Cruel Kisses (It's Just High School #2) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,107

that time and it was a fucking battle from that point on.”

I could talk about my experience with divorcing parents, but I didn’t want to open that can of worms, so I stay silent. Besides, John and Courtney are another issue all together. They aren’t even divorced.

“Damn you, Mia,” he growls, his green eyes heavy with emotion. “I’m not always going to be here to protect Liam and it’s killing me.”

And suddenly, it all makes sense.

“Julian, you need to talk to him.”

“And say what? Hey, I know things have been fucking rocky between us, but stop it?” he scoffs. “That’s not how my brother and I roll, baby.”

“But it would fucking mean something if you said that,” Liam says. Snaping our heads to look up to find Liam leaning against the door, his arms folded, and I know he heard everything.

“Eavesdropping again?” Julian mutters unhappily.

“But of course, J,” Liam mutters as he steps into the gym. Julian stands up then and goes to meet him.

No words are exchanged, they just stare at each other, as if sizing each other up.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, hug each other and get it over with,” I say. “Damn you stubborn Fitz boys.”

Julian is less than amused but Liam gets in on the fun as he hugs his brother.

“You heard what the lady said, hug me back,” Liam whines, making me laugh. Julian glares at me, his eyes narrowed but I just stick out my tongue.

“There, was that so hard?” he mocks. Walking over to me, he scoops me into his arms and twirls around with me. “Okay you gorgeous Cupcake, I have to go.”

“You have to go?”

“Yup,” he says, putting me down, then cupping my face to kiss my forehead. “There’s some info I’ve been gathering for a while and I think I finally have a lead.”

“Some info?” I question and he nods.

“Yes! And you are going to love it.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I finally figured out what those old heifers were talking about at your drab audition.”

“Liam…”

“From the Bs? That means from the Bishops.”

The Bishops? From the corner of my eye, I see Julian tense up his eyes narrowing on us.

“Wait what?” I frown. “The only Bishops I know are…”

I gasp, looking up at him as the night of the party flashes in my head. I remember everything, and how the twins looked at Liam.

The longing there.

The heartache and anger. And then the way they looked at me when Liam alluded that he was fucking me.

“Yes, Cupcake, yes,” Liam says. “According to my respectable research, I discovered that the Bishop’s own a chunk of that dance school.”

“What?” I almost screech as it all makes sense now.

“Yes, it’s unfortunate but I know the Bishops made sure you wouldn’t be accepted into the school.”

Oh, those damn bitches. What did I do to deserve that?

“But why? I’ve never fucked with them.”

“That, my dearest Cupcake, is the frosting on top I need to find.”

“Liam,” Julian starts, and they look at each other, a silent message passing between them. Liam looks back at me, giving me a quick hug again.

“Gotta go,” he whispers. “Call me if you need me.”

Then he’s gone.

24

When the phone rings later that night, I don’t bother to check the caller ID and that was my first mistake because I think it’s Julian who left to drop Liam’s passport which he had left in his bathroom, at the airport.

“Was he whining?” I say, a smile on my face. “Told you to ask him before he left.”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve listened,” the chilling, low voice says, making everything in me freeze. I still in my steps, my breath catching as chills race down my spine.

“How did you get this number?” I whisper, fear slamming into me like a freight train. Oh my God.

He chuckles, like he’s having so much damn fun, but all it does is freeze the blood in my veins. Even that laugh alone, there’s an echo of it in my nightmares and hearing it now, I now know. My nightmares aren’t always nightmares. They are fragments of the memories I’ve suppressed.

“Oh Amy,” Nathan starts, his voice as chilling as when I was younger. Gone is the charming act he adopted later on.

“That’s not my name,” I seethe, hate festering in my gut.

“Oh, but it is,” he laughs again.

Huh? I scrunch up my face, my mind racing. Is Amy Hazel my real name?

“But getting back to your question, because we both know, confusion in this moment and time will be detrimental to you. It’s good for both