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TWO
Seth
There was something about that girl that I couldn’t get out of my damn head.
Bailey Donovan.
I’d never noticed her before—didn’t even realize we had first period together. I don’t know how someone like her could have flown under my radar for so long. But now that I had noticed her, I had no intention of walking away without getting what I wanted from her first.
I caught Gemma and Bailey outside by Gemma’s car. Gemma took immediate notice of me, her cheeks burning red, but the girl I wanted to look at me completely ignored my presence as if I didn’t exist.
And it irked my fucking nerves.
I cleared my throat, but Bailey only proceeded to open the door and throw her stuff in. Gemma looked at Bailey and nudged her with her elbow. Bailey looked over her shoulder at me, shrugged, and turned back around, pulling her phone from her pocket, texting someone back. “Tell your brother I said hi,” Gemma said.
Bailey rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything in response.
“The weather is fucking fantastic,” I sarcastically commented.
Bailey finally looked back up at me, annoyance flashing in her eyes. “Do you just not understand what someone’s silence means?” she demanded.
God, I loved her snarkiness.
I smirked and stuffed my hands in the pockets of my jeans, hiding my wince when I hit a cut on my wrist. Her eyes flashed for a moment, almost as if she could sense something was wrong with me.
She was too perceptive.
A smirk tilted her lips, and she stepped a little closer to me. I gritted my teeth to bite back the pain when she wrapped her hand around my wrist. “Not so cocky now, are you?” she whispered.
“You mind letting me the fuck go?” I asked her. Gone was my flirty, cocky demeanor. I glared down into her face, anger burning in my eyes.
Her smile dropped from her face. I was hoping I’d scared her off.
“Let’s have a chat, Seth.” She released me and flashed a smile at Gemma. “Wait for me, yeah? I’ll be back in a few. Seth wants to talk to me about an assignment.”
Not giving me or her best friend a chance to respond, she grabbed my upper arm and steered me away from the student parking lot.
* * *
Bailey
Once we wereat the edge of the parking lot and away from prying ears and eyes, I swung around to face Seth, anger burning in my gaze. I barely knew this guy, but I was furious. I’d almost lost Trent when I was thirteen because of this same thing that I knew Seth was doing to himself.
Trent had been suffering from depression, but he had hidden it from everyone.
That was, until I found him lying on the bathroom floor in a small pool of his own blood. I’d barely found him in time.
The images of all of that blood flashed through my mind, quickening my heart rate. I pushed those images aside, knowing if I dwelled on them, it would cause an anxiety attack. It was the day my parents had also found out I’d been hiding my anxiety.
They still didn’t know about my depression.
“Why?” I angrily asked Seth, my eyes searching his, desperate for answers. I couldn’t stand by and let someone do to themselves what Trent had almost done.
He snorted. “You ask as if I’ll fucking tell you shit,” he said, looking away from me. “The fuck do you think it is anyway?” he asked, looking back at me.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You cut yourself, Seth.” I ran my eyes over him. “The hoodie when it’s almost a hundred degrees outside, never rolling your sleeves up—it all makes sense now.” I knew I’d worn a hoodie this morning, but I’d taken it off by lunch.
He laughed. “You sure about that?” he asked me. “That’s attention-seeking shit.” He leaned in close to me. God, he smelled so good. “I’m not that kind of guy, sweetheart. I naturally get attention.” He waved his arm over his body. “Have you not seen this?”
