Drama. Drama. Drama. Was there an inch of this school that wasn’t dripping with it? Or did drama just follow me around like a gloomy cloud?
Kenna flopped onto Ainsley’s bed, not giving a shit about personal space now. “Can you believe her?” she complained, immediately starting in.
Although it might seem as if Kenna had more flaws than virtues, that wasn’t always true. She could be a good friend. Correction, an exceptional friend when she tried. Sometimes it just took her a few minutes to shift the focus off herself and onto the other person.
I didn’t have time for this. Bypassing Kenna, I went straight into the bathroom for a bottle of aspirin. Fumbling through our drawer of meds, I pushed aside the cold medicine and Pamprin until I found the pain reliever. I unscrewed the cap, dropped two in my hand, and filled a glass of water. As I tossed the little white pills back, something black hanging from the hook near the shower caught my eye. It was partially hidden behind a white towel. Shoving aside the cotton material, I found a black bralette, bra, crop top, or whatever correct term, much like the one Ainsley had been wearing. I picked it up by one thin strap and walked out of the bathroom. “Is this what you were looking for?”
Kenna’s gaze lifted at my voice. She frowned. “Are you guys screwing with me?”
Balling up the lacy top, I tossed it at her. “It was in the bathroom, Kenna. You should apologize.”
“And the Toros should have beaten the Clovers at Nationals.” As a cheerleader herself, Kenna’s favorite movie of all time wasBring It On. The number of times she made me watch that movie, I could still recite the Toros’ cheer in my sleep.
“Where’s Josie?” I asked, needing to unload my problems on someone.
Kenna shot me a sour frown. “What, I’m not good enough to talk to? I can tell something is bothering you. You used to tell me everything.”
It wasn’t that Kenna and I weren’t close anymore. We were, just not as much as we had been prior to her leaving for two years. During that time, it had only been natural that we drifted, but Josie and I had this bond. She understood me in ways that sometimes I felt Kenna couldn’t. Of course, I couldn’t tell Kenna that, not without hurting her feelings, which I wasn’t about to do.
It wasn’t just that Josie and I were both dating an Elite. We’d also shared experiences that changed a person, and we’d gone through those altering events together.
Kenna had her own shit.
We all did.
Sighing, I rubbed at my temples and sat down on Josie’s bed across from Kenna still on Ainsley’s. She twisted around to face me, waiting for me to say something. “That’s not it,” I assured. “You know this isn’t a competition over who’s the better friend, right? I love you both.”
“Then what is it? What’s wrong?” she pushed. “And don’t give me that crap about nothing, because I’m all you got at the moment. Josie has class, and then she’s stopping by to see her counselor afterward. So spill it, coz.”
Kicking off my shoes, I agonized over where to start. A part of me was embarrassed by my actions, despite knowing Kenna wouldn’t judge me. We both had a past where we hadn’t made the best decisions. I was my own worst critic. Not to mention it would take Kenna back as well to her tragedy. Did I want to do that?
I sighed. “Remember when I told you about that guy I hooked up with after…”
“After you caught Micah in bed with that girl,” she supplied, nodding. “Oh, I remember.”
I tried to be cautious as I relayed the events, trying to keep myself from saying something that might trigger her. Kenna had come a long way from the withdrawn, depressed girl she’d become a few years ago, but the road to recovery after what she suffered was more of a twisty path than a straight road.
“The mysterious hookup,” she added, grinning as if it was a fond memory—and it kind of had been at the time. We’d laughed and joked afterward, giving him an outlandish story and making him into the mysterious hookup. For me, it had all been part of getting over Micah. Clearly that didn’t work.
“Well, he isn’t so mysterious anymore,” I muttered, toying with my earring.
A hand flew to her mouth, her brown eyes going wide. “Don’t tell me you saw him again? After all these years?”
Perhaps Kenna was the right person to talk to about this. She already knew many of the details. I loosened up, feeling a bit less tense. “He’s a student at KU.”
Kenna blinked, and then her lips curved wickedly. “Shut the fuck up. You’ve seen him.”
“Yesterday. And today,” I admitted.
“What! I can’t believe this. Did you talk to him? Does Micah know? Did you get his name this time? Why am I only now hearing about him?” She rapid-fired everything that came to her mind.
The ache in my head intensified, and I wished the pills would hurry up and kick in. I dropped back onto the bed, my feet dangling over the edge. “I have no idea what I’m doing or why this is even a thing. It happened two years ago.” Rolling to my side, I propped my head up on my hand, waiting for Kenna’s reaction.
Concern clouded her eyes at the mention of that time in our life. “What exactly did happen?”
“You remember that party we went to last night, the one at Chi Sigma?”
She toyed with strands of her loose, dark hair that had fallen over her shoulder. “I remember most of it. I definitely remember Micah killing the party. What the hell was up with him?”