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My heart rate quickened a little at this. “What?”
“Listen. I didn’t invite you here to apologize, really. In fact, I’m here to warn you.”
At this point I was starting to feel a little angry. His cageyness was getting annoying, and I was beginning to feel like I was being played. “Cole, what are you trying to say? Just spit it out. Please,” I added.
He glared. “I have something of yours, Mackenzie,” he began darkly, “a secret. And I don’t think you want me to give it away to anyone else. If this gets out, it could ruin you.”
Feeling sick to my stomach, I retorted, “What the hell is this? An ambush? You’re blackmailing me?”
“Just a heads-up, Mackenzie. You did something bad, and I’m going to use it against you if you don’t follow my instructions carefully.”
My brain went into a frenzy trying to determine what he could possibly have on me. I was a good kid. I was boring. What could he possibly know?
As though he read my mind, he said, “You cheated on your SAT.”
My mouth fell open in shock. How could he have figured that out? Jessica was the only one who knew. A wild scenario unfolded in my head: Jessica, being the fearless seductress she was, had sought Cole out, slept with him, and told him all my deepest secrets just to keep him away from me, to keep him for herself. It was an ugly thought, a nasty thought, and I could feel tears stinging in my eyes just imagining it. Surely my own best friend wouldn’t betray me so viciously, not even for a chance with Cole van der Hausen.
“How—how do you know that?” I asked.
“I have my ways,” he replied simply.
Wiping at my eye furiously, I asked, “What is it? What do you want from me? Money?”
For a split second I could detect a hint of regret in his eyes, a twinge of hurt. Cole ran his fingers back through his hair in frustration. “No, nothing like that. I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this, all of this, to protect you.”
“From what?!” I cried, and immediately clasped a hand over my mouth. I glanced around to see that a few people were now looking over at us.
“Be quiet,” Cole insisted under his breath. He smiled, to put the observers off the trail. I followed suit and forced a smile onto my face, even as I struggled to hold back tears.
“No,” I shot back in an undertone, “you keep saying that you want to protect me. Why?”
“Mackenzie, please listen to me. I have to get you out of that house by whatever means necessary. It’s not safe for you there. I can’t just stand by and watch you get hurt. Not after what happened to Chelsea,” he said quickly, then stopped himself.
“Who?” I asked, totally lost.
“Don’t ask me that. Don’t mention it. Please.”
“So,” I said softly. “What do you want me to do, then?”
“Move out,” he replied. “Get out of that fucking mansion. If you have nowhere to go, you can stay with me. In fact, knowing what kind of friends you have, it’s probably better that way.”
“Excuse me?” I demanded, leaning forward so as to keep my voice low.
“You have one week. I don’t care how you go about it, as long as you don’t mention me. Tell them you’re going on a girls’ trip with friends. Tell them you’re going to math camp. Tell them you fucking hate their guts and you just can’t stand to be under the same roof as them. I don’t care. Just get out of there before the week is out, and don’t you dare mention my name. If you don’t do what I ask, I will let your secret slip,” he concluded, folding his hands on the table.
By now, the tears were already sliding down my face. Feeling utterly devastated, totally trapped, I could only nod. What other choice did I have? “Fine,” I mumbled. “But I will sleep in a fucking landfill before I ever stay with you.”
With that, I stood up and ran out the door. As I passed the café window I caught a glimpse of Cole sitting with his face in his hands, looking like he’d just been punched in the gut.
Heart pounding loudly in my ears, I took off down the street, not even bothering to pull my hood up, crying openly as I shoved my way through the curious crowds. I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around what had just happened. It was unbelievable. This couldn’t possibly be my life—my dull, easy life. Things had finally started looking up, and now everything was ruined thanks to my own stupid mistake—and thanks to Cole. I wondered how in the world I could possibly make it on my own, how I would ever break the news to my mom that I was leaving. I realized it was probably safer just to keep it from her, to not tell her my plans. And what were my plans, anyway? I had nowhere to go. I supposed I would have to move in with Jessica, but then I also knew that she would be absolutely impossible to deal with. She would ask too many questions, she wouldn’t let me lie low.
No, I thought with a heavy heart, I would have to go it alone.
I was so absorbed in these horrible thoughts that it wasn’t until twenty minutes later that I realized I’d been walking in the wrong direction. I stopped short and looked around. The crowds had thinned to nothing, and the brick and concrete buildings rising up around me were totally unfamiliar. There was an unpleasant odor of gasoline and cigarette smoke cloaking the area, and I immediately turned back around to try and find my way back to familiar streets. I walked quickly for several minutes, tears clouding my vision, until an uncomfortable sound entered my consciousness. There were footsteps, coming from somewhere behind me.
Not daring to look back, I quickened my pace until I was nearly running, but the click-clack of heavy steps picked up speed, too. Fearfully, I broke into a full-on sprint, wishing that the boots I was wearing were better suited to the task. Finally, I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder, and I screamed at the sight of four tall, bulky men in sweatpants and T-shirts racing after me.
“Leave me alone!” I cried out. There was cruel laughter in response.
