Zane
“I’m surprised you showed,”I said to Nix.
“It’s Halloween, where else would I be?” My best friend grinned, grabbing a beer from the cooler by my feet and uncapping it.
“Didn’t think you’d be able to drag yourself away from Birdie.”
“We’re not that bad.”
I shot him a droll look. They were that bad and then some.
But I got it.
Harleigh Wren was his person. The other half to his tainted soul.
I might have been a skeptical motherfucker who had no intentions of ever letting a girl hold that kind of power over me, but I wasn’t a total asshole. I knew love when I saw it.
And Nix and Harleigh had it in spades.
Didn’t mean I didn’t miss my best friend though. We still hung out with Kye, our other best friend, but it wasn’t the same.
Everything was changing, and part of me hated it. Because there was no getting out of The Row after graduation for me. My life was tethered here. I would never leave Grams and even when she was gone, it wasn’t like I had a fairy godmother waiting in the wings to make all my wishes come true.
Dreaming was for pussies.
I preferred to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground. And the truth of it was, I was stuck here. Darling Row was the rot that festered inside me, the poison that ran through my veins. And one day, it would claim my dirty black soul.
Kicking my feet out, I inhaled deeply on the blunt, letting the acrid smoke roll through me as I stared out at the carnage before me. Halloween at Darling Hill reservoir was always a big deal. Every kid on our side of the border turned up dressed for the occasion, looking to get fucked and-or fucked up.
“Check out Cherri and Darius, she really got her claws into him, huh?” I murmured, and Nix snorted at the sight of the two of them.
“He’s welcome to her.”
“Yeah, you had a lucky escape there,” I said.
Cherri Jardin was bad news. But ever since Harleigh had transferred back to Darling Hill High, she’d kept a low profile where Nix was concerned. Probably scared of what Harleigh’s old man, Michael Rowe, might do if she ever looked twice at his daughter.
Part of me still couldn’t believe Harleigh was one ofthem. The rich, elite families that lived across the other side of town in Old Darling Hill. The very people we’d spent our entire lives hating. But she’d grown up with us, so despite the blue blood running through her veins, she was the exception to the rule.
“How’s Grams?” Nix asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“The usual. She puts on a brave face for me, but I can see the cracks. She isn’t getting any better and the medical bills keep rolling in.”
“The insurance—”
“Only stretches so far. You know that.”
“Yeah.” He blew out a steady breath. “If there’s anything I can do…”
“It’s fine. I’ll figure it out.”
I’d find a way to make sure Grams kept getting her meds and the help she needed. It was the least I could do after all she’d done for me over the years.
Kye appeared, sauntering over to us with his usual cocky swagger. “Look what the cat dragged in.” Nix flipped him off, and Kye chuckled. “Didn’t think you’d make it.”
“Seriously, you make it sound like I’ve moved across the state. We see each other at school every day.”
“When you’re not dry fucking B against the wall.”