“Holy shit, Mads,” Kenna gushed, all but skipping on her toes beside me. “That was goddamn epic. I wish I would have thought to take a video.”
Josie rolled her eyes, tucking stray pink pieces of hair behind her ears. “The last thing we need is evidence floating around for him to hurt Mads with, but I’m with Kenna. Girl…” She bumped her shoulder lightly to mine, grinning. “You have guns. That hit was spectacular. It made me want to try and sock him one too.”
Kenna laughed, falling into Josie and somehow still managing to walk. “Micah is going to be pissed he missed that.”
Not likely. If anything, he would be more pissed atmefor coming within a hundred miles of Sterling. Despite KU being a large school, it would be impossible to avoid the prick for the entire time he had left at college.
Kenna beamed. “I’m so damn proud of you.”
“Look at us, fighting back.” Josie did an air kick like she was a ninja in training, making Kenna and me shake our heads, snickering. “The Elite who? We can take care of shit ourselves.”
I rubbed my hand as we continued to walk, chasing away the sting radiating in my fingers as well as the shaking that just started. “God, I need a fucking cigarette.”
The high of releasing days of pent-up anger didn’t last long. Once the rush faded, I was left raw and more depressed than before.
I’d spent the remainder of the week feeling sorry for myself, indulging in horror films with my roommates, ordering every shitty food within a ten-mile radius of campus, and dragging my sorry ass to classes. Some days I left the dorm in my lounge clothes without showering.
I didn’t agree with Micah’s approach to keeping me safe and dealing with Sterling on his own, but damn if it didn’t just smell like crap the Elite did. They were always like “you’re family,” “you’re one of us, “we protect what’s ours,” and crap like that. What that really meant was, when shit got real, they only relied on the four of them.
Fuck that.
They weren’t the only ones who cared or who wanted to see Sterling fall to his knees.
The fact that Micah wanted to take abreakwas utter bullshit, and I saw right through it. I’d meant everything I said. Micah Bradford had hurt me for the last time. If he wasn’t willing to fight alongside me, then what was the point? I was looking for a partner in crime. Well, not just in crime but in life. The good. The bad. The ugly. The beautiful. The tears. All the ups and downs that came with being a human living on Earth.
By Saturday night, Kenna, Ainsley, and Josie declared a mandatory girls' night, whether I was in the mood or not. I didn’t admit it, but it was just what I wanted. When we were together, my mind had fewer chances to think about Micah and Sterling. I thought of Micah more often than the stalker. He seemed to crawl into every crevice of my mind at every available opportunity.
It had been a week since we’d last seen each other, talked to one another. Even when we weren’t dating and I hated him, we’d still seen each other. Micah had always found a reason to tease me. Then I’d insult him, and he would laugh.
I missed his laugh.
The tears still hadn’t come. I refused to cry, because a part of me denied that Micah and I were over, refused to admit the ultimatum I’d given was real. Sometimes deluding yourself was the only way to get through the day. Nothing about college had gone at all as I’d envisioned.
I missed the dream. What was supposed to be a happy time for Micah and me embarking on this college romance together had turned into a living nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. Night and day, Sterling was there, wreaking havoc on my world.
“We’re not taking no for an answer, so you might as well give in now.” Kenna whipped the covers off my bed. She had the bossy older sister vibe down.
“Do you ever take no for an answer?” I countered, not moving from my horizontal position on the bed. I enjoyed my view of the ceiling as I hugged the stuffed white teddy bear.
“No,” she answered, grabbing my wrist and tugging me upright.
Josie rolled her eyes from where she sat on the other side of my bed. “We can do whatever you want. Watch another horror flick, eat buckets of ice cream, bash boys all night.”
The second option was appealing, but I didn’t want to talk about Micah or my feelings. I wanted to forget the jerk ever existed.
Ainsley stood at the foot of the bed. “You can’t leave me alone with the Edwards sisters,” she pleaded, pouting her black painted lips.
I saw an opportunity, and I took it. I hadn’t spent the entire weekend moping, despite how it might have seen. “There’s something I want to do, but you guys won’t like it.”
Suspicion immediately darkened Josie's eyes as her brows drew together. “This is going to piss off the guys, isn’t it?”
I gave a light shrug, picking at a loose stitch on my bed. “It’s my way of bashing them.”
“Fuck yes. I’m in,” Kenna said, jumping onto my bed. The mattress bounced under her sudden excitement.
“Me too,” Ainsley piped up. Of course, in something like this, the two of them would be on the same side. Any other time, they’d be bickering just to bicker.
Josie glanced from me to her sister to Ainsley. “I’ve never been one to sit along the sidelines.”