Exposed empire high book.., p.1
Exposed (Empire High Book 7), page 1
Exposed
Empire High Book 7
By Ivy Smoak
Copyright 2023 Ivy Smoak
All Rights Reserved
Want a behind-the-scenes look at my journey as an author? The ups, the downs, the movie deals…I’ll share it all!
And as a special thank you for joining, you’ll get an exclusive copy of my short story, Matthew Caldwell - The Untouchable.
CLICK HERE to join the party!
To time and not wasting it.
CONTENTS
Title
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Matthew Caldwell - The Untouchable
A Note From Ivy
Chapter 1
Saturday
Matt
She’s alive. I pushed into the restroom and put my hands on the sink.
She’s alive.
She’s alive.
I felt the wetness on my cheeks.
Brooklyn’s alive and she’s married to someone else?
It felt like someone was strangling me.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
This was a dream. A nightmare. I can’t breathe.
I closed my eyes tight. I’d wake up soon. I’d realize it wasn’t real. Just like I did most mornings when I reached out and felt the empty sheets.
She’s alive.
I shook my head.
It couldn’t be real. Brooklyn had died 16 years ago. I’d gone to her funeral. I sat on her grave and talked to the dead. I’d lost the love of my life. And I’d been drowning ever since.
This isn’t real.
The girl I loved wouldn’t have married someone else. She wouldn’t have. She wouldn’t have done that to me. She wouldn’t have disappeared for 16 years to torture me. She wouldn’t break her promises.
Breath in. Breathe out.
But I’d just touched her. I’d smelled her. I still smelled her on my skin. And for just a second, I’d felt whole again. I didn’t feel alone. I felt loved. I felt needed. I felt like myself.
I opened my eyes and stared at my reflection in the mirror. And I saw myself standing there 16 years ago. The same haunted expression on my face. Right after losing her. I’d stared at my reflection wishing I’d gotten one more chance to do everything differently. To be better for her. To be enough. Just one more chance.
What the fuck am I doing? She’s alive!
I ran back out of the bathroom. “Brooklyn!” I shouted in the hall. But I didn’t see her. I ran to the auditorium. “Brooklyn!” I yelled as I threw the door open.
She didn’t respond.
“Brooklyn?” I hit the lights and looked around. But the auditorium was empty.
I put my hand to my forehead. It felt like I’d lost my mind. Like I really had imagined the whole thing.
But she’d been here. I swear she’d been right here. I ran back out into the hallway, shouting her name. I pushed open the front doors of Empire High and stared down the empty steps. She wasn’t in the parking lot. I turned toward the stadium. The homecoming floats were heading back out, blocking my view. But I didn’t see her.
I’d regretted my last words to her my whole life.
I’d gotten the second chance I’d dreamed of.
And I’d fucked it all up again. “I have no idea who the fuck you are. But you’re definitely not the girl I knew.”
What the hell had I just done?
I took a deep breath and sat down on the front steps of Empire High.
I hadn’t let myself think of the possibility that Brooklyn was alive in years. But when I used to let my mind wander…I’d always pictured her still being mine. Never once had I pictured her having a life with someone else.
She’d promised me forever.
I put my face in my hands. Yes, I’d thought about proposing to Kennedy. And I was in a fake engagement with Poppy. But none of that was the same. Because there was never any question over whether or not I was alive or dead.
Brooklyn disappeared. And married someone else.
She’d purposely let me drown.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
She’d ruined my life.
And I hated my last words to her. I hated the words I just said to her. But it was the truth. Who the fuck was that person? Because that wasn’t my girl. That wasn’t Brooklyn.
I can’t breathe.
Chapter 2
Saturday
Brooklyn
I’m not the girl he knew? Fuck you.
Of course I wasn’t the same girl. My father had ruined my life. I’d been in hiding for years. I’d grown up. Of course I’d changed.
And it was ironic, because Matthew Caldwell was exactly the same as I remembered him. He was hot headed. Immature. And a total asshole.
I stood up off the auditorium floor and tried to compose myself. I cringed as I pulled my pants back up my hips.
God, what was wrong with me?
The other thing that hadn’t changed about Matt was his whoreish ways. Apparently he’d slept with half of New York City now instead of just half of Empire High. Tanner said it was Matt’s way of grieving. But that didn’t seem like grieving to me. It seemed a lot more like he was perfectly fine.
And for the longest time, him being fine meant he was a traitor. A liar. But now? I didn’t even fucking care.
What I cared about was that I’d basically just had sex with half of New York too. I needed to be checked for a million STDs now.
One touch from him and I was already compromising who I was. I’d always had a hard time keeping my head around him. All Matt ever did was take and take and take. And I wasn’t giving him anything else. If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that I didn’t belong in this world. In this school. In this cursed auditorium.
I hated that my tears wouldn’t stop falling.
All I’d needed was a few minutes to explain to him what had happened to me. How could he just walk away from me after all these years? Like I truly did mean nothing to him? I took a deep breath.
I didn’t love Matt anymore. I didn’t. So why couldn’t I stop crying? Why did it feel like my heart was breaking?
I put my hand on my chest. I knew why it was breaking. Because 15 years ago when I showed up to the lake house, I couldn’t promise my firsts to Miller. So I promised to let him be my last everything. And I’d just broken that promise.
I was the traitor. The liar.
My tears streamed down my cheeks faster as I thought about Miller’s note. “I need you to know that I’m okay if you choose him now. Because I never want you to stop smiling.”
“I can’t, Miller,” I said out loud. “I can’t promise you I’ll keep living. It hurts too much. Why would you make me promise that of all things?” That one thing felt impossible. I couldn’t live without him.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to curl in a ball and cry. I wanted to rewind time. I needed a do-over.
No, I just needed to get out of here. I pushed out the doors of the auditorium and hurried back outside.
The homecoming parade was still going on. Shit. How was I going to tell Kennedy what I just did? I was the worst friend in the history of friendship. Seriously…what was wrong with me? It was like I’d stepped into Empire High and turned into a dumb, naïve teenager all over again.
I walked in the opposite direction of the stadium. I just needed a minute alone. I stopped when I reached the front steps of Empire High.
Jacob and Tanner were standing there. Like they knew exactly where I’d been. And by the smile on Tanner’s face, it looked like he knew exactly what I’d been doing. He wanted Matt and me to get back together. He wouldn’t be smiling so brightly if he knew what Matt had said to me before walking away. Matt didn’t want anything to do with me. And I didn’t want anything to do with him either.
I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping that no one could actually tell what I’d just done.
“Mommy, Mommy,” Jacob said and hurried over to me. “The game is about to…” his voice trailed off. “Why are you crying? Remember, Daddy doesn’t like when you cry.”
The present tense. God, my heart couldn’t take any more pain today. I crouched down in front of Jacob. “Sorry, sweet boy.” I wiped my tears away. “How about we get out of here?”
“But the game.”
“Jacob…”
“Nooooo,” he said in that adorable drawn out way.
I couldn’t go back into that stadium. I couldn’t sit there and watch Matt and Kennedy on the field. My
“How about I watch the little man,” Tanner said. “Give you a bit of time to yourself, if you’d like. To think things over.” He kept smiling at me.
I didn’t need to think anything over. I’d made a mistake. And now I needed to unwind this mess. I’d figure out a way to apologize to Kennedy. And then I’d stay far, far away from Matt forever. A little time alone sounded like a good idea though. Because I definitely couldn’t watch the rest of the game.
“Are you sure that’s okay?” I asked.
“Certainly. We can make a day of it. I’ll bring him back after dinner. What say you, Young Jacob?”
“Yessie,” Jacob said.
“You want to stay here, Jacob?” I asked.
“Sí. I’ll stay with Abuelo.” He grabbed Tanner’s hand to make his point.
Okay then. I gave him a hug and then stood up. “Thanks, Tanner.”
“No need to thank me. I just want you both to be happy.”
It seemed like when he said you both he meant Matt and me. Not Jacob and me. I was definitely not thanking him for setting up that blast from the past homecoming show. I was thanking him for watching Jacob so I could take a few hours to try to make my heart stop hurting.
Tanner pulled out his car keys and tossed them at me. “How about you take the car.”
“Oh…um…” I stared at his futuristic car in the parking lot. “I’m not sure I know how to drive that.”
“It’s just like any other motorcar.”
Motorcar? Is that what that fancy vehicle is called?
“Everything is going to be okay now,” Tanner said and put his hand on my shoulder. “You trust me, don’t you?”
I nodded. I did trust him. He was a really sweet guy. But I didn’t trust his crazy matchmaking skills at all. He was seriously bad at this. Being reminded of homecoming from 16 years ago wasn’t going to make me go running back to Matt. I bit my lip. But…hadn’t it? I’d literally ended up in Matt’s arms, probably before the end of that song. Wait, was Tanner actually really good at this?
“Great,” he said. “Go do what you need to. And we’ll have a little chat tonight. After the little one retires to his bedchambers for the evening. Ciao.”
Ciao? He and Jacob walked away. I turned back to the car. I hoped Tanner wouldn’t mind if I got a little dirt on his leather upholstery.
***
There was a planter in my new backyard. Nothing like the huge ones Miller handmade for me. But it was still a planter. And I had no idea why there was a tree in it. Planters were for gardens.
I heaved the small tree to the new stone pot I’d picked up at the hardware store. I would have felt bad for moving things around, but I had every intention of purchasing this home as soon as Tanner told me the listing price. And this planter needed tomatoes. It needed little Henrys.
I wiped a bead of sweat off my forehead as I kneeled in front of the dirt. Nothing soothed my soul as much as this. I’d spent hours every week in my garden back home.
Home.
The word felt like a knife in my chest.
I tried to focus on the neat little rows I was planting. I’d bought tomato plants that were already healthy rather than seeds. It wasn’t the right season for tomatoes. But I really needed them here. I covered the last one’s roots with soil.
“Hey, Henry.” I pulled off my gloves. “I know it’s small back here. But it’ll have to do, okay?” I sat cross-legged in the grass and stared at my new tomato plant. And I knew full well that I was distracting myself by talking to my Henrys instead of talking to Miller.
My bottom lip started to tremble.
God, when would the tears stop? When would the pain stop?
But I knew that wasn’t how it worked. Losing my mom devastated me. Losing my uncle too. But this? There was a hole in my heart. A Miller-sized hole. And I had a feeling it would never heal properly.
I’d spent the past few hours rearranging the backyard to plant Henrys. And they’d just die in a few days because the nights were growing chilly. I didn’t want to watch them die too.
“You need a heater,” I said. “Don’t you, Henry?” Did they make space heaters for plants? Probably. But it wasn’t too cold out tonight. It could wait until later. I just needed to figure it out before the first frost came. And I still had more to do to transform the small space right now.
I grabbed the string of lights out of my bag. Now I just needed to figure out how to hang these up. This would definitely make the backyard feel like the lake house. I looked up at the sky, my eyes landing on the North Star.
And the tears started all over again.
“Hey,” I said.
I knew I looked crazy back here. Talking to my plants and talking to the sky. But I didn’t really care.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here, Miller,” I said. I blinked and the star grew blurry. “We had our whole future planned. And I feel so…stuck in the past here.”
The star just shone back in silence.
“It was great getting to see Kennedy and Mrs. Alcaraz again. And James. And Rob. And Mason. But I messed up today. And I hurt Kennedy in the process. I don’t even recognize myself here.”
Silence.
Since when was the city so quiet? “Despite what Tanner thinks, I don’t believe that running to Matt is the answer. I think that Kennedy’s happy with him. And I want her to be happy. That’s all I ever wanted. Was for everyone to be happy.” I looked down at my lap. That was part of the reason I’d stayed away. I thought everyone was happy.
“My dad played tricks on me. Everyone was smiling in those pictures. But you saw it, Miller. You told me that you thought Matt looked sad. His eyes looked pained. And for a while, I saw it too. Until suddenly I didn’t.”
I wiped my tears away. “I don’t regret anything. Because it all led me to you.” I looked back up at the sky. “And Matt’s not the answer. Because I can’t tell him that I’m sorry. I can’t tell him that I regret my choices back then. Because I don’t. Because they gave me you. They gave me Jacob. I can’t apologize for any of it. So he’ll never forgive me.”
I swear the star shined a little brighter.
“He won’t. And I don’t want him to. I want Kennedy and him to be happy. Besides…” My voice trailed off. “He always wanted lots of kids. I told you once that Matt and I talked about that. Back at the beach house, I think. I told you a lot of things about Matt at the beach house.” I’d filled up the silence back then, trying to remind myself to be loyal. I’d wasted so much time on Matt. So much time I could have been with Miller.
But I couldn’t regret that either. Because I’d found my way to Miller anyway. And we’d made our own family.
I put my hand on my stomach. And I tried not to think about all the wasted pregnancy tests. “Kennedy and him will be happy together. They’ll fill a house with children.” I wouldn’t be able to give him that. I’d been trying to get pregnant again for years to no avail.
“Jacob and I are going to just surround ourselves with Henrys.” I smiled to myself. “And I’m going to figure out how to hang these lights. And I’ll watch football with him on Sundays. And dance with him every night while we cook dinner. And I’ll keep living by keeping the memory of you alive.”
I stood up. “Does that work? Does that fulfill the promise to keep living? It won’t be like when I went to California. Back when I decided that happiness was a bonus to your heart beating. I’ll be happy with Jacob. Just him. Please just tell me that’s okay.”
I waited for the wind to blow. For the leaves on the tree to rustle. For any sign that Miller agreed with my decision. But the night was eerily still.
Chapter 3
Saturday
Matt
“Matt,” Kennedy said again.
I was aware of Kennedy’s presence beside me. I was aware of Nigel yelling weird things to the team. I was aware that there were only a few seconds left on the clock. But it was like I was numb to all of it.
She’s alive.
She’s alive.
She’s alive.
It was good the team didn’t need me. Because I was standing on the sidelines doing nothing. It didn’t even feel like I was here. I was back in that auditorium with Brooklyn. I’d forgotten how good she’d felt in my arms. And I’d forgotten how much it hurt to lose her. Because it felt like I’d just lost her all over again.
_preview.jpg)
