Page 110 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Want me to stay with you?” Liam asked.

“No. To be honest, I’d rather be alone right now.”

“He’s an idiot. Don’t worry about him.”

Will shook his head, smiling sadly.

“I’m the idiot. I don’t know what possessed me to imagine something could come of this. He’s really out of my league.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter. Goodnight, Liam.”

“Will…”

“And thanks for letting me see it.”

Having said that, Will went inside and closed the door behind him.

And then he broke.

February 16 | Sunday

Will had no idea how he was going to show his face at school tomorrow. For now, he lay buried under the covers, crying and trying not to think, which only made him think more. He’d silenced his phone because it was ringing non-stop. He had a few calls from Liam, a dozen or so from Norma, and several dozen from Oscar. He’d gotten a lot of text messages too, but he hadn’t read any of them. The only one of the three he wasn’t furious with was Liam, but he didn’t feel like talking even to him.

At one point, a knock sounded at the door. Will glanced at the clock next to his bed—it was half past eleven. It could be some persistent salesman. Or Oscar. Or Liam. Or anyone else, but after a moment’s thought, Will concluded that the answer didn’t really matter, because there wasn’t a single person he wanted to see right now. Or whom he would let see him in this state.

The knocking grew louder. In fact, it escalated into pounding. Will frowned and sat up, feeling a flicker of unease. He couldn’t imagine Oscar being determined enough to make such a racket.

Silence fell. Will let out a quiet breath, concluding that the pest, whoever it was, had apparently given up, but then…

He heard a loud crash.

Will jumped to his feet. Grabbing his phone, ready to call the police or Norma depending on what he saw, Will was sure someone had broken into his house. Racing downstairs, Will saw the front door was intact and immediately headed for the kitchen.

When he saw the intruder, his panic turned to anger.

“Did you just break down my door?” he snarled in disbelief, looking at Blake.

“I had to,” Alden replied. “I thought something had happened to you.”

“Like what?”

“How should I know?” the vampire snorted, irritated. “Did you get carbon monoxide poisoning? Pass out from alcohol poisoning? Electrocute yourself to death? You’re the one who wasn’t opening the door, so don’t act like I’m the crazy one!”

“Yeah, because people who don’t open their doors are the crazy ones,” Will sneered. “Did it not occur to you that I might not have been home?”

“But you are.”

“But I might not have been!”

“You couldn’t have been, because I could smell your annoying scent!” Blake announced angrily. “Why didn’t you just open the door? It’s almost noon, why are you still in your pajamas?” he asked reproachfully, studying Will with a watchful gaze. “You’re not going to tell me you were sleeping, are you?”

Will sighed heavily, with no energy to argue.

“What are you doing here, Blake?” he asked, his voice full of resignation.

“Our project is due tomorrow. Are you aware of that?”