Accepting my fate for what it is.
The only person who has even come close to rumpling the feathers of an otherwise perfect plan is Rory. Before she’d come back not once but twice, most days had blurred together.
The color she brought to my world hit me with bold transparency. The force like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.
It a something that only happens once in a lifetime.
She’s the only person who has ever made me question even possibly wanting more. That’s what she does to me, the influence she holds, and she doesn’t even see it.
The tilt Boone gives me is casual, like he can somehow read what’s going on inside my head and I despise it. Almost as much as I despise still being here.
Normally I would just leave, but something tells me he expects that, so I don’t. Keeping people on their toes has always been more fun.
“Got something else to add?”
The corner of his mouth lifts in a grin and I detest it. It screams insight and arrogance. “Yeah, actually, I do.”
I blink past my annoyance. Guy knows how to take his sweet ass time.Get on with it!
“Get out of my office and tell Finn to come in. I’ve got something I want to talk to him about too.”
As soon as I’m out, both hellhounds are on me like mosquitoes on a hot day.
“What’d he want?”
“Is it about districts?”
“You’re up, Finn,” I say, disregarding their questions. Slinging my duffel over my shoulder instead.
My time here at KPA may be almost done, but the commitment expected of me elsewhere will never be far behind.
Darkness, nothing without light.
forty-two
Rory
“Ican’tbetheonly one that thinks that’s weird, right?”
Our group at lunch falls quiet—or correction, it’s been quiet since Hailey hasn’t allowed anyone else to get a word in.
Droning on the entire lunch about some guy she’d met outside of school and how he’s now ghosting her. If you asked her, she’d make it seem like she’s been talking with this guy for a year when it’s only been days. A week tops.
The entire time she talks, she’s ignorant of the tension. I can feel the sweltering of Finn’s skin the more she talks. Radiating, and he’s not even beside me as he clings to her every word.
The investment he has in this conversation well above sane.
His interest is more than making up for the lack of Cole’s across him.
She pokes her fork at a pasta noodle on my tray. “Right?”
This is about the dozenth time she’s asked me this question and I give her the same answer as the last ten. “Right.”
At the start of lunch, I’d been sympathetic, really, I had, but now it’s starting to become overkill.
Besides, the one-worded answers are easier on my still recovering vocal cords. Wearing my hair down has helped hide the bruises. The thick concealer Hailey suggested I buy, overall doing the best job.
“I mean, it’s strange, right?”