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“And you went out in the cold?” Dad asks with furrowed brows.
Lily shrugs. “Guess we weren’t thinking.”
“I’m going home,” I tell them. “I’ll ask Evie to pick me up.”
Mom places her hands on my shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just had enough of this. I want to go home.”
Dad nods slowly. “I’ll take you home and come back.”
“I’m coming, too,” Lily says.
“No. Stay and have fun with Xavier.”
“I’m not letting you stay home all by yourself after…” She presses her lips shut. “I mean, I’m all danced out. And anyway, Xavier wants to go home and be with his mom and grandpa.”
Dad looks from me to Lily. “You guys sure everything is okay?”
Lily and I nod. He and Mom exchange a glance, one where they look like they’re reading each other’s minds.
Dad places a kiss on Mom’s cheek. “See you later, Ponytail. Don’t have too much fun without me,” he jokes.
“Never. Drive safely.”
We fetch our jackets from the coat room and follow Dad to the car. We don’t say much on the ride home, and I sense that Dad is suspicious. But he doesn’t say anything.
He drops us off before heading back to the ballroom. Lily looks at me and I look at her. I whirl around and make my way up the stairs, stab my key in the lock, and push the door open.
“Can you please stop avoiding me?” Lily huffs after me. “Talk to me, Liam.”
Slipping off my jacket, I hang it in the closet. “I want to be alone.”
“Why can’t we talk about this? We always tell each other everything. Don’t shut me out.”
I take a deep breath and face her. “Fine. What do you want to talk about? That I hurt Chloe? That I destroyed the Junior Musketeers? That I wish I could just disappear?”
She purses her lips. “I just don’t understand. Chloe was the one you had a crush on?”
“How did you know I had a crush on someone?”
“I always suspected you liked someone. Why didn’t you tell me? And how didn’t any of us see this?”
“We’re all best friends and are super close. Why would anyone suspect I like Chloe?”
She’s quiet as she thinks it over. “I guess you’re right. But I wish you would have told me. Maybe I could have helped.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? Chloe hates me. She’ll never talk to me again.”
“Liam…”
I hold up my hands. “Sorry, but I want to be alone right now.”
She nods in understanding and wraps her arms around me. “I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
I slouch up to my room, take off my suit jacket and undo the first few buttons of my shirt. Walking over to the mirror, I stare at my reflection. I don’t know the guy staring back at me. Sure, I recognize the brown hair and gray eyes, but he’s a total stranger.
