by him, hearing them all laughing about it. I’m just so, so sick of taking it all in stride, pretending it doesn’t hurt.
I’m sitting in the waiting room alone, but still hide my face inside my shirt when the tears come. Here I was, telling Scar just yesterday to play it cool, and now look at me. Waiting to be seen by Headmaster Harrison because I punched West.
If anything, he should’ve been the last person I laid a finger on. This experience has taught me many things, but most of all, it’s taught me that West’s family’s reach is at least as far as I imagined. Hence the reason I’m on probation and he’s untouchable.
I’m still sniffling inside my t-shirt when the door opens and closes beside me, but I don’t peek out to see who’s entered. I should have more dignity than to cry so openly in front of someone, but I’m exhausted in every way imaginable.
A ringtone goes off beside me and whoever’s come in scrambles to get to their phone.
“Yeah,” he answers, and I’m suddenly aware of who the hell it is.
I glare up from the collar of my shirt only long enough to confirm. And, sure enough, West is peering down on me. Fortunately, he’s not forcing conversation down my throat like before, but it’s likely just a matter of time.
Why the hell is he here anyway?
“Dane, I…”
He pauses to listen, releasing a long sigh right after.
“I haven’t seen the update yet, but I’m sure it’s just…”
His words cut off again when his brother interrupts like before.
“Tagging her in photos doesn’t mean anything. They’re probably just pics of them from summer,” he whispers tensely.
He switches to speakerphone, and then turns the volume super low. I can hear, but no one beyond the office door should be able to. Still, I can’t help but wonder why I’m even permitted to listen in. From what I can tell, it seems like kind of a private conversation.
“I haven’t even met this guy and I fucking hate him,” Dane fumes. “Every pic, he’s shirtless, fucking soaked from head to toe, or showing off his damn art.”
“Art?” West asks.
“He fucking paints. And, of course, he painted her. Says he’s shipping it to her this week. How the fuck am I supposed to compete with shit like that?”
“Does this mean you intend to start competing?” West asks, and I hate that I’m mildly interested in this conversation. It’s at least a distraction from the impending doom that awaits me when Headmaster Harrison calls on me.
Dane sighs before reaching a conclusion. “I… no. We’re not right for each other. She’s got her whole… ‘virginity pledge’ situation I’d only fuck up. Literally,” he adds. “But that dickhead isn’t right for her either,” he insists, sounding like he’s outdoors now, which reminds me the dismissal bell recently rang.
“Shit!” Dane growls. “And if I say anything about it, I’ll just sound like a hater.”
“Pretty much,” West sighs.
“Anyway, I gotta get to practice. What should I tell Coach when he asks where you are?”
In my peripheral, I’m aware of West peering down on me.
“Just tell him I had to take care of something first, so I’ll be a little late.”
“Sweet. Later.”
He ends the call then and I bury my face back in my shirt when I slouch. Now, without their conversation to focus on, I’m a bundle of nerves again, thinking about how enormously I just messed up.
I’m so aware of West I feel that telling electricity that moves over my skin whenever he’s near. I smell him in the air surrounding me, and it brings with it a boatload of sadness. There was a short time, between hateful exchanges, where I actually let myself find comfort in that scent. But now, it’s only a reminder of being covered in whatever cologne he wears after being naked in his bed. Felt like no matter how hard I scrubbed, I smelled like him for days. Every time I breathed in, I breathed him in.
He didn’t magically stop being attractive because he hurt me. I’d still venture to say he’s one of the most beautiful specimens I’ve ever laid eyes on. But most things that are deadly have some sort of appeal. Difference is, I’m no longer under his spell. No longer blind to his beauty only being skin-deep.
Inside?
Pure evil.
And now, I’m pissed. Even more than I was before, because he can’t seem to grant the one wish I’ve made since everything went down. All I asked for was