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“I never want to let anyone in, but I have this strange desire to tell you things. Things I don’t tell anyone else,” he said. “But I’m just doing the opposite and screwing everything up.”
“Then stop screwing things up.”
He said nothing, but the far-off look in his eyes told me he’d heard me and was contemplating the notion. It didn’t seem tough to me, but for someone as cold and angry as Seren, maybe it wasn’t as easy. He didn’t say another word before he turned away from me and walked out of my room. I heard the front door open and close, and then there was silence.
I dropped down onto my bed, releasing a long breath. At least he had the decency to leave before my mother got home. Too bad I wasn’t any closer to understanding what the hell was going on with him. What was it about me that made him want to let me in? And, what could he possibly want to tell me that he didn’t tell anyone else?
CHAPTER 23
Seren
“What are we doing tonight?” Kiki asked as we walked into the cafeteria on Friday.
My eyes swept the room, searching the tables for Grace.Stop screwing things up, she’d said. Like it would be so easy. I often wondered what it would’ve been like if my father hadn’t died. Would I still have ended up angry and callous?
“Hello?” Kiki waved her palm in front of my face, trying to get my attention.
“What?” I asked as I straddled the bench seat at our normal table, still looking for Grace. I’d been giving her space since Tuesday because I wanted her to know I heard everything she said about not screwing up, getting to know someone the right way, and not being a dick for more than one day at a time.
Kiki grabbed my chin and turned my face to look at her. “I asked you a question.”
I pulled my face from her hand. “Get your hand off me.”
“Someone’s in a bad mood.” Her head whipped around, following the direction of my eyes. “Looking for someone?”
“Nope.”
She turned back around and pulled out a container of yogurt. “Are we partying at your house tonight?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
I shrugged. “I’m just over it.”
“Over partying?”
“Over everything,” I said.
“You weren’t beforeshemoved in,” Kiki said.
“Don’t bring her up,” I warned.
“Ohhhh. Did I hit on a sore subject? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re crushing on the poor girl.”
“Fuck off.”
“Watch it, Seren,” Kiki warned. “You may have everyone in this school fearing you, but I can be a crazy bitch when I wanna be.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged coyly. “Just reminding you, that’s all.” And just like that, her tone changed, and she was talking about a show on Netflix with someone on the other side of her.
Kiki had always been a bitch, but since I was the school’s leading asshole, we just fit. But things needed to change. I wasn’t about to become some saint, but I needed to shed some of the excess baggage weighing me down over the last three years. I stood up and took off across the cafeteria.
“Seren!” Kiki called, her voice getting lost in the noisy room as I walked out of it.
I strolled down the deserted school halls, passing classes in session. I had no real destination, but I knew I needed to be away from the people who brought me down. I made my way outside the building and headed toward the parking lot, walking through the rows of cars. I neared Grace’s car in the corner of the lot and circled to the back. Grace sat on the ground, leaning against the back of her car. She was reading something on her phone with earbuds in her ears.
