Mads crossed her legs. “That’s your answer. Now, tell me what’s it like sleeping in her room?”
Leave it to Mads to make something sound simple. “Weird. Super weird. But also…kind of nice. I get the chance to see Kenna, if that makes sense.”
She nodded, a speck of sadness moving into her eyes. “It does. I get it.”
I turned around and glanced sidelong at her. “No one here seems to like to talk about her.”
Mads blew out a cloud of smoke. “It’s been two years. People forget what they don’t see every day. But you remind them, those who knew her at least.”
The five-minute warning bell shrilled through the bathroom. “We should probably get to class.” Mads took one long inhale from her cigarette before putting it out in the sink and washing it down the drain. She hopped off the sink, fluffed her hair, and offered me a piece of gum as we walked to the door.
Micah’s head turned in our direction from where he leaned on the wall waiting. His brows were drawn together and his eyes lacked their usual twinkle. It didn’t take me long to figure out why.
Ava and Brock headed toward us, splitting off to go to class like everyone else. Ava’s eyes locked with mine, and her entire demeanor changed. She grinned like a demon swinging its pitchfork.
She slid her fingers into Brock’s hair, possessively.
Everything clenched inside me. Anger rose within me, swift and violent. My hands trembled as I curled them into fists and his eyes lifted to mine. For a split second, they pleaded with me to understand.
They looked like the perfect couple. The quarterback and the cheerleader. So very clichéd.
Brock was everything I wasn’t. Popular. Gorgeous. The idol of Elmwood Academy. How did we make sense?
Maybe he was better off with someone like Ava?
Those old doubts and insecurities of not being good enough crept inside me. I hated them, hated the way they made me feel less.
The flame built and built inside me until I felt as if I would explode. I was a light fuse, waiting to detonate.
Fuck this.
I stormed off to class.
* * *
I thought when the day ended my nerves would be gone.
So not the case.
Going home with Grayson meant the bomb I’d been waiting to drop was about to explode, which gave me anxiety like a motherfucker. It was difficult to explain what I felt. On one hand, it felt as if the truth would never come out. On the other hand, I was so scared of what would happen when it did. This was what they called a double-edged sword.
First I had to sit through Grayson’s grueling football practice, which I’d forgotten about or blocked from my memory. It was anyone’s guess.
Carter hadn’t shown up for school today. That added another layer to my uneasiness.
What had happened after I left on Sunday?
Had he told his father?
I’d expected Angie to blow up my phone, and her radio silence was cause for concern. It wasn’t like her to give up, to let go. She was a relentless bitch—a trait I thought I had inherited from her. Or perhaps it was learned behavior.
I sat in the back of the stands, my face hidden behind my laptop as I attempted to get my homework done. It was next to impossible when all I wanted to do was watch Brock.
How could I ignore him in ass-tight pants?
My self-control was at an all-time low or MIA altogether. If only I could make Ava disappear for good. Practice was almost fun since Ava and the cheer squad were practicing their annoying routines in the gym.
I leaned my chin on my hand, glancing over the rim of my laptop as Brock tossed a perfect spiral down the field. His gaze flipped to me the second it went into the receiver’s hands. These stolen glances between us were killing me. Did he not understand how difficult this separation between us was for me? Especially, since I pretty much had gone and done the one thing I told myself not to. I’d fallen for him.