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“Did the girls tell you to come?”
“Something like that,” he mutters, making a beeline for my desk chair. He lowers himself down but not before pulling a packet of biscuits out of his hoodie pocket.
“Eat.” He throws them onto the bed.
“I’m not hungry.”
“I swear to God, Abi…” He runs a hand down his face.
“Fine.” My stomach gives a little growl as I tear into the packet, and I feel his knowing gaze on me. But I refuse to look at him, to give him the satisfaction.
The biscuit feels like ash on my tongue as I chew and swallow, forcing it down over the permanent lump in my throat.
“Water?” he asks, and I nod.
Elliot gets up and goes to the small mini fridge next to my desk and grabs a bottle of water. “Here.” He hands it to me. “You need to get out of this room. Get some fresh air.”
“No, I really don’t.”
“Red, come on?—”
“Please, don’t call me that.”
It’s too intimate. It hurts too much.
He releases a heavy sigh, sinking back into the chair. “Tell me how to help you.”
“Leave me alone.”
“And risk you starving yourself or worse.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I spit, anger swarming my chest.
“Nothing,” he concedes. Too quickly. Too easily. “It means nothing. But I’m worried. We all are.”
Worried enough that they all left to have fun in the sun, I trap the bitter words.
I don’t blame them. I don’t even resent them. I’m no fun to be around, and the truth is I don’t belong with them.
I never did.
Something that’s become increasingly obvious since the night I kissed Elliot.
To think, I actually let myself believe I was one of them. One of the pretty girls. The strong, confident girls like Olivia and Tally. Even Raine arrived at All Hallows’ and made it clear she wouldn’t take crap from anyone, least of all an Heir.
I’ve never been any of those things. I’m too shy. Too quiet.
Too weak.
A rush of emotion burns up my throat, but I force it down, taking a gulp of water.
Elliot makes everything worse by being here. The intensity in his eyes as he watches me, the air of disapproval in his expression.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it, I’m fine.”
“You’re fooling nobody but yourself,” he says quietly. But I catch the hint of anger there.
The frustration.
