I could just… leave.
My feet come to a halt, and I make a split-second decision. Ignoring the shouts of my bodyguards, I turn and push through the throng of people in the opposite direction. Water pelts me until I’m drenched and shivering, but my mind is focused on one thing—the out-of-service fire escape on the other side.
I yank the door open, stepping into an unlit stairwell, the coolness of the metal railing beneath my shaking hands a soothing relief. The sprinklers haven’t gone off here. My heart races as I remember the layout of the school. I takethe stairs two at a time, the echo of the alarm getting lost in the background. I don’t know what I’m doing, or where I’m going, but the adrenaline coursing through me pushes me forward. Marissa is probably frantic right now. I can’t bring myself to care.
As I reach the ground floor, I push through the door and burst into the open air. The pungent smell of garbage hits me, but relief washes over me. I’m alone.
I lean against the brick wall, struggling against my soaked clothes. My chest heaves as I push out ragged breaths, willing my legs to stop shaking. I want to scream or kick something, but I can’t move, I can’t think, so I just slide to the ground and hide my face between my knees, making myself small until the world stops pulsing in my ears.
I’m not sure how long I stay like that.
When I look up finally, I spy the 7-Eleven across the road, where Kai and I used to buy snacks and accidentally got drunk on White Claws once.
Kai. The name spears through me like a dagger to the heart. So many of the pivotal moments that make memeare ones I shared with him and Mia. It’s been over two years since I’ve seen him. Mia used to be the one who filled me in on his life, but that was before she left for college. I have no idea where he is or what he’s been doing, but it’s no wonder he hates me—
“Hey,” a voice says behind me.
For a moment, time stands still, frozen in a thread-thin spell. I don’t move. I don’t turn. That voice…
“Kai?” I whip around, if only to confirm I’m not experiencing some sort of auditory hallucination. But there heis, standing right in front of me in dark jeans and a leather jacket.
As if I’ve summoned him from a dream. Or a nightmare.
“Sash.”
I shoot to my feet. Reality comes into focus, and my chest floods with a blend of emotions—shock, lingering hurt, a touch of fond annoyance. Kai flashes a smirk, his voice deeper and more guarded than I remember. It still carries a sense of familiarity. It anchors me to the ground, and suddenly I’m no longer spinning. There’s just me and him, standing between the garbage cans.
My eyes rove down his figure. Back then, my five foot seven was almost on par with his five ten, but now he towers over me, at least a head taller. His features have sharpened, his full cheeks replaced by a more mature, V-shaped face with multiple silver piercings across his earlobes, bringing out the deep golden undertones of his light brown skin. His hair, faded in the back, falls across his forehead in dark brown waves and is tied back in a tiny ponytail. But the intensity in his eyes remains.
“Long time no see,” he says.
My feet edge forward, my arms opening slightly, as if reaching for a hug, but I force myself to stay put. The last time we spoke, it wasn’t pretty. We both said things. The memory is fresh, wounds that haven’t healed yet.
I don’t know why or how he’s here right now. Whether he still hates me.
Kai’s voice breaks the stunned silence. “I know. I’ve gotten so much hotter since you last saw me, but I did not trigger the fire alarm just for us to get caught.”
“Wait, you pulled the fire alarm?” I’m trying to keep up, but moving through the static in my brain feels like wading through mud. “How are you even here?”
“I was in the neighborhood.” He shrugs. “I go to college nearby.”
I want to ask him what his major is, but I’m still reeling from how he seemingly popped up out of nowhere. Also, what the fuck does he mean byI was in the neighborhood?
“We gotta run” is all I manage to say. It won’t take long for Marissa and my bodyguards to find me. “I’m pretty sure there are paparazzi by the main entrance. I don’t want them to find me.”
I can’t go back to the wall of people and noise.
“Yeah, your makeup is running and you kinda look like the raccoon that used to hide in your backyard,” Kai jokes, but his body language betrays his nerves. His sneaker taps an anxious rhythm against the ground, and his dark brown eyes flit about, scanning our surroundings.
“It’s been a long day.” I roll my eyes. Always so direct. Some things never change.
“Sasha, you look like you haven’t slept indays.” Kai’s eyes cloud with worry, and I fight the urge to turn around. My hair is plastered across my forehead, and there are shadows under my eyes from the sleep I still need to catch up on.
“You coming or what?” I say, stomping forward.
“Coming? Coming where?”
“I don’t know.” I stop in my tracks, scanning the road. I have no idea where I’m going. All I know is that I need to leave. My heart will give out if I stay here a minute longer.
