“What?” I ask, wanting to shrink under his scrutiny.
“That was Hercules Valentine, and you know it.”
I try to keep my breaths even. “He was just walking me home.”
“Is he the one who saved you?”
I nod briskly.
“Did he invite you to the party?”
“No.”
“Who invited you?”
I frown. I don’t understand the reason for his rapid-fire questions. With Max, just about everything he says has an angle, and I’m trying to figure out what his questions mean.
“A girl invited me.” I shake my head. “Actually, a boy named Donovan Milner.”
“Donovan Milner,” he repeats.
“Yes. Donovan Milner.”
“Is he a friend of yours?”
My mouth is caught open, and tears suddenly pool in my eyes. Max has never inquired about my friends. Confessing the truth to him makes me feel sad for myself. Why didn’t I tell him how lonely my year has been? If anyone could have changed Valentine country to Grove country, it's Max.
“I don’t have any new friends at Dorset Meacham.”
Max’s eyebrows crimp as if he's disturbed by my revelation. “What do you mean by ‘new friends’?”
“Nobody would talk to me because, apparently, the Valentines made it that way.”
He wipes his face with the palms of his hands as he sighs. “I wish you’d said something.”
“I didn’t know until tonight.”
He nods thoughtfully. “Then Hercules Valentine isn’t your friend?”
I grunt, frustrated. “Are you really sussing out how close I am to the ‘enemy’? He saved me. That’s all you need to know.” I’m getting too worked up. My head is running laps, and I’m trying to keep myself sitting and steady.
“Yes, I am. Because, Paisley, the last thing we need is to be indebted to those people.”
His tone is biting, and the shock of it renders me speechless. Max isn’t the sunniest person on the planet, but he has affected a sort of even-tempered persona. Even when he’s angry, he’s very calm and in control.
“‘Those people,’ Max? Really?”
He stares. His steely gaze focuses on nothing at all. However, hate is evident in his eyes.
“What do you know about the Valentines that I don’t know?” I ask.
Max continues glaring straight ahead.
I roll my eyes, feeling dizzy and very bitter. “I don’t understand why there’s a silly feud between our families, anyway. We’re successful. They’re successful. What’s the problem?”
“There’s nothing silly about it.” When he faces me, I inhale sharply at the blazing hatred in his eyes.
“What did they do?”
