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“Nice chat. Let me know when dinner’s ready.”
I left them in the kitchen without commenting on the big announcement. I wasn’t confident enough in my abilities to control the words that came out of my mouth at this levels of rage, coursing through my body.
I was already going up the stairs when I heard my mother’s steps behind me. “Not in a mood for a talk, mom. Just let it go.”
Then a small and thin body jumped in front of me and stood in my way. Clementine’s, not my mother’s. I started doing everything my father made me do to calm myself down when I was a little kid who got angry and out of control.
I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. I started counting to a hundred. We had established that counting to ten wasn’t doing the trick for me.
This time I would probably need to use my pillow as a punching bag or wait until practice to get it out of my system. Or better yet, find Dylan Williams and smash his nose inwards. That should do it.
“Can I help you?” I snapped at her when I realized she wasn’t about to speak first. She opened her mouth to answer me, but I cut her off, “Oh, wait. I already did. I saved your miserable life. So, what the fuck do you want?”
“Lucas…,” my name came out as a moan out of annoyance, but it still made my heart flip inside my chest. And that made me hate her even more.
I shook my head to make her stop talking. She did.
“Nothing’s changed. I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want to look at you. I still hate you. You don’t exist.”
She lifted an eyebrow and cocked her head, “Is that a thing? Hating someone who doesn’t exist?”
She was mocking me. A defiance I hadn’t seen in her for years poured out of her entire body. It made me want to crush her like a cockroach. To intimidate her. She was on my territory, that should be easy, right?
“I could make your life even more miserable than it already is. Your room for the next three months is three steps away from mine. Don’t provoke me,Clementine,” I deliberately called her that. I wanted to hurt her. Show her we were no longer the kids we used to be. That the promises I gave her wouldn’t be kept. “And I’m not even going to begin explaining the damage I could do to you in school.”
I took one step towards her and erased the space between us. Our bodies almost touched.
“Or to your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said breathlessly and licked her lips, her eyes glued to my mouth. Mine were examining the little gold dots in hers.
I forgot she had those.
“I don’t care,” I snarled. “Stay out of my way. I’ll stay out of yours,” I paused. “I can’t promise anything about that creeper, though.”
She rolled her eyes, showing me she wasn’t impressed with my moody attitude. It was fine. I had time to torture her. Three whole months. I leaned forward and my nose almost touched hers. She took a sharp breath.
“Now get the fuck out of my way.”
Chapter Nine
Clementine
My first dinner at the Cole’s home was a disaster. Lucas was so pissed I thought smoke would start coming out of his nostrils every time he exhaled loudly through his nose. His lips were tightly pressed together most of the time.
He was cutting his meal with such anger I wouldn’t be surprised if he imagined he was cutting me into miniscule pieces.
There was an awkward silence. The only one talking was Troy. He was blabbing about one of his video games. I nodded the whole time, barely listening to him. The hate that Lucas radiated from across the table was affecting not only my hearing, but also my sense of taste. I was sure that Elizabeth’s lasagna was good enough even for people who were used to home-cooked meals, but it was tasteless to me.
I felt so out of place, I didn’t dare to move.
Lucas finished his meal at what I believed was a record time and stormed off upstairs. He closed his door with a thud. All eyes, even Troy’s, darted at me.
Elizabeth exhaled as if she was holding her breath for hours.
“He’ll get used to it,” she half smiled at me. Lucas’s father, Garret, snorted, but said nothing. She pretended she didn’t hear him, “Tomorrow will be better.”
I wasn’t sure if she was convincing us or herself. Troy looked confused. I could bet that there were not many conflicts between his parents, but obviously Garret wasn’t on board with me being here. He probably thought my presence will cause more problems than solve any. I thought that too.
