She scoffed, her warm, minty breath hitting my face. “Yeah, I know. I’m only popular because we’re friends.”
“That’s not the only reason. All the guys want to take you to the sweethearts dance.”
“Well, none of them have asked me.”
Yeah, I knew that because I had told them not to. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her. Maybe I shouldn’t. What if she says no? What if she finds out I sabotaged every opportunity she had to go with basically every single seventh grader? Even Ollie wanted to ask her. Over my dead body.
“I was think—" Just then, the closet door opened, and April’s face appeared.
“Your seven minutes in heaven are all up. And…”—she looked between the pair of us—“you two don’t look like you spent any time in heaven at all. Did you even kiss her, Christian?”
Hayley shifted nervously, looking down at her bent knees. She didn’t even want to come to this birthday party. Neither did I, but my mom mad
e me, therefore I made Hayley.
“Yeah, we did,” I answered, standing up and holding my hand out for Hayley. “And guess what, April? Hayley is a much better kisser than you.”
Hayley gave me a thankful smile, and I felt like I was on top of the world again. Something about having her by my side made me feel whole.
But that was then, and this was now.
Things had changed.
Hayley stormed past me, her little body quaking with anger.
I was still feeling the effects of smashing Cole’s face in. My adrenaline was pumping, and my blood was rushing fast. My heart sputtered inside the walls of my rib cage, and seeing Hayley was making things that much worse.
What the fuck was she doing talking to Cole? What the fuck was she even doing here? The second I saw her, my blood ran cold. The seventh grader inside of me was jealous for a moment, and then I remembered everything that came after seventh grade, and I wanted to kill them both.
After finding a light switch, I slammed the door shut behind me with my foot, drowning out my brother’s annoying voice and Hayley’s friend’s shrill demand for us to leave the party. Cole was moaning on the floor, and it took everything inside of me not to go back out there and fully knock him out again.
I danced my gaze around the room and realized Hayley and I were in a random bedroom. It looked suited for a princess as it had a huge canopy-type bed in the middle and frilly lampshades on the tables.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Christian?”
I glared at Hayley in her ripped-up black jeans, pacing back and forth. This was the first time she’d spoken to me since coming to English Prep.
“You could have killed him! And by the way,”—she faced me now, only a yard away, putting her hands on her waist—“I had it handled. You swooped in like some stupid hero and snatched him away right before I was going to take him down.”
I laughed. It wasn’t a humorous laugh. It was condescending and laced with anger. My chest was rising and falling fast, sweat still glistening on my forehead. “You think I was swooping in there to save you?” I laughed again as her eyes narrowed. “I couldn’t give a fuck what happened to you. Cole laid his hands on one of English Prep’s girls without her permission, and he needed to be taught a lesson. He’s fucking lucky I didn’t kill him.”
Hayley didn’t say anything. The room grew tense. I could tell she was clenching her teeth together, and I was doing the same.
“I want you gone,” I said, still glaring.
She shook her head, her dark locks a curtain in front of her face. The bruises from the first day of school had healed, her skin looking flawless and angelic. But she wasn’t an angel, that was for certain.
“Why?” Hayley’s blue eyes connected with mine, and the anger was gone. She looked vulnerable, her pouty mouth frowning, her cheeks looking hollow. “Why, Christian?” she asked again. The sound of her voice felt like thorns pricking right through my skin.
I strode over to her, angry that she was having an effect on me. She didn’t move a muscle. She stayed right in her spot, not giving a damn that I was an inch away. She wouldn’t move unless I ran her over with my body. That was how stubborn she was. Always had been. I peered down into her face, and she angled her chin to mine. “Because I don’t want to see your fucking face every five seconds.” Because I don’t want a reminder of the past—the good and the bad.
She shook her head lightly, never taking her eyes off mine. I dropped my gaze to her mouth when she spoke. “That's not a good enough answer. Something changed in you. Something happened in the last five years. Something that made you hate me, and I want to know what it is.”
My mouth went dry. My throat felt like it was beginning to close. The words were bubbling up and threatening to come out.
She pushed her body closer, her rising chest touching me now. My breathing sped up. I wanted to wrap my hands around her arms and pull her into my body, but in the same breath, I wanted to scream and push her away. But instead of doing either of those things, I peered down into her eyes lethally. “Seeing you makes me think of the past, and I don’t need that fucking reminder,” I growled.
Her face blanched. “But why? Are you angry that I didn’t say goodbye? That I didn’t keep in touch?” She scoffed, clearly growing angry. “Well, I’m freaking sorry, but I was a little preoccupied with watching my dad get murdered and having psychotic men in masks promise that they’d be back to collect me for a settlement when I grew some tits. Oh, and let’s not forget about my mother going off the fucking deep end, which landed me in foster care!” Hayley was yelling by the end of her rant, but I kept my voice nice and steady. Cold.