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Chapter 5
Margo
Chloe and Emma were waiting with a couple of others at the gates after school. I hadn’t gotten close to any of the others, and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to, but I had to at least try to make friends. Dorian had some kind of pack meeting to attend, so I met up with the group alone. He was always so vague about what the pack discussed that a part of me felt left out. He had so much going on outside of being with me, and maybe that was the best reason I should make other friends.
Chloe was scolding one of the boys over a comment he made, while Emma stared into space, playing with a lighter.
She was first to notice my approach, rolling her eyes. “How can you have such long legs yet walk slower than a snail? We already missed a bus because of you.”
“Oh. Sorry.” I sheepishly pulled my hood a little tighter around my face. “You could have left.”
“Chloe wouldn’t let us. Obviously.” Her expression brightened. “Next bus is here already!”
The bus was fairly empty, so we all sat together upstairs. I managed to get a window seat so I could gaze outside and pretend I wasn’t cringing at the ridiculous story Emma immediately launched into as loudly as possible.
After a handful of stops along the journey, I spotted Victor walking alone on the street, his shoulders slumped. He’d been brash, cocky, and a bit of a bully when we first met. Now, he seemed kind of pathetic. I didn’t want to pity him, so I forced myself to think about something else instead.
Not that it was hard to be distracted. Emma hogged all of the attention on the bus. She jumped from seat to seat, lap to lap, talking excitedly in a non-stop, high-pitched tone that didn’t sound like her. Maybe she was nervous about seeing Adam. Things had been awkward between them since the canal incident.
“Ignore her,” Chloe advised from the seat next to me as Emma decided to bend over and attempt to twerk while the boys teased her over having a flat backside. “She’ll get over herself eventually.”
“Have you heard anything about Adam?” I asked.
“I heard his dad was drunk,” she said sharply. “That true?”
“I’m not sure.” I hesitated, unsure if I was spreading gossip. But Chloe seemed like the sensible one of the group. “I think somebody mentioned it at the time, but things were crazy, so I might have misheard. All I know for sure is that the car was speeding and swerving all over the place, then broke through the barricade before flipping right into a tree.”
“Think he did it on purpose?”
I looked at her, horrified. Her expression was grim. She wasn’t joking. “Why would you even say that?” I whispered.
“Adam’s dad isn’t the nicest person,” she said. “Didn’t you notice Adam’s black eye after that thing with Emma?”
I didn’t remember. If I had noticed, I probably would have thought Victor had caused it. Guilt poked at me; violence wasn’t exclusive to werewolves. “His dad did that?”
“His dad has done a lot of things,” she said. “I live next door to him. I’ve heard…” She shuddered. “I’ve heard a lot of stuff.”
“Poor Adam,” I said, realising how lucky I was to have parents who treated me well.
She pinched my arm. “Never say it to him. He can’t deal with that.”
“I won’t. I swear.”
She slumped back in her seat. “I wish his dad had died in that crash.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I kept quiet. After all, I was the one who had saved him.
I regretted agreeing to the visit once we arrived at the hospital. Adam hadn’t yet been discharged, although his bed was empty. We found him sitting in the hallway outside his father’s hospital room.
“Hey, Adam,” Chloe said, taking a seat next to him. “Is your mam in there?”
He nodded without looking at her.
“I got you some snacks.” She set a shopping bag down at his feet. “In case you didn’t like the food here.”
He didn’t even glance at the bag.
“How are you feeling?”
