Boom - Sabrina Stark Page 0,97

you."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hell if I know," I said. "You called me to say what? That I screwed you over?"

Her voice grew quiet. "So…did you?"

By now, I was seriously pissed. "What do you think?"

"Well, I think you screwed me," she said with a choked sob. "I just don't know which way." And with that, she ended the call.

I looked at my phone for a long moment before hurling it across the kitchen. It hit the side wall, and the case popped off. As for rest of the phone, whether it was damaged or not, I didn't know, and I didn't care.

Whatever was going on, I'd had more than enough. And the way it sounded, so had she.

Good.

I didn't mean it. But it felt better to think that way, at least until the sun fell and the night closed in around me. And then, I had to ask myself, "What the hell was going on?"

Chapter 55

Arden

The next few days passed in a long, depressing blur, which really sucked – for me and for Cami, because no matter how hard I tried, I just knew that I was pathetic company.

Oh sure, I tried to be upbeat and not obsess too much over Brody, but the unhappy truth was, I couldn't help but feel sad and confused about the way things had turned out.

Adding to my confusion, I learned from Roy on Monday morning that Brody had made arrangements for me to have the whole week off – and with pay, too – so I could spend more time with my friend.

It was so thoughtful and so baffling at the same time. How could someone so dishonest do something so wonderful?

None of it made any sense. And now the unexpected time off was giving me way too many hours to dwell on how idiotic I'd been to get attached to Brody in the first place.

I should've known it was too good to be true.

Or rather, I should've known that he was too good to be true.

But now nothing felt good, especially as the days passed without any interaction between us – no calls, no texts, no nothing.

Meanwhile, festering in the back of my brain was the knowledge that Waverly was in California with him. She'd been chasing after him for months. Had she finally caught him?

I tried not to think about it.

Meanwhile, across the street, I saw construction crews coming and going – sometimes working late into the night.

I wanted to be part of it. And I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

With every passing day, I found myself caring less about the house and more about whatever was going on with Brody.

I missed him like crazy, especially at night, when I was alone in the living room. I'd been sleeping on the couch, having insisted on giving Cami my bedroom, which had the only private bathroom in the house.

As for my own sleeping arrangements, I'd opted for the sofa because Waverly's bedroom was probably off-limits, and the thought of sleeping in Brody's empty bed was too depressing to consider.

One night, while gazing up at the living room ceiling, I came to the embarrassing conclusion that if I had to choose between Brody and the house, I'd pick Brody a million times over, if only he'd come clean about what he'd done.

And hey, an apology might be nice, too.

Oh yeah. I was definitely pathetic. And I was making Cami feel pathetic, too. She never complained, but on Thursday, even her usually chipper mood took a sudden turn for the worse.

By the time we said our goodnights, she seemed just as depressed as I felt.

It was all my fault, and I decided I had to do better.

When the sun rose on Friday morning, I vowed that no matter what, I'd show Cami a good time. Even if it killed me, I'd be cheerful and upbeat. I wouldn't talk about Brody. I wouldn’t even think about Brody. I'd simply pretend that he never existed.

For starters, I got up and began making pancakes and bacon, intending to surprise Cami with her favorite breakfast.

I was just mixing up the pancake batter when I heard a quiet knocking sound. I paused in the mixing and glanced toward the front door. The knock had been so quiet, I wasn't sure that I'd heard it at all.

But soon, I heard it again.

I set down the mixing bowl and made my way to the living room. I cracked open the front window blinds and peered outside, only