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“Well, it’s hard leaving him behind, and I guess I just wanted to make sure that you’re serious about him. I know I’ve been a bitch to you, and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your laptop and for what I said about your mom at the bonfire.”
She seems sincere enough, like she’s just asking me to take care of Lincoln.
My thoughts wander back to Halloween night when I saw the vulnerable expression on her face as she stared at him.
“He’s a big boy,” I say with a faint smile. “And I’m not his girlfriend—I don’t even know if we’re friends.”
But I want to be.
“Fair point,” she concedes, “but he needs people to love him—and Trey, too. They’ve been basically rich latchkey kids since their senior years of high school. Did you know that Link’s mom left them? Took a job in New York and just never came back.”
I frown and shake my head.
“And John is around now, but he basically abandoned Link and Trey for his job for two years.”
The familiarity of their situation sends a shiver through my body.We’re all just discarded kids trying to survive.
“Link told me about your fight. Do you know why he was watchingRomeo + Juliet?”
I shake my head. “I’m guessing it wasn’t just because of the badass soundtrack and fancy gun fights.”
Serenity’s lip twitches with amusement before her expression turns serious. “It was his mom’s favorite movie, and he still watches it on her birthday every year.”
“Gosh, I didn’t know,” I say quietly. “We’ve all lost parents, huh? It seems the boys and I have more in common than I thought.”
“Well, you did run in the same circles as kids.”
That catches my interest. “What do you mean?”
“They were regulars at your parents’ networking shindigs. I was always jealous that they got to go and I didn’t, but my parents weren’t part of that circle.”
Link ignored my question when I asked. Trey made it seem like he didn’t remember. Did he lie? Does that mean that Link knew who I was all along?
“Anyway, I need to get back to studying. I’ll see you around.” I nod, still lost in my own head when Serenity pauses and levels me with a hard stare. “Just so you know, this doesn’t make us friends or anything.”
I raise my hands in a placating gesture. “I wouldn’t dream of it. By all means, continue your reign as the school bitch.”
She almost smiles again. Almost.
I watch her walk away before my gaze falls to the books and papers scattered around me, but I can’t bring myself to continue studying. Serenity’s words bounce around in my head.
You did run in the same circles as kids.
My emotions war with each other because even though he kept this from me, we really do have similar trauma. When I think about Link’s mom just up and leaving, I’m not sure which end result is more depressing—abandonment or suicide.
Is the permanence of death better than knowing your mom is still out there somewhere living her life without you?
The thought makes my heart ache for both of them.
I stand, throw on my sweatshirt, and shove my belongings into my backpack. I head for the elevator, take it down to the foyer, and push out of the double doors into the cold November night, hugging myself against the chill that immediately seeps into my bones.
It’s almost midnight, and I have every intention of going back to my dorm room, but I’m not surprised when I stop in front ofthe guys’ building, the wolf statue at the entrance staring down at me with cold, feral eyes. I shiver.
They’re probably asleep, I reason as I shuffle my feet, debating whether to go inside.What will I even say?
The trees creak and groan as the icy wind kicks up. My spider-sense tingles as if there’s a Marvel villain lurking in the shadows.
“What’re you doing?” A deep, smooth voice cuts through the darkness, and I jump, a scream escaping my lips.
