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“No. Not exactly.” She glances around the room again, as if keeping tabs on everyone who might be looking at us.

“Then I don’t understand.”

“Just go, Max. I can’t…” She lowers her voice. “I can’t be seen with you, okay? The girls are already being a pain in my ass, and if they see me hanging out with you, then I’ll definitely be an outcast.”

My jaw ticks.

“You’re kidding, right? We’re not in high school anymore, Brooke. You’re a full grown adult. Why the hell do you care what they think? And if they were really your friends, they wouldn’t give a shit who you had breakfast with anyway.”

“What world are you living in?” Her stare sharpens. “Life doesn’t magically change after high school, Max. Some people will always be admired, while others are looked down on. And I refuse to be the latter.”

“That’s my point. Real friends don’t look down on you. They build you up. They don’t make you terrified that one wrong move will get you kicked out of their silly little club.”

Her lips press into a thin line.

“Look, Max. I don’t know how much clearer I can make this.” She looks away from me, back toward the window. “Please go sit somewhere else. Your company is the last thing I want right now.”

Fury surges through me as I get to my feet, leaving my tray exactly where it is, and stare her down.

“You know what? I only came over here because you looked like you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. But now I see that most of your problems are of your own making.” I shake my head. “I pity you, Brooke. I really do. You’re the kind of person who peaked in high school and is desperately trying to prove to people who don’t give a rat’s ass about you that you’re still worth something. If you don’t love yourself enough to not care what others think about you, that’s your problem. Being seen with me should be the least of your concerns.”

Her eyes flash with hurt, but I’m too angry to stop. Blind rage boils inside me now, and every ugly thought I’ve ever had about her is clawing its way to the surface.

“You don’t like that, do you? You don’t like people walking all over you?” I lean closer. “Then how about you stop making it so fucking easy for them? And if you can’t even do that, then what the hell are you good for?”

“You don’t know me.” Her voice breaks. “You don’t know the first thing about me.”

“I don’t have to know you to know exactly the type of person you are. You’re nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just a waste of space. Someone to ridicule and make fun of.” I point to my chest. “You know how I know that? Because you made me feel that exact same way. But unlike you, I know my worth. I don’t need your validation or your fucking friendship. I was just trying to be nice. Something you only know how to pretend to be.” My lip curls. “Inside, you’re nothing but rot.”

Brooke falls apart in front of me, burying her face in her palms as sobs rack her body, my words slicing into whatever part of her heart is still capable of bleeding.

I don’t stick around for the waterworks. I turn my back on her, hating that I let myself care in the first place.

Brooke is just like every other Red—selfish, spoiled, and rotten to the core.

With my appetite officially gone, I storm out of the dining room only to nearly collide with Sienna.

“What the hell was that about?” she asks, clearly having caught the whole messy interaction.

“Nothing. Just me remembering what a futile and useless fucking emotion pity is.”

I’m about to brush past her when she calls my name.

“Hey, are you doing anything later?”

I shake my head. “I’ll probably just be in my room writing. Later, I’m having dinner with the Cushmans.”

“Mind if I tag along? I don’t feel like going to the reunion mixer tonight.”

“They didn’t cancel that?”

Sienna arches a brow. “You mean because two Reds suddenly dropped dead back-to-back? Not a chance.”

“This fucking town,” I grumble.

“It is what it is.” She shrugs. “Knock on my door when you’re ready to go.”

I nod, then glance over Sienna’s shoulder one last time.