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No, wait, my Wellness one was the easiest thing I've ever done, because all I had to do was upload my step tracker and keep a journal of the exercise I've been doing. That is, by far, the best subject of the semester.
A professor I don’t recognize enters the room and starts talking at the front of the class. I can't even focus on what she's saying because my heart races and my palms start to sweat. I feel like some nineties kid chirping Eminem lyrics here because I might just go throw up mom's spaghetti all over the place.
The next three hours of my life are fucking terrifying and I can’t stop how much my mind races while I stare down at the text as it swims on the page.
I just write whatever pops into my head as I try to decipher the questions while not stressing too much about what I don’t know. I don't even really know what my answers are.
My last final of the week is done, and I have to tell myself what will be will be, because there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it now. God knows I have enough other stuff to stress about. Especially since the end of finals means Christmas is here, and I fucking hate Christmas.
I head outside and find Asher waiting for me with Shadow at his heels, who goes crazy when he spots me. This puppy might just be the brightest spot of Serenity Falls for me, and if anyone tries to take him from me, maybe I’ll kill them too.
I laugh at my own twisted thoughts as Asher lets go of the leash and Shadow runs toward me across the quad, launching himself at me. I just about manage to catch the giant fluff ball, scrubbing his tummy as I lift him into my arms. "At least you're happy to see me," I murmur, smushing up his face as he licks my cheek.
"And why wouldn't I be happy to see you?" Asher asks as he reaches me. I already know that he's here to take me home and there's going to be some sort of family meeting about the stupid dinner that got postponed, and I’m going to have to deal with it.
"You already know why."
He responds, looking at me like he read the thoughts as they went through my mind moments ago. "Yeah, I know. But it's not your fault that everyone's parents are a big bunch of dicks."
"Any news on your supposed, er… set up?"
"Sawyer and I are speaking to my parents later tonight. So it looks like there could be fireworks all around. I wouldn't worry about it though because Cole and Travis reportedly have a plan to get you out of the engagement."
My eyebrows shoot up, surprise all over my face because why doesn't anybody ever include me in these conversations? Maybe I have some input that could help, but no, I'm just a stupid little poor girl thrown into the wolves’ den, expected to play along with everything.
Again, like he can read my mind, Asher laughs. "Don't think the worst. Just come home with me and we’ll talk it all out. I swear it's not as bad as it seems."
So I put my faith in him, because he has yet to do me wrong, and follow him back to the car, Shadow licking at my face and neck as we go. I probably shouldn't let the dog do that considering, you know, disgusting, but also, he is the cutest thing in existence and I’m not about to deny him one thing in my life.
By the time we get back to the house, Shadow has calmed my nerves into nothing but a distant memory. All of the fear about my finals sits in the past with just sheer joy from the puppy dog at the forefront of my mind. That is, until I walk in the house and find Travis sitting there with Sawyer and Cole.
The conversation stops abruptly as we enter the room.
"Oh yeah, because you guys obviously weren't talking about me at all," I snap as I put the puppy down. "Someone at least give me a hot chocolate before we have this conversation. I need calories in my life and if any of you have tacos to go along with this little meeting, that isn't exactly going to go amiss either."
Sawyer laughs and heads to the refrigerator, pulling out what looks like a wrapped burrito. "I went and got this for you earlier, knowing that you haven’t eaten a proper meal all week and that all of"—he waves his hand at the boys—"this would be happening. And this is why I should be your favorite."
I laugh at him as he puts the burrito in the microwave, reheating it for me. "If you keep this up, you might just become my favorite."
Asher laughs behind me, shaking his head at his brother’s antics.
Everybody waits until the burrito is warm and in my hands before starting the next steps of the conversation. Travis doesn't even wait for me to swallow my first bite before he opens his big stupid mouth.
"I know how to pause the engagement," he says. "My pops—my grandpa—is coming for Christmas. He would not approve of an arranged marriage, so my dad isn't gonna cause too many waves if I tell him what’s going on. You might think like I do, that he’s a monster, but even monsters have things they fear, and my grandpa is exactly what my father fears."
I look at him, taken aback, wondering just how someone called Grandpa and Pops could be so good, yet instill such fear in someone like Chase Kensington. I shrug, regardless. "If your grandfather's so against it, why don't you just tell him Chase’s plans outright, rather than using him as a decoy so that we don't have to deal with it just yet?"
Travis looks at me like I've lost my mind. "Pitting Kensingtons against each other has never ended well in the past," he says ominously. And that's definitely a conversation I want to have more insight on, but he continues talking as if it's not something he wants to go into. "What I know is that while my pops will take our side, we might have to play the long game with this. If I just go in now, my dad will have time to come up with another way to torture us to get what he wants. He's not about to give up on his political career so easily. Even if he is absolutely terrified of my pops, he and Theodore will find something else, something potentially worse. They always do. But if I tell my dad that you might make a fuss about the whole situation in front of grandpa if they keep pushing the way they have been, they’ll likely give it up and let it slide. At least until my grandparents go back home. This isn’t our first rodeo. So for now, we need to bide our time and bite our tongues."
"Okay, so we have a plan. I'm not sure why everybody looks so solemn," I respond, glancing around the room at everyone. This seems like a solid plan to me, so I just don’t get it.
"Because my dad is still going to be a problem. So Chase might let it go and play it cool for now and encourage my dad to do the same, but my dad isn't afraid of Pops. He has nobody telling him to slow his shit down. He's already started stuff for the campaign that has us showing up together, so it's not going to be as simple as it might seem." Cole blows out a deep breath, effectively taking the wind from my sails.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, it seems. I’m beginning to think that there isn’t a way around this if I stay.
Maybe that is the answer? If I leave, I know I can survive. It might not be this charmed existence, but it's not like it's not something I’m used to anyway, and I haven’t been here long enough for it to feel like I’m losing too much.
I suggest as much and the twins stare at me, horrified.
