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Chapter Thirty-four
Elena
BeingdonewithLachlanKelly would have been a lot easier if I hadn’t woken up to a text from him. And because I hated myself enough, I’d checked it instead of blocking him like I really should have.
He’d sent me a picture of a tween boy on a big, midnight-black horse. I double-checked, making certain it was from him. It was. Then I stared at the picture, zooming in and out, trying to decipher his message.
I came to the conclusion the boy was him, but that was only because, despite his young face, his hands were the size of baseball mitts as he clutched the reins, and he still had the same shaggy haircut.
Twinge, twinge, BOOM!
I closed the text, unwilling to put another ounce of mental energy into trying to figure Lock out. We were done. If he thought sending me adorable pictures of him in his youth would somehow endear him to me, he was clearly delusional.
Helen and Zadie were in the kitchen eating breakfast. I grabbed a banana and a gallon of coffee, needing to mainline it to get through the day. This was a big one. When I sat down at my usual spot, there was a Frappuccino topped with piles of whipped cream already there.
“What’s this?”
Helen pointed to it with her fork. “Lock just dropped it off. I told him, next time, he better bring me a drink too. He’s already on my shit list, he should know better.”
“Did he spit in it?” I pushed it with my fingertip, my stomach flipping over and over. What was he up to? And more importantly, why wouldn’t he leave me alone?
“Of course he didn’t,” Zadie admonished.
“Then why is he bringing me coffee?” I looked back and forth between them. Helen shrugged. Zadie smiled. I knew what Zadie thought, and it wasnotcorrect. I wouldn’t even be entertaining it.
“Is it an apology frap?” Helen asked.
“I don’t want his apologies. He needs to disappear so I can pretend he never happened.”
Helen pushed my frap with the tip of her finger. “Don’t think that’s happening.”
“Perfect. I absolutely needed another complication right now.”
“Any word on your mom?” Zadie asked gently.
Giving in, I scooped whipped cream into my mouth with my straw. “When I left the hospital last night, she was talking, but still really out of it. She’ll probably be in the hospital for another day or two, then possibly inpatient treatment for her depression.”
Helen shook her head. “Dude, this really sucks.”
I had to laugh at Helen’s eloquence. “No kidding. She’ll recover, but I don’t know if my dad will. The asshole is actually taking the day off to be with her. I know he’s going out of his mind, but I refused. Even if I didn’t have my big midterm presentation today, I would have refused.”
Zadie’s eyes bugged. “Your dad didn’t want to stay?”
“I think it’s more that he doesn’t know how to stay. He’s going to have to figure it out.” I scooped up more whipped cream. “I hate that he got this for me.”
Helen let out a long sigh and cocked her head in the direction of the house next door. “All I know is he screwed up in a big way, but I still think he’s a good guy. It might be deep down.Waydeep down, but it’s there.”
I held my hand out. “Do you think that helps?”
She twisted her red lips. “Yeah, no. I guess not. My mistake.”
I ate one more scoop of whipped cream then dumped the frap in the trash. My stomach was churning too much to even contemplate finishing it.
Tossing my banana peel in the trash too, I said goodbye, grabbed my backpack and phone, and headed to class. On the way there, Lock sent another picture. This one was of him and a man who had to be his father standing in front of a crystalline blue lake. Lock was taller than his dad, but still young. Maybe fifteen or sixteen. He was cute—of course he was—but I still didn’t get what he was doing.
I crammed my phone into one of the inside pockets of my backpack. Ireallydidn’t have time for this.
A post-class drink turned into a party on my deck. All the boys came, even Julien. Zadie was cooking, and Sal was just trying to keep up with everyone.
