here to find Molly on your lap, and then you kiss her. Right in front of me, Hardin. I’d say my reaction is quite justified,” I say, my voice drawing to a whisper at the end, exhausted. I wipe fresh tears from my face and blink up at the night sky.
“You kissed Zed right in front of me! And I didn’t tell you about the party because I don’t have to! You wouldn’t have wanted to come anyway—you would have been too busy studying or watching the damn paint dry,” he barks.
I look at his blurry form through my watery eyes and ask him simply, “So why even waste your time with me? Why even follow me out here, Hardin?” When he doesn’t say anything, I have my answer. “That’s what I thought. You thought you could come out here and say sorry and I would accept and stay a secret, your boring little hidden girlfriend. You’re wrong; you took my kindness for weakness and you were sadly mistaken.”
“Girlfriend? You thought you were my girlfriend?” he howls.
The pain in my chest is magnified by a thousand and I can barely stand. “No . . . I,” I start to say. I don’t know what to say.
“You did, didn’t you?” he says, laughing.
“You know . . . I did,” I admit. I am already humiliated, so I have nothing to lose. “You fed me that bullshit about wanting more, and I believed you. I believed all the shit you said to me, all the things you claimed to never tell anyone, but I’m sure that was all bullshit, too. I’m sure none of that even happened.” I shrug, giving up completely. “But you know what? I’m not even mad at you; I’m mad at myself for believing it. I knew how you were before I started to fall for you. I knew you would hurt me. What were your words, You’ll destroy me? No, ruin, you’ll ruin me. Well, congratulations, Hardin, you won,” I sob.
Pain flashes in his eyes . . . well, what looks like pain. It is probably humor.
I no longer care about winning or losing or playing these exhausting games. I turn away from him again and begin to walk back toward the house, figuring I’ll find someone’s phone to use to call Landon or somehow get a ride back to the dorms.
“Where are you going?” he asks. It hurts that he doesn’t have anything to say, that he has offered me no explanation. He has only confirmed what I already knew, that he is heartless.
I walk faster, ignoring him. He trails behind me, calling my name a couple more times, but I refuse to let myself be charmed by his voice again.
When I get back to the house’s front steps, of course I spot Molly’s pink hair outside. “Aww, look, she is waiting for you. You two really are perfect for each other,” I call over my shoulder to Hardin.
“It’s not like that and you know it,” he grumbles.
“I don’t know anything, obviously,” I snap and climb two steps at a time.
Zed appears in the doorway, and I rush to his side. “Can I use your phone? Please?” I beg and he nods.
“Are you okay? I tried to go after you, but you were long gone,” he says and I nod.
Hardin stands in front of Zed and me while I call Landon and ask him to pick me up. Zed and Hardin stare at each other for a second when they hear me say Landon’s name, then Zed looks away and back down at me. “Is he coming?” he asks, his voice full of concern.
“Yeah, he will be here in a few minutes. Thank you for letting me use your phone,” I tell him, ignoring Hardin.
“No problem. Do you want me to wait with you?” he asks.
“No, I will wait with her,” Hardin injects, his voice full of venom.
“I would love it if you could wait with me, Zed,” I say and walk back down the steps with him. Hardin, being the asshole that he is, follows us and stands behind us awkwardly. Steph, Tristan, and Molly trickle down, too.
“Are you okay?” Steph asks.
“Yeah,” I say, nodding. “I’m leaving, though. I shouldn’t have even come here.”
When Steph hugs me, Molly mutters under her breath, “You got that right.”
My head snaps around at the sound of her voice. I hate confrontation usually, but I hate Molly even more. “You’re right! I shouldn’t be here. I’m not as adept