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Whatever it is I asked from her made her crack.
“Screw you, Cole. This conversation is over.”
She stuffs her plugs back into her ear and looks the other way, determined not to give me any time of the day.
But she’s given me more than enough. She gave me a clue.
That I was right.
She is hiding something.
And that’s only gotten me more convinced to find out exactly what it is.
Chapter 18
Monica
When we get to the location, Cole and his buddies didn’t want to get out, so I jumped out of my seat and slid out without saying a word. I wasn’t going to stay there one more minute with his wolfish eyes on me.
His questions came in hard and fast, and I did not expect to get that triggered by them, but I did. He has no right to ask me about anything, let alone my “secrets.” I don’t know who told him what, if it was Jenny or some other gossipy bitch from my old school, but one thing’s for sure … he’s fishing, and I don’t want to wait until he’s baited me into telling him the truth.
“Monica!” Mel calls, waving at me from the parking lot.
I clutch my bag close and go to her. “Hey. Sorry for being late. My mom gave me an earful of advice I didn’t need.”
She laughs. “Don’t worry about it,” she says. “I was gonna save you a seat, but the teachers forced us to fill up the bus. Literally, all the spots were taken …” She rolls her eyes. “Well, except for next to Cole’s.”
“I swear, he left that open specifically for me,” I reply, rolling my eyes.
“You think?” She blinks at me a couple of times. “I mean, I hate to say it out loud, but you two really have something going on there.”
I gasp. “Nooooo, nothing’s going on.”
I really don’t want her to know about the lake thing, even though she technically knows, I’m not about to spill the beans on the whole story.
“He’s trying to get to you,” she says, placing a hand on my arm. “Don’t let him. This playboy thing is just his jam. He likes the fangirls. I mean, look.” She points at the front of the main lodge where the registry is. There are a bunch of people collected all around Cole and his buddies, all asking for autographs. Girls fawn over him like he’s some kind of god, and it makes the bile rise in my throat.
“See? He loves it,” she says.
“Tell me about it.”
She nudges me with her elbow. “Just forget about him. Don’t let him hurt you again.”
“Right …”
“And chin up, we’re here, we’re not gonna let him spoil all our fun.” She winks, making me smile. “C’mon. Let’s go pick our bunkbed.”
Cole
After a long and boring day out in the woods, we finally get back to the cabin and throw ourselves down on our beds. Tristan managed to secure us a four-person cabin, so we don’t have to deal with fans while trying to sleep. I mean, it’s happened before, and it’s not a pleasant experience, save from the few times I jumped into bed with some of them. I used to love it when girls randomly slipped into my bed, but right now, I’m only interested in that girl being Monica.
But I’m not here to play games. I’m here because our gig got canceled, and Tristan wanted to use this time to practice in front of a crowd and hopefully get ready for our big meeting. Because I’m opening the envelope right now with the boys looking over my shoulders, eager to read every single word.
We read through it all at once, but three words are enough to make us all go bonkers. “Invitation to an audition …”
Tristan and Benjamin bro-hug and dance together while Michael throws a fist up in the air. “Fuck yeah!” They hug me and force me to get up, so we all jump together and butt-heads.
“We’re the real deal, fellas,” Benjamin says.
“Honest to God, I thought we’d never make it,” Tristan says. “But it’s all thanks to you.” He looks at me now.
“No … we did this together …” I say, looking at each one of them in the eyes. “And we’ll finish this together too. TO TRIGGER!” I roar, and the boys roar with me.
Monica
I’m on my way from the girls’ common room to the cabin where I’m staying when loud screaming makes me jump up and down on the stone path. I almost shrieked from the scare. I wonder what the hell it is. It came from the cabin next to me. Maybe someone needs help?
I approach the cabin, making sure no one sees me as we’re not allowed to go anywhere near the men’s cabins according to school rules, but I can’t help it. I need to know if someone’s in danger, you never know.
