The Rush (The Siren Series) - By Rachel Higginson Page 0,24
together and he seemed a bit confused and a bit more hurt. “I would have gone if I would have known you were going to be there.” His lips curved into his signature charming smile and the hurt was washed away and replaced with easy flirtation.
“It was a, uh, last minute decision,” I lied. “Plus I didn’t know I was going to see Sugar Skulls. I didn’t even know who they were until last night. I was just getting out of the house and I like the Slowdown on Wednesday nights.” That was more like the truth, but not common information either and I felt a chill of fear run through me. I wasn’t used to sharing this much, revealing this much about me.
“Right?” Phoenix agreed via question. “Slowdown gave us a pretty steady gig for Wednesdays, so there will be plenty of chances to hang. You can be like our groupie!”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I met some of your groupies last night. I didn’t realize you thought so little of me.”
“We have groupies?” Phoenix asked, genuinely surprised.
“Well, I don’t know if they could be applied to the whole band, but um, Ryder has groupies.”
This got both Chase and Phoenix to laugh. “Of course he does,” Chase grinned. “Speak of the devil.”
Kenna and Ryder appeared from the thick mob of students climbing the steps to the school building. Ryder had his arm draped across Kenna’s shoulders and they were smiling and laughing and drooling and making googly eyes at each other and in love. And I wanted to vomit. Chase slipped his hand to my lower back in a move of possession and I sunk against his body, thankful for a place to go. I pressed against his side; half hoping he would just absorb me inside him. Gross, right? Still the desperation to disappear weighed consuming and suffocating against my lungs.
Chase wasn’t home, but he could at the very least be a shelter from the storm of my life.
“Morning love birds,” Phoenix called out to them.
Suddenly I was surrounded by people….. by friends? It was very confusing. I didn’t do friends. And what was more confusing was me.
“Hey, Kenna,” I called out as way of greeting.
She had the good grace to only hesitate for a second before responding, “Hey, Ivy.”
She eyed me over like I was ready to attack her precious boyfriend at any second and I shuffled backward out of the tight circle we had created. My eyes flickered to Ryder instinctually, but not in the man-eating way Kenna assumed I meant, more in like the…. I didn’t know what kind of way! The kind that felt like a gravitational pull, the kind of way that made it feel as though I was helpless to stop the slide of my eyes. The confusing kind of way. He was watching me with careful amusement, like I was his entertainment, like it was possible for him to look anywhere else, but he chose to look at me. I had to get out of there. Chase’s arm dropped from my back and he turned to face me, confused by my retreat. I struggled for an excuse but then my phone rang, some miraculous intervention by the gods, and I reached for it quickly.
I held it up in apology, waving it around and letting the loud ringtone pierce the conversation that surrounded us. I walked into the school building away from all those impossible but bourgeoning friendships.
“Hello?” I asked into the speaker without checking the caller ID first.
“Nix is here? Why didn’t you tell me?” Exie screeched from the other line.
I waited a beat, hoping she would forgive me in the silence of the air ways. No such luck. “Who told you?” I sighed into the phone. This is why I didn’t do friendship…. I wasn’t any good at it. But I did like to protect my girls. They were the closest thing I would ever have to real relationships.
“Sloane made the announcement this morning. Her mom is throwing some kind of shindig for him tomorrow night. You should have given us the heads up.” She sounded hurt. “You should have told me this morning in the car.”
No. She sounded terrified.
And she was right.
I should have given her the heads up.
I should have texted them both last night.
“I’m sorry,” I breathed into the phone, finding my locker and stuffing my backpack into it. “I was hoping you wouldn’t have to deal with him. I was hoping he was just here for me and