suppress a smile.
“Holy fuck, is that Kennedy?” Ty leans over, nudging me in the side as if I’m not already looking right at her.
“Yeah, she goes to school here.” I try not to show my disgust at him saying her name. I don’t want him to even remotely know that I care about her.
“I thought this was a fancy-ass school. How did they let someone like her in? I still can’t believe they let her go.” Ty shakes his head, and I have to fight the urge to sucker punch him for talking about her like that. Then he does something that I never expected.
“Hey, killer!” he yells as she descends the steps. She looks up, and her face becomes ashen. Her gaze bounces like a ping pong ball from Ty and back to me before she finishes descending the steps and turns around the corner.
“What the fuck?” I growl, turning to Ty.
“What?” He seems legitimately confused. I’m pissed, so fucking angry that he said something like that, and more so that I was sitting next to him while he did it.
“You can’t just go around yelling shit like that.” I sigh, frustrated with Ty and my feelings for Kennedy.
Ty’s gaze widens with shock. “Why not? I mean, you of all people should hate her the most. She got into a car drunk and killed your sister.”
“I know!” I almost scream out in frustration. I’m angry with him, with myself, the whole situation. “I fucking know what she did. But I also know that she’s been through enough. She lost Jillian too, and it’s not like she did it on purpose. Hating her isn’t going to bring her back.” Ty looks at me like I’ve grown a second head.
“Well, damn, I didn’t know you would actually forgive her for what she did. Especially considering…” He trails off, looking anywhere besides me.
“Considering what?”
“Nah, man, I shouldn’t tell you.”
“Tell me, what? Out with it, Ty.”
“Man, I probably should’ve told you this earlier, but I didn’t want to make things worse, but that night… Kennedy came on to me.”
“What?”
“Yeah, man, she begged me to fuck her, and I wouldn’t. She left so quickly because I rejected her. She wanted to be with you and thought if she used me to make you jealous, you would finally notice her.” Ty releases a laugh. “Funny, seems she got everyone’s attention.”
For one whole minute, I just sit there. I don’t even think I’m breathing. The content feeling fades away, and the darkness, the hate, it all comes flooding back to me. In an instant, my thoughts flip. It’s like being struck by lightning.
“Sorry, I didn’t tell you sooner,” Ty’s voice pierces the fog.
I can’t even speak, my jaw is clenched so hard, my hands are curled into tight fists, and the blood in my veins is itching for violence. I’m afraid if I get up right now, something bad is going to happen, and yet I can’t fucking sit here and wait.
I’m furious, she fucking played me. It wasn’t just her getting in the fucking car and driving drunk. She did it for a selfish reason, got in the car and left, unable to wait for me, probably because she didn’t want me to know that she tried to get my best friend to fuck her.
My sister died because Kennedy wanted to be a selfish fucking bitch.
Shoving off the bench, I start running in the direction Kennedy went. I’m consumed with a need to make her pay, to rip her heart from her fucking chest.
If she thought she could play me, soften me, with her little pity story about cutting, or use my emotions against me, she thought wrong.
“Jackson, wait up. Where are you going?” Ty yells behind me.
I don’t even look back as I continue walking. “To find her!”
24
Kennedy
He’s here. Why is he here? My feet can’t seem to move fast enough as I sprint down the sidewalk and through the throngs of people congesting my route of escape.
“Where’s Jackson now? Who’s going to protect you?” I can hear his voice ringing in my ears, feel his fingers digging into my flesh. Tears prick my eyes at the memory.
I’m drowning, suffocating in fear. Walking a little faster, I dart through the crowd and almost sag to the ground once I’m past everyone. Gripping the straps of my backpack, I start walking again, but I’ve only taken one step before someone grabs me by my backpack, hauling me backward. A scream lodges in my throat but