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“WhyisElliot going to school here?” I began, leaning forward to rest my chin in my hands. “In fact, why are all of you going to school here? Aren’t you all, how do I put this lightly…”I tapped my chin sarcastically, as if searching for the phrase Pierre and I had already perfectly curated for the past four years. “…trustfund babies?”
“Wow. Harsh.” Felix cracked another smirk. “Elliot’s family is broke.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. When he didn’t elaborate, I’d assumed the joke was nonexistent.
“Elliot’s dad declared bankruptcy at the beginning of senior year,” he continued, his smile slipping. “So, yeah. Plot twist. He’s poor.”
I shook my head, still processing his words.
“What?” I whispered. “How?”
Felix shrugged.
“Didn’t say. Doesn’t really matter to me, to be honest. I don’t ask questions. Leo and I… between the two of us, we’ve been carrying his family for the past few months. Elliot’s been staying at my house since January.” He paused, noticing the expression twisting on my face. Hetook in a deep breath. “So, yeah. Going to a school out of state wasn’t an option for him, but he was adamant about moving out of his parents’ place. With all the shit going on between them, it made complete sense. So, here we are. Three roommates, splitting rent at a third-rate public university a ten-minute drive away from our hometown.”
He shrugged, a tired laugh escaping his lips. When he looked back up at me to find that I wasn’t amused, he dropped the look.
“Not that there’s anything wrong with a place like Powell,” he said slowly. “Or Freeman.”
“I accept your apology,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Nowcan you tell me where he is?”
Felix opened his mouth as if about to reply, but then quickly closed it. I wasn’t about to let that slip.
“Hey, don’t censor yourself now, pretty boy,” I said. “It’s a simple question.”
“It’s really not,” he responded, suddenly sitting upright. “Now that your airhead roommate got wind of all this shit happening between you and Elliot—and that yourmom’sinvolved—itkindaadds a whole other layer of confusion to this thing.”
“Wait, just wait,” I said, putting my hands to my temples. “How doyouknow that my mom’s in on this?”
“Your roommate sent the video to your mom, right?”
I nodded.
“Well, your mom must’ve sent it to Elliot’s dad, or told him about it, because Elliot found out and toldme,” Felix answered.
“I don’t get it. All Vivian did was send a video to my mom of me getting into Elliot’s car,” I said. “I get why my mom found it weird, but why does anyone else care?”
“It wasn’t justthatvideo,” Felix sighed, and pulled out his phone. “Look, I don’t know how else to break this to you, but…”
He extended his phone over to me. After a moment’s hesitation, I took it, swallowing as I looked down at the screen.
I threw it right back at him.
“What thehell?” I said, standing up. “What the hellisthat?”
It was a rhetorical question. I knew exactly what the fuck that was. A video. Of me. And him.
Fucking.
“Why the hell would you show me that?” I hissed, trying to hold back from screaming, from kicking the coffee table to its side. “How? How did she—”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I didn’t show you!” Felix fired back, pushing himself off the bean bag and onto his knees. Grabbing my hair in my hands, I began pacing around the room.
The party. Of course. Elliot’s cousin’s house.
We’d gone upstairs, where we’d thought no one would be. Just like she had done with Eric the night before that.
And what had I done?
