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"Son of a what?" Marv's voice went low and dark. "What the hell,Grayson?"
I swallowed. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?" God, I was lying through my fucking teeth. “I know,” I lied, “that your father has been fucking my mother. Yeah,Marv—" I sneered his name. “Iknow.”
"What the fuck are you talking about,man?"
"Oh, were you unaware?" I focused on one of the gardeners trimming hedges at the very back of the property. From my vantage point, he was a mere, blurry blip several yards in the distance. "Yeah, Marv, the great Anthony Carter is banging a Vandersen. I have to wonder if that's not the real reason they divorced." Teddi would be outraged to hear me talk about the divorce, but it wasn't like Marv—and half the city—didn't alreadyknow.
I listened as Marv drew in a shaky breath. "Listen, man. You're upset. I can promise you, my dad wouldn't do anything like that. I don't know what you heard,but—"
"I saw them together." The lie popped out of my mouth before I knew it. My breath shuddered out of my chest and I had to cover the lower half of the phone to keep him from hearingit.
"What?"
Too late. It was already too late. "Yeah," I said. "Walked in on them. So, don't you tell me what I do and don't know. Why don't you stick to your own family drama and leave me the fuck out ofit."
There was a brief moment of silence before, “You're a goddamn fucking liar, Caruso. But I fucking get it. I'm out. Don't call me again. Stay in your own snake pit for all I care.” The dial tone echoed in my ear. I slowly lowered the phone and let it slip from my fingertips. He had no clue how close he was. Snake pit. That's exactly what this goddamn place was. There was no way in hell I'd ever getout.
My eyes fell on the brochure and papers for Jacques Morris Academy once more. There would only be more of the same if I went there. No way. I wasn't transferring out of Northwoods Academy only to end up in a place halfway across the country with the same people. But I did need to get the fuck out. I needed a place that was mine. Somewhere normal. Somewhere that I could hide in plainsight.
Public school. That was it. Teddi would hate it. But this was it. This was my choice. With the divorce finalized, if she wanted me to stay with her, she would agree to it or I was out, completely and wholly. I knew she wanted to keep me under her thumb. Josh was too fucked up to care what she said or did. He was of no use to her. But me—she could still use me. And this would be her payment. Three more years of this shit, then I was out. Out of her house. Out from under her thumb. And out from under the fucking Vandersen-Carusoname.
Or so I could only hope. For now, though… I pull out the card that Marv had given me, fingering the edges. Iris. Less than two weeks consideration and, already, I had ruined it. Less than a month in Iris and just on the cusp of being accepted fully, it was gone—snatched from my fingers just as they tried to close aroundit.
What had I just thrown away to protect an almostfriend?
