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It’s a façade. Cole is more attuned to his environment than anyone else. He just hides it well.
Silver sits two seats in front of him, earbuds in, and her gaze lost in the distance. Even her minions aren’t there. Now that I think about it, Summer and Veronica don’t hang around her as much anymore.
Aiden is nowhere to be seen.
I fight the tug of disappointment and fail.
He and I need to talk. A lot. He needs to give me a heads-up about the disasters he’s planning. I want to hear it from him first, not from the gossip floating around the school.
Biting my lower lip, I contemplate asking the others about his whereabouts.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I smile when I see the name on the screen. Maybe he has telepathic powers after all.
Aiden: Meet me at the pool.
I don’t even think about it. We still have time until the start of class, so I drop my backpack in my seat and take off in the direction of RES’s pool.
Upon arriving, the smell of chlorine clogs my nostrils and my feet falter at the threshold.
I was so excited about seeing Aiden that I forgot how much deep water freaks me out.
Since it’s the early morning, the place is empty. Taking a deep breath, I cross the last few steps on unsteady legs.
“Aiden?” My voice echoes in the large space.
“In here, sweetheart.”
I round the corner and freeze. Aiden stands in front of the deep side of the pool. I would’ve taken a moment to appreciate his built, his black strands falling over his forehead in abandon, but he’s not alone.
Adam is there with him, his eyes bloodshot, puffy, and all wrong. Even his shirt is in disarray like he pulled an all-nighter in a drug cartel.
“What’s going on?” I stare between the two of them.
“Herran came to apologise.” Aiden pats his shoulder, but there isn’t an ounce of camaraderie in it. If anything, he appears on the edge of something sombre and diabolical. “Didn’t you?”
Adam remains quiet, his face reddening by the second.
“She’s waiting.” Aiden grips the rugby team’s captain — former captain — by the shoulder.
He’s broader and buffer than Aiden, but for some reason, Aiden is the one who appears more powerful. All godlike and invincible.
At this moment, he reminds me of a general who never lost a war. A hero through and through.
Thinking of Aiden as a hero is strange, though. He’s not the hero, he’s the villain.
But right now, as he grips Adam, after he kicked him out of the school for hurting me, I can’t help but think of him as a hero.
Just this once.
“I’m sorry,” Adam spits.
“No, no.” Aiden tsks. “Repeat it and mean it this time.”
“I don’t care about his apology,” I say. “He’s nothing.”
“That’s true.” Aiden’s lips curve into a smile. “But he still needs to apologise. You can do it standing or on your knees, Herran. Your choice.”
Adam’s red-rimmed eyes meet mine, but they’re filled with maliciousness more than anything else.
