Chapter8
Theo
What was she thinking?
I’m shivering through the hallway, dripping my way around people as I try to ignore the weight of their stares. Cam is leaning in our doorway talking to the guys who live across the hall. They’re younger, but that’s Cam’s thing; he wants everyone to like him. It’s half the reason he does so much obnoxiously dangerous shit—he loves it when people give him attention. I tried digging into that last year, what makes him tick, or rather, what makes him practicallyboom!He was about to open up when some of last year’s sixth forms dragged him out to smoke. Two puffs and his walls went right back up. The daredevil came out. Pot doesn’t make Cam honest; it makes him stupid.
I suppose that’s what Anika always liked about him. They never dated, but that edge was always there when we all hung out. I think if I weren’t in the picture, meaning the brother’s best friend thing wasn’t a thing, they’d probably have been a couple. They were close, though. Sometimes, I wonder if they were closer than me and Anika were. She had secrets, and secretdeepfriendships wouldn’t surprise me.
“Hey, Theo,wha—?” Cameron pulls my sleeve away from my arm as it practically suctions to my skin. “Is it raining, dude?”
“No.” I glance up at him, then shift my gaze to the two idiots still standing across the hallway from us. “Go inside.”
The bigger of the two—I think his name’s Cooper?—he snorts out a laugh, but I lunge at him once, hard, and he stumbles backward through his doorway. His roommate, Bryan, rolls his eyes at me but pushes his friend the rest of the way into their room then shuts the door. Bryan should hang out with cooler people than Cooper. I can’t stand Cooper’s bleached blonde hair that I’m pretty sure is permed.Why is it always crunchy? And perfectly sculpted?
“I fucking hate those guys,” I mutter as I drag Cameron into our room, closing the door behind him.
“Yeah,they’rethe problem,” he says, punching out a laugh. I give him a sideways glance that he meets with defiance.
“What? Tell me I’m wrong?.”
I can’t. He’s not.
My hands work the buttons of my shirt as I toe my way out of my shoes. I’m going to need to throw this crap in the dryer, otherwise our whole room is going to smell like my mom’s mudroom after a heavy snow. Cam flings himself onto his back on his bed and folds his arms behind his neck while I strip down and pile my wet shit into a basket.
“We gonna talk about why you’re soaking wet? Or should we start with your foul-ass mood?”
I pull a pair of sweats up and side-eye him.
“So, mood it is, then, huh?” He’s poking the bear. I flip him off.
“How about I take a stab at things?”
“How about you don’t.” I throw my Welles sweatshirt on and push my feet into my slides before grabbing the basket of wet clothes from the floor.
“This—” He circles his finger in the air in my direction. “It’s because of Lily, isn’t it?”
“No.”
He laughs at my immediate response. I probably could have sold that better, but he’s pissing me off, and I’m already at an eleven.
“Dude, you need to work through whatever it is you have with that girl. Because if you keep it up at this rate, she isnevergoing to give you a shot.”
I stop at the door, letting my hand slip from the knob before turning around.
“I don’t want a fucking shot, Cameron. I don’t want Lily in my business. Ha! I don’t want Lily at this school!”
“Uh huh.” His smug smirk makes my stomach twist. I could punch him right now.
I open my mouth to lay out all the reasons for my case, but the thoughts get jumbled in my head the second I start to speak, leaving me with no words at all. Instead of getting into it with my roommate, I scowl and leave him with a heavy sigh. The hallways are less busy on my way out. It seems everyone’s made their way to the break room in the basement, and because my luck is basically shit, all six dryers are in use.
I wade my way through a few fake conversations, giving knuckles to a few guys from the team and pleasantwhat’s upnods on my way back to the stairs. My clothes are still soaked, and the front of my sweatshirt is wet from where they’ve dripped through the basket. I’m tempted to just head to my car and lay everything out on the hood to dry, but it’s too cold out for that to do any good.
“Hey, Theo!”
I turn to follow the voice calling out for me and spot James walking across the main lawn, and Lily is walking away from him. Her hair is twisted in a towel, and shorts are pulled over her swimsuit. I instantly assume James saw us and let my bad mood take over, answering with a scowl and a nod.
He jogs closer and I train my eyes on him, away from the girl heading up the steps to Hayden Hall. The girl I just pulled from the bottom of the Welles pool. The girl who let my sister drown. The girl I couldn’t let go in that building alone.