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“What’s wrong? You’ve just gone really tense.”
“You know Conner’s girl?” I say around a tight expression.
“Yeah,” Hadley breathes, already turning to look, guessing what I’m about to say.
“Well, that’s her.”
“Oh.” She looks between Kennedy and Conner, her own shoulders tightening, clearly able to see what I can in my twin brother. “Things are about to get interesting, aren't they?”
“It’s the Heights,” I mumble. Shit always gets interesting.”
Conner
My heart slams against my ribs as I look up into her light blue eyes. My breath catches as I realize that I was not prepared in the slightest to see her again, despite the fact that I hoped she’d be here.
I’d hoped to see her at Halloween. It’s the reason I even suggested Cole and I went to the party that night. But I was disappointed.
I know she was mad when we left, but I wasn’t expecting her to disappear from my life the second we stepped foot outside the Heights.
It hurt.
It really fucking hurt.
She’d always been my girl. My best friend. And she just cut me out of her life like I meant nothing. Like I hadn’t cut out my own heart and stomped all over it just so she could find her own happiness months before that.
My fists curl at my sides as I study her. Her makeup is the same, the heavy eyeliner she always loved firmly in place along with her dark, stained lips. I run my eyes down her body, over the small black dress she’s wearing that shows off what she always used to try to hide, and the ink that covers her left arm, although I swear there’s more than there was the last time I saw her.
It’s not until I find her eyes again that something explodes within me. She’s done a fairly good job, but even the best makeup artist would struggle to cover the black eye she’s trying to hide.
My gaze turns to her boyfriend, Warren, another old friend.
It was always the three of us growing up. Despite the fact that Warren was in Ace’s year at school, he just connected with Kenny and me.
His eyes narrow on mine when he senses my stare, and I swear his grip on Kenny tightens. Surely, he can’t be feeling threatened by my presence. I haven’t spoken or even seen either of them since the summer. As much as I might like to steal his girl from him, I’m sure the reality of that happening the first time we see each other again after this long is unlikely.
Ripping my eyes away from the couple, I stare at the coffee table in front of me. I don’t miss my brother’s burning stare, but I can’t look up at him. He’ll see too much, and the last thing any of us need tonight is me getting into it with someone who was meant to be my best friend over the state of my girl’s face.
She’s not your fucking girl.
Shaking my head, I push from the couch and stalk from the room in the hope of finding something stronger than the beer someone handed me when I first walked in.
We’re meant to be celebrating tonight. It’s a new year, one where our lives are going to change forever as we finish high school and embark on our first steps toward our futures, and all I want to do is walk out and forget it’s even happening.
How can looking at one person change everything so fast? I was pumped to be here tonight. To show Remi and Hadley just a bit of our old lives, to feel like the old me once again.
But it’s too much.
All of it is too fucking much.
I find a bottle of vodka in the kitchen and twist the top. The first swig burns, but even with the strength of it, I fear it’ll never remove the image of her attempt to hide that bruise.
“Are you okay?” A soft hand lands on my upper arm, and when I turn, I find Hadley staring back at me with concern filling her eyes.
“Yeah. I’m great, it’s New Year’s Eve.” But despite the effort I put into my words, they fall totally flat. Hadley’s face drops, telling me she didn’t miss it either.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“And ruin your night as well? No, I really fucking don’t.”
