He left without a goodbye.
I hate him.
I shouldn’t have taken the beating for him. It wasn’t worth it.
I. Hate. Him.
I fall to the ground in a crumpled ball.
I hate him.
But that’s a lie too. I can’t hate him. Not yet. Soon though, I promise to hate him, to make it true. Because everything between us was a lie.
5
Langston
Fifteen Years Old
* * *
I’ve spent the last few years pretending that I didn’t know who Liesel Dunn was. That when her mother took a job as a maid in my friend Enzo’s house recently and they moved into his guest house, that I didn’t know her. I pretend that at one point she wasn’t the most important person in my life.
I pretend she was just a girl, just like all the rest.
A girl I would try to kiss, maybe even one day fuck before moving on to the next girl, and then the next and the next.
I pretend that Liesel means nothing to me. I pretend I don’t ask Enzo about his new roommate because I care but just because I have a fascination with all girls. I’m a horny bastard, after all. That’s all it is.
Zeke truly hates her. He thinks she’s a snob. He doesn’t know that she’s broken. That she only has money because I give money to Enzo, who gives money to her.
Enzo, on the other hand, likes Liesel. But what do I care?
He can have the lying whore if he wants.
I don’t hate her—I just don’t care anymore.
Liesel has spent the last several years either ignoring me or hating me. She also pretends I was never a part of her life. Yet, she still hangs out with the three of us constantly.
So annoying.
“I’m going to need you tonight,” Enzo says as he slams his locker shut.
I pull my algebra textbook out of my locker. “Just tell me the time and place.”
Enzo nods.
I’ve been working for Enzo for the last year. I always knew I would. It was my destiny, as it was Zeke’s. The three of us will conquer the world together. Threatening, stealing, killing to keep the empire that Enzo will one day inherit from his father.
We are the bad guys now.
“Do you need me?” Zeke asks.
Enzo turns to him.
“I could really use an outlet.” Zeke pounds his fist into his other hand.
“Who are you guys taking down?” Liesel asks, wrapping her arms around Enzo’s neck.