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I narrowed my eyes at him.
Her?
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know about this mysterious girl. Leo raised his eyebrows right after he said the word. It was enough to make my blood boil, and yet, it was uncharacteristic of me.
If he had a female friend, so be it. I had Pierre.
And now, maybe it was only right of me to understand what Elliot was going through, the jealously he had for what me and Pierre had together. Now, all of a sudden, Elliot had a past with his own friend. It was only fair.
“What’s her name?” I asked, and hated the way my voice sounded. But I was curious.
“Ruby,” he answered. “She didn’t go to Woodman.”
I nodded, letting the fact sink in. The same tattoo that I loved so much was done by a girl—or woman—that was closer to Elliot than I was. Close enough to permanently create art on his skin.
It was a level of intimacy I could only hope to achieve with him.
“Well, well, well,” said a familiar, shrill voice. I looked up to find Vivian standing over our table. “If it isn’t my girl, Kathleen Silver. And her …” She paused to give Elliot and Leo each a separate, long half-lidded look, as if she herself were picking her next meal. “… boytoys.”
“What do you want?” I blurted, wanting anything but to get sucked into a long uncomfortable conversation of beating-around-the-bush. “With Tara I mean. Why were you eating with her?”
Vivian put on a pouty expression, twisting a lock of her long brown-dyed hair. She was wearing a crop top, even though it was almost winter.
“Nice to see you, too, roomie,” she replied, putting her elbow on the back of Elliot’s seat. I refrained from swatting at and sinking my nails into her hand out of fear of her calling me names—something to do with being a cat, no doubt. I wasn’t in the mood. She leaned down as if to whisper something in Elliot’s ear, but spoke for the rest of us to hear. “I have a favor to ask … and something to give in return.”
“That wasn’t my question,” I said flatly. “What are you doing with Tara?”
Vivian’s bright pink lips twisted into a smirk. “I’m getting to that, sweetie.”
Fuck me. I’d blow my brains out every time she addressed me as anything, let alone sweetie.
Who did she think she was?
“Make it quick,” I responded.
Since Elliot and I occupied the one side of the booth, she stepped toward Leo’s side and squeezed in next to him. Leo, obviously not expecting her to make that move, awkwardly shuffled over to give her room so that his shoulder hugged the wall.
She folded her hands on the table as if she were about to make a business proposal. Which is exactly what she was here for. Or, might as well have been.
Vivian opened her mouth, but just as she was about to say something, Leo beat her to it.
“You want a foursome,” he said, nodding. “Knew it.”
Vivian rolled her eyes, and shifted a little away from him. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile, and caught Leo smirking back at me.
“First of all, I just want us to forget everything that happened,” Vivian continued, talking more to me than anyone else. “I want us to start off clean. I’m on your side—and I can help you.” Her eyes shifted to Elliot, and she took in a deep breath. The school wants to kick me out. My grades suck, the RAs hate me, and apparently I’m leaving trails of empty bottles and … plastic bags. And my parents want me back home because of what happened,” she explained, and I couldn’t help but cringe at her pinched-up tone of voice. I used to think it was just a Cali girl accent, but Tara had proven otherwise.
“Because of your addiction?” I butted in, just as the waiter came bearing our meals. Vivian lowered her head, glancing over her shoulder as if to make sure no other strangers had heard that. I didn’t care what they thought of her—actually the worse they thought, the better. She deserved it. “Or the fact that you tried to obliterate me? Or is it something even more sinister?”
I started on my fries, but Elliot waited before reaching for his sandwich. Leo, on the other hand, dug right into his burger.
“No one’s perfect, but I’m not addicted, Kath-leen,” she drawled. She paused a moment to sit back, flip a lock of hair over her shoulder, and check her phone, as if she wanted to waste our time. “According the Dean of Students, or whoever, there’s a chance that I won’t get kicked out if I do something to ‘contribute positively to the campus community,’ or some shit like that.”
I nearly choked on my food. Something positive? Was she kidding?
“Like,” I started slowly, “an extracurricular?”
Vivian nodded. “Yeah, but like, more than that. I need to like, start a cult, or something. Like the rowing team.”
