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Our bodies were so close that I could feel his thickening shaft through his pants, and it was shooting fiery electricity through my veins. I fought the impulse to start grinding against him.
Within seconds, I heard it: the clack, clack, clack. Glancing up, I saw Darcy’s blonde head peer into the alleyway, her eyes locking onto mine before she rushed towards us.
“I knew it!” she shrieked, struggling with her phone pointing at us with one hand and a Sharpie in the other.
There are three people left, my mind worked. If I have Darcy, and she’s coming towards us with a Sharpie, then that means… She must’ve killed Derek’s last target, meaning she now has Derek.
Without thinking, I lunged towards her, swatting at the permanent marker out of her hand.
“You’re disgusting,” she spat at me. “I can’t believe I ever called you my sister.”
I rushed for the pen and Darcy followed suit, but I grabbed fistful of her long blonde hair and yanked her away from the pen before she could get to it.
“I can’t believe I ever called you human,” I responded with an icy coolness I didn’t know I had in me, but I knew my face showed her what I truly felt about her: disgust. Now that her face had twisted into an ugly grimace, it surprised me that I never realized how fake she was before this whole ordeal.
“Bitch!” she cried out, her hand going up to touch her head where I’d just pulled her hair.
I took her moment of confusion to charge her, pen outstretched, and I drew a huge X across her right cheek.
Startled, she held her cheek in her hand as if I’d slapped her.
“Now you look as ugly as you are,” I said. “By the way, you were my target and you’re dead.”
Without glancing back at her, I left the alley with Derek at my side.
“Your boyfriend’s my target,” she wailed.
But I already knew that.
7
We ended up at a study room in the library. Derek didn’t know about our parents, I knew he didn’t from the way he was acting, and I wanted to keep it that way until I knew how he truly felt. Was he playing with me or was there really more to it?
He booked the most secluded study room in the entire library, one that was separated by a storage room and a janitorial room, unlike all the other rooms that were mostly cramped together.
Once inside, Derek took a seat and I made sure to choose one across from him, not daring sit next to him because of the effect he has on me. I knew I couldn’t trust myself that close to him.
“I hate how things ended the other day,” he started.
“You mean with you telling me it wasn’t going to work out?” I couldn’t help it. I’d meant to bite my tongue, but the emotions were still so raw I just needed to lash out at him.
“That’s not what it was about. You didn’t even let me finish before you stormed off.” Exasperated, Derek raked his fingers through his dark hair. “Look, I’ve never had this problem before.”
“So I’m a problem now?”
“No. Can you stop twisting everything I say for two seconds? What I’m trying to tell you is that… Fuck, Karla, I’ve never had feelings for anyone like this before, okay? Normally girls I hook up with are just that: a hook-up. But you’re so much more than that, so I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I didn’t expect it to backfire so hard.”
My heart was pounding even as I stayed silent, though I was sure he could hear it. When he didn’t continue, I prodded hopefully, “So you’re saying you have feelings for me?”
“Yes, genius.”
Butterflies ran amuck in my belly. ‘Genius’ was our inside joke with each other since we
were teens--we’d say it when the other person clearly was not being a genius. I couldn’t help but grin, the sullen mood draining out of me.
“What does this mean? To you, I mean.”
I dared steal a glance at my stepbrother--my ex-stepbrother, I mean. He was intensely staring at his clenched fists before he raised his eyes to me. I knew whatever he had to say was tearing him up inside, and my heart dropped at the sight of it. He’s going to say it won’t work out, I could feel it in my bones.
But once again, Derek surprised me. “I’m dropping out of the brotherhood.”
My mouth dropped open, he loved his fraternity.
“It’s the only way,” he explained, but I had the feeling he was trying to explain it to himself. “While it’s not against the rules, I know what kind of strain it’d have on the frat if they found out one of their brothers was dating his stepsister.”
“They don’t have to find out,” I rushed, wanting to ease his pain. “I’m thinking of dropping the sorority and, hell, even out of university. No one would know who I am.”
Derek just shook his head sadly. “It wouldn’t matter. Your sisters still know who you are, and word would spread fast.”
My phone began vibrating again on the table. It was Amanda, president of the Tabbies.
“You should go,” Derek urged me.
“No, it doesn’t matter.” I’m so done with the Tabbies.
My ex-stepbrother looked at me like he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “It does matter. Don’t drop out, okay? I’ll figure out a way around this, I just wanted you to know that I’m trying my best to make this work. That I do care, in spite of what you think. Remember that.”
He looked so distraught, leaning into the table like he was going to tear it apart at any second. I wish he’d tear me apart. Whatever that meant. I meant it sexually, I decided. I knew that I wanted Derek’s incredibly sculpted body from years of wrestling.
I nodded at him, gathering my things. If I was being honest with myself, I knew that I needed time for myself, too, before we jumped into this life-changing decision.
