RIOT HOUSE (Crooked Sinners #1) - Callie Hart Page 0,147

the corner of the pillow, attempting to tug it down so I can see her face, but she slaps a hand down on top of it, pinning it in place. “I came to see if you have any spare highlighters. And Post-Its. And Valium.”

“Yes, on the stationary. No, on the prescription meds, I'm afraid.”

She groans even louder. The pillow gets thrown across the room. “Why does no one in this school have any good drugs? Fuck recreational use. You'd think at least half of us were medicated for our very real anxiety disorders.”

I can guarantee that someone at Riot House has the kind of chemical relief she's looking for. No way in hell am I suggesting she go knocking on their door, though. “It's gonna be okay, babe. Andre's a fucking fool if he doesn't want to be with you. And you're gonna ace these assignments. You're a bad bitch. No doubt about it.”

She wrinkles her nose, teetering on the verge of tears again. “You're a good friend, Stillwater. Hand over the highlighters before I lose the will to live.”

I give her what she needs, and she goes. I close my bedroom door, knowing that she was wrong on so many levels. Hating myself for it. I'm keeping so many secrets from her now that I feel like a goddamn monster. And short of telling her that I'm in love with Wren Jacobi, nothing's going to change that.

WREN: You awake?

ME: Just about. You?

WREN: Nope. I text in my sleep. It's a problem.

ME: Funny.

WREN: You get the invite?

ME: Yeah. It was under my door when I came back to my room. You didn't feel like waiting for me?

WREN: Pax left it for you. I told him not to.

I stare at the message, the words stark and painful. I told him not to. Wren’s been tight-lipped about the whole party, and I figured I was over analyzing the situation. He doesn’t want me at the party, though? After everything we’ve been through of late, that doesn’t make any sense. Even if we had to steal kisses in dark rooms, where no one would find us, I still would have thought he’d want me there. Something withers and dies inside me.

ME: Wow. Well, that stings.

WREN: I don't even wanna go to this thing, E. Believe me, it's gonna be a nightmare. I didn't want you to come because these things get fucking messy.

ME: What do you mean, messy?

WREN: We play these stupid games. I'd love to say I'm innocent, but I'm not. I used to enjoy fucking with people just as much as Dash and Pax. Sometimes things would get a little out of hand. We've hazed people pretty hard in the past. That's what they're expecting from me this time, too.

ME: From you, specifically? Just don't participate?

Eventually, he replies.

WREN: It's not that simple. I owe Dash and Pax a lot. I wasn’t alone in Tel Aviv, remember? I've put them through hell in the past, and they know so many of my secrets. Things I haven't told you yet. Maybe we should meet...

Now it's my turn to tap out and erase my responses. I'm suddenly anxious. What kind of secrets can he possibly be talking about? And how bad can they be? My mind goes from naught to sixty in three seconds flat.

ME: Are you supposed to hook up with girls at this thing? Is that why you don't want me there?

Nothing but dead air.

I clutch my phone to my chest, struggling to breathe around the sharp pain that's stabbing me in the ribcage. What the hell kind of party is this? Eventually, my phone chimes.

WREN: Can you just meet me in the gazebo in an hour? It'd be easier to explain this in person.

ME: Okay.

My heartbeat's hovering somewhere around the one-thirties. I can't believe...fuck, I can't believe after all of the time we've spent together, and Wren telling me that he's in love with me, and all the promises we made to each other in that stupid fucking country inn, he's pulling this shit on me now. Horrifyingly, it feels like I'm about to get broken up with or something, and I don't think I can take hearing that right now. I get up from the bed where I was watching TV on my laptop, and I begin pacing the floorboards, back and forth, back and forth, back and—

I stop in front of the window, peering out into the darkness. There's already a light on out there in the maze—just the