I guess that means he does hate me.
I scowl. Well, he doesn’t get to hate me.
“Sorry,” I say to Carly. “I’m going to River’s boxing match. It’s a ranked match for the east coast universities. But maybe we can watch horror movies some other night?”
Carly nods, pretending not to be disappointed, but I see the way her expression falls. “Yeah, that’s fine. Good luck to River.” She pauses. “You’re still talking to him? Despite…”
“Despite what?” I ask. “Did something happen?”
She shakes her head, because she knows better than to bring up the fucking videos of me getting passed around. Anyway, River isn’t in those videos. Neither are Blaze and Asch.
Except for their hands, where they’re holding me down or stroking my hair. But mostly nobody filmed my face, if you know what I mean.
Actually, I haven’t heard much about the videos lately. I still get weird looks and pitying glances, but I guess everybody has moved on to the next hot thing. Maybe there’s a viral video about open heart surgery or something.
“Well, anyway. Tanya has another friend who’s into movies. He’s actually the head of the school’s film club. I was thinking of joining. And…”
I give zero fucks about the film club.
I’ve never been a group activity person anyway. Unless we’re counting foursomes, and technically I haven’t done that yet.
I also won’t do it, because Asch and Blaze are still fighting, and River doesn’t like either of those two assholes, and I’m supposed to hate all of them even if they’re trying really hard to convince me not to.
I’m sorry.
It’s not enough. It can’t be enough.
Somebody approaches our table. I glance up, immediately on edge, when I see an older guy with dark hair and a creepy smile.
I’ve seen him somewhere before, but I can’t place him.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” he says, pointing to the empty chair next to me. “There aren’t any empty seats.”
I’m about to tell him to fuck off, but Carly nods. “Yeah, it’s fine.”
The guy sits down and takes a tablet out. I want to ignore him, like Carly is doing, but now I can’t concentrate on what she’s saying.
Finally, I blurt out, “Where the fuck do I know you from?”
The guy looks up from his tablet and grins. “Maybe a party? I was dressed as Perseus.”
Oh.
That creep.
I can’t remember his name.
“No, you were dressed as a random gladiator,” I say. “Aren’t you a bit old for Halloween parties anyway?”
“Pandora!” Carly gives the guy an apologetic look. “Sorry. Here, we can scoot our table away.”
The guy shakes his head. “Nah, it’s fine. Hi, Pandora. I’m Ezio.”
Right. Ezio.
I shift so I’m facing him directly. “Did Blaze tell you about me? Who are you, anyway?”
Carly immediately tenses up. “You’re with Kappa Alpha?”
