I wanted to puke—and he had almost the whole school going after him.
    I just didn’t feel it was right to use that girl, because I doubted he was really interested in her.
    “ Everyone makes fun of her. A date with me will put her a bit higher on the high school totem pole. It’s a win-win situation for us. Don’t worry, baby girl, I’m not using her or anything.” Well, okay, if it was okay by her, then it was fine by me. Suddenly, I grew excited at the prospect of buying my very own guitar. I smiled, making Nicky chuckle.
    “ Knew that information would put you in a good mood. Here we are, let’s go.” We entered the music shop, and a salesman, who looked like he played rock every day, smiled at us and offered to help.
    Later that night, I ran my fingers through my very own, new, classic brown guitar and excitingly waited for my lessons with Megan to start.
    I had the best