I just didn’t know if I wanted to find out what it was.
“So that’s… gag-worthy,” Nate said as the two of us lay on loungers, eating candy like it was going out of fashion.
“Yeah, they’ve been at it all morning,” I said, barely glancing at Celeste and Miles making out in the shallow end of the pool.
“You sound thrilled.”
“I’m happy for them. It’s just…”
“Yeah, I get it.”
I lifted my eyes to his. “Do you?”
“You’ve seen me around school, I’m not exactly Mr. Popular.”
“You’re an enigma, that’s for sure.”
“An enigma. Difficult to interpret or understand. Mysterious.” His mouth quirked with amusement. “Sounds like a great t-shirt right there.”
“Did you just quote the dictionary at me?”
“I didn’t un-quote it.” He grinned.
“You’re a goofball.”
“Better than some of the names I’ve been called in the past.”
“So how is it you’re Marc Denby’s cousin and we had no idea?”
“It’s a long story. But the short version… our families only recently buried the hatchet after some drama a few years back, so we didn’t grow up close or anything.”
“And now?”
Because I’d seen him and Marc together around school. They acted friendly.
“It’s complicated.” His lips flattened. “You know, I thought you might have something to say after our conversation last night…”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” My walls slammed up.
“Okay, but have you considered that maybe you need to talk about it?”
“And let me guess, you want to be my sounding board?” I shot him an incredulous look.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Why? Why do you even care?”
“Because I saw your scar, Harleigh. When I came over with my brother that day, I saw your wrist and figured out what had really happened to you last year.”
“Y-you saw it?”
He nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I said I didn’t.”
“My sister… she uh… she killed herself.”
My body began to tremble. “S-she did?”