AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pause my hands and blink his direction again. My instinct is to tell him to fuck off and quit talking about it, but he’s already slipped into his jacket and headed to our door.
“Well, unlike you, I’ll be riding into the city in a van with five people who probably can’t stand me.” Cameron is interning with a law firm run by one of the legacy parents from Welles. One of the other interns is the daughter of the head of the firm, McKenna Lowell . . .his ex.The other four people in their group happen to be her best friends. McKenna’s dad, however, took a liking to Cameron and could not care less that he broke his daughter’s heart.
“You could have interned anywhere, dumbass.” I smack him on the back of the neck as I pull our door open and step through.
“Yeah, but what fun is that? This is a challenge.” He pops a stick of gum in his mouth as if that’s somehow going to make him smell less like he’s been hotboxing in his car all morning. Somehow, I think he’s still going to come out of this with a glowing recommendation and prospects while I will be looking at state school and a burger flipping gig.
We fly down the stairs. Cameron spins when we hit the front steps to our dorm and salutes me as he heads out to the main parking lot where our school’s political science teacher is waiting with a van. I check the time on my phone and do my best to breathe and relax my neck and shoulders. I told Morgan to let Lily know I’d wait for her outside Hayden Hall, but she was distracted by James and his wet hair because it was after football practice. Who knows if that message made it all the way to the target?
I walk around the main lawn, sticking to the walkway rather than cutting through the grass so I don’t get wet clippings on the bottom of my pants. It rained last night, and the air is still moist. I’m nearly to the Hayden entrance when Lily steps out. She stops with one foot out the door, and when our eyes meet, her face instantly pales. I don’t know how I sense it, but she’s about to run. Her hand lets go of the door and she leans back just as I grasp her arm, my fingers sliding along her skin until I cuff her wrist. She freezes at my touch, and my focus jets to the cool chain I feel under my palm. I peel two of my fingers from her arm and uncover the bracelet my sister wore almost every day since I gave it to her for her sixteenth birthday.
“Where’d you get this?” My words come out harsh. Lily jerks her arm free and covers the silver bracelet with her other hand.
“She gave it to me. I thought . . . maybe it would make me confident. It’s stupid. Here—”
“No, it’s fine. Keep it.” I take a step back and put my hands in my back pockets to keep them from ripping the thin chain from Lily’s wrist. Of course Anika gave it to her. My sister was the queen of generosity. I don’t know if there’s a single thing she owned that she didn’t also share with someone else.
Lily twists the bracelet around her wrist as she chews at her lip. Her lashes are heavy, blinking as she forces her gaze back up to me. I barked at her, so I get it. I take another step back and turn to the side, encouraging her to leave the safety of the door frame by easing my overbearing presence.
“Better hurry. We’ll be late.”
My gaze flits to her then back down to the concrete steps. A tiny part of me hopes she’ll sprint back inside and quit. It’s the worst part of me, but I won’t deny it’s there, boiling in my belly. Festering.
She leaves the door behind and takes to the steps to join me, and soon we’re in step. She’s wearing her uniform with the addition of a tailored jacket. Even her shoes are the plain black loafers most of the girls wear every day—even the pre-teens.
“Good thingTheAffiliateisn’t a fashion rag,” I tease. When I glance to my side, though, I catch her hands fisting the edges of her jacket and my chest squeezes with guilt.
“Hey,” I say, nudging her elbow with my own. “I was joking.”
She forces a tight-lipped smile that lasts maybe a second, then blinks her focus forward.
The train is pulling in just as we get to the platform. There are more students here waiting than I anticipated, maybe fifteen or so, and the T is usually packed with regular business traffic. I hope we’re able to get a seat. It’s only a thirty-minute ride, but that’s a long time to spend on our feet. On instinct, I lurch forward when the doors open, but Lily gets lost in the shuffle of people filing in behind me.
“Lily!” I call, gaining her attention and waving her toward the front of the train where a few seats remain.
She raises up on her toes and nods at me, doing her best to swim through the chaos, but by the time we connect, there’s only a single seat left.
“Take it,” I insist, grabbing a tight hold on the bar to the right of the seat.
“Are you sure?”
I nod and she slips into the space, hugging her small leather bag against her chest and drawing her legs in tight. My eyes scan the car to see who’s heading into the city with us and I nod and smile at a few guys from the team. Two girls sitting directly across from Lily are whispering in each other’s ears, and I catch them glaring at me right before they turn away and hide behind their portfolio books. I gnash my teeth and draw in a deep breath with my lips closed tight. I wonder when the gossip and posturing about how I’m getting on is going to stop.
The train jerks forward and I steady my feet, my body swinging back on the jolt. Lily shifts to her right in her seat, and at first, I assume she just isn’t used to the lurch of the train. But as my eyes trail from her lap to the man sitting in the sit to her left, I notice how much of her space his leg is taking.
“Theo, hey! I didn’t know you were in the city, too.” It’s Elias, one of the linemen on the team, and maybe one of the few truly nice guys at Welles. His dad is one of the younger form teachers. In fact, he was my very first teacher at Welles.
“They managed to squeeze me in atTheAffiliate. I mean, sales, for now, but we’ll see.” Elias and I have both talked about the magazine in the past. He’s a huge reader, too.
“Oh, man, that’s awesome. Are you . . . both working there?” He points toward Lily, whose eyes are trained straight ahead without focus, her knees locked and hands clutching her bag for dear life.
“Yeah. It wasn’t planned or anything, just a fluke.” I don’t know why I feel I need to say that. It’s not as if interning at the same place somehow makes us athing.We’re already enough of a thing because of . . .well.
“Right. Still, that’s awesome. Good luck, dude. I’m at Duckworth for accounting. I’m good at math, I guess.” Elias shrugs then holds up a fist. I tap it with mine then he shifts to return to the conversation behind him.
Our conversation lasted maybe thirty seconds, and in that time, Lily’s jaw has gotten vice-grip tight because the asshole sitting next to her has encroached even more. I let my eyes linger on his thigh, his wallet and keys probably stuffed in his tight pants, causing him to protrude even more. Taking up space is one thing, but this guy, he’s trying to get his fucking rocks off. His knee is practically knocking into hers with every sway of the train, and his hand has miraculously found its way to the side of his thigh, his spindly, hairy-ass pinky finger flirting with the hem of her skirt.
My eyes shift their attention to his face, and I couldn’t give two shits if he catches me staring at him right now. His eyes are fixed on his phone, propped up on his other thigh all cool and casual. His hair is slicked back to cover the thinning spots on top. He’s probably in his thirties, and I don’t see a ring so I’m guessing his moves haven’t worked on anyone. He’s flipping through some social media shit, never stopping on one image long enough to really look at it. He’s acting on this side of his body while his other side gives our gender a bad name. My right hand is in the pocket of my jacket, balling tight. I’mthis closeto knocking his teeth out of alignment.
