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Chapter Nine
Zadie
Sundaymorning,Amirsentme a text.
MyCaptor:Take the day off.
Monday and Tuesday, he sent me two more.
MyCaptor:Don’t need you today.
MyCaptor:Have a thing going today. Don’t need you at the house. I’ll let you know when I want you.
“Oh my god, what’s so fascinating on your phone?” Elena groaned, grabbing for it after I checked it for the tenth time.
“Nothing.” I stuffed it in my messenger bag to rid myself of the temptation. “Sorry, I was just waiting to hear from my mom.”
She picked the cheese out of her veggie wrap. “That’s fine and all, but I’m needy, Zadie. If I don’t have enough attention, I have a tendency to become destructive.”
We were having dinner at a table Elena had chosen in the center of the dining hall, and more than one person continually glanced at her or out and out stared. After living with her for a semester, I already knew she was rarely without attention. One of the reasons I liked her was because she was unabashed about who she was, including the facets of her personality that many people—okay, most people—would consider flaws.
I offered her a grin. “Eli’s coming to visit with my mom this weekend. I’ll bring him by the suite. He’ll give you all the attention you need.”
She threw down her cheese. “Okay, no. I do have standards, and sixteen-year-olds do not meet them. Not that baby bro isn’t adorable, but...no.”
I giggled imagining the heartbreak Eli would go through if he knew Elena had called him adorable.
“Tell me what kind of attention you need then. My phone is gone, it’s just you and me.”
She tossed her wrap down then picked up her napkin to twist it between her fingers. “I’m thinking about breaking up with all my friends.”
My smile fell away. “Okay…”
Her eyes met mine, and she must have seen my rising hurt, because she waved her hands in a flurry. “Oh my god, obviously I don’t meanyou. I have more couth than to sit across from you and share that I’mthinkingof breaking up with you. If that time ever came, I’d go out in a blaze of glory, not over a crappy veggie wrap in the dining hall.”
Before she could explain, Helen set her tray down on our table with Theo beside her, and their friend, Lock, on Theo’s other side. Where Theo was handsome, Lock was rugged and built like a mountain. He looked like he belonged in a forest chopping down trees rather than the pristine, palm-tree-lined Savage U campus. They both made me nervous and too shy to do anything other than offer a brief smile.
“What’s happening?” Helen asked. “I feel like we interrupted something.”
Elena picked up her wrap again. “That’s because you did. You could wait until we’re done talking, snatch.”
Helen flipped her off. “No one wants to hear your business, bitch.”
Elena arched a brow. “Then why are you sitting here?”
“Z’s here. I can’t leave her alone with you for long or you’ll turn her into one of your pod people friends.” Helen shuddered. “Living with one of you is my limit.”
Elena unrolled her wrap completely and began to dismantle it. “Do you think living with you is a dream? You couldtrynot to corrupt Zadie. I saw you teaching her how to make shanks out of my toothbrush.”
Helen snorted. “Didn’t I tell you toothbrushes make terrible shanks?”
“Yeah.” All eyes swung to me. “It wasn’t your toothbrush, El. It was actually your comb, and I was the one who asked Helen for a tutorial.”
Theo was the first to crack, slapping the table as he laughed. Lock let a deep rumble of amusement roll through him. Helen grinned at me, and Elena sent a sharp elbow jab to my ribs followed by a kiss to my head.
For a girl who’d completely stepped away from forming any attachments after Drew took over my life, it was a little overwhelming...but nice. Nice to feel normal, liked, make them laugh with silly, makeshift prison weapon jokes.
“Anyway,” Elena tossed her shiny blonde hair behind her shoulder, “I was telling Zadie I am done with my friends. They’re just…” She made a snarly face.
