Bully King - J.A. Huss Page 0,56
the dark forest of trees surrounding us.
But she’s bad luck or something. Terrible things happen when we’re together. We fight. We get angry. We upset the normal fabric of society here at High Court and change the world when we’re together. And change here is never a good idea. People hate it. Because if things change, then we’d all have to admit that we’re not safe.
And doesn’t everyone want to feel safe?
“I didn’t plan that party, Cadee.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you blame me?”
“Because whenever something bad happens to me, you’re always there. You’re always the reason.”
“I could say the same for you. I could put it all on you too. And I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I don’t say it to your face.”
“Yeah, that’s your problem. You just say it behind my back.”
I sigh and look back up at the stars. “Well, where are you going to sleep tonight?”
She doesn’t say anything for a few moments. Like she’s considering her options. Which is stupid. She doesn’t have any options. “I think I’ll stay at Ax’s boathouse.”
“What?” I actually laugh.
“Yeah. He stays there, I think.”
“What?” This time I don’t laugh. I sit up in my seat and turn to her. “What do you mean?”
“I caught him in there the other night. There was a sleeping bag. And a little lantern and some junk food. That’s where I slept that first night when you were fucking Isabella in the hallway outside my room—”
“I didn’t fuck her. We were just—”
“I have zero feelings about what you do with Isabella.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“I don’t think anything.”
“Well, obviously you do. Because you ran out of your room and didn’t come back.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because regardless of what you think, I don’t hate you.”
“You’ve told me you hate me so many times, Cooper, it’s become cliché.”
I let out a long breath of frustration. “I like you. You know I like you.”
“Well, you have a very… interesting way of showing it.”
“It’s just a game.”
“Well, I don’t want to play.”
“Neither do I.”
It’s her turn to exhale loudly. “You go along though, don’t you?”
“What choice do I have?”
She shrugs. “Walk out. That’s what I’m gonna do.”
“You could’ve walked out plenty of times today and you didn’t.”
She snorts. “Well, I’m not gonna walk out now.”
“Why? Because we’re all telling you to and you don’t want to do what you’re told? That’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s smart. For some reason, your father has taken an interest in my wellbeing—”
I laugh so loud she pulls back in surprise. “Don’t fool yourself. He doesn’t care about you. He’s using you!”
“For what?”
“How the fuck should I know? If I knew what my father’s plan in life was, I’d do something about all this shit.”
“Just like you did something about it three years ago?”
“That’s not fair and you know it. It was the only option we had.”
“The only one?” She sits up straight now too, her voice louder. “That was the only option you could think of?”
“Fuck you. I did my best.”
“Yeah, fuck you too.”
We sit in silence for a while after that, thinking about what happened three years ago. She starts to sniffle. Like she’s crying. And I want to say all the right things and make her stop, but I don’t have any clue what those right things might be.
“Do you want me to drop you off at Ax’s boathouse then?”
She turns her back to me and pulls both legs up to her chest, hugging herself.
There’s a long stretch of silence after that. So long, I hear some of the partygoers coming towards the marina so they can head home for the night.
“Everyone’s gone at my house. They went to Bali.”
“Good for them,” she whispers. “Must be nice.”
“Yeah,” I agree, then sigh. “So I’m gonna take you home, and you’re gonna sleep in your room. And then tomorrow, Cadee? You’re going to stay there. All day. You’re gonna eat junk food, and watch TV, and play video games—”
She laughs. Loudly. “Video games?”
“I don’t know. Whatever the fuck you like to do. Read books or something. But you are not gonna go out to the Glass House. Do you understand me?”
She doesn’t say anything. And I take that as a good sign.
“If you need money, I’ll have some tomorrow—”
“I don’t need money.” She turns to look at me. “Your father gave me a check for two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.”
“What?” I just blink at her. “When?”
“That first night.”
I can’t process this. I’m dumbfounded picturing all that shit she went through for the past two