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I blink away the threatening tears and suck in a deep breath. “I didn’t know that.”
“I guess life is invariably tossing surprises at us.” His words are clipped and I frown because this isn’t the kind of reunion I was ever expecting if I ever saw him again.
“My father told me about what happened,” I say, my voice thick with emotion.
My hands start to tremble and he glances down at them as I press my hands together and attempt to stop the trembling. As much as I try, I can never truly make them go away.
Rhys turns away from me, but not quickly enough before I see the way his jaw clenches and his eyes avoid mine.
He bends down, grabs a large black bag from the floor and swings it over his broad shoulders.
“Yeah, life happens, Pike. I am pleased that you’ve received the memo though.” Cruel amusement laces his deep voice. “I never considered you’d hear anything up here in this fortress that you’ve been kept in all these years.”
“You’re behaving as if I never cared!” I shout, my lips trembling, but Rhys is already leaving through the front door.
“Did you ever?” His voice echoes around me and I wince as the door slams shut for a second time, filling the house with a maddening silence.
I stand there for a few seconds not sure of how to swallow down everything. I can already feel the bile in my throat rising. The small bag of Doritos I had earlier is already attempting to find a way out of my body.
I rush up the dark spiral wooden staircase and head straight into my room. I grab the hem of my sweater, pull it over my head and discard it on my room floor before heading into the adjoining bathroom.
Grabbing the sides of the toilet, I fall to my knees and all the vomit attempts to come up. The liquid burns my throat as I shove two fingers down my throat and force myself until the vomit finally comes up and I’m getting rid of my stomach’s contents.
My nostrils are infiltrated by the rancid odour. Clenching the sides of the toilet, I feel the muscles in my abdomen contract. Groaning in pain, the tears threaten to spill free from the corner of my eyes. My throat constricts and I gag but nothing else comes up and all I’m left with after is a bitter, awful taste in my mouth.
I collapse against the wooden cupboard behind me and close my arms over my abdomen. The tears slip down my cheeks and before I know it, I’m full-on sobbing. I’m crying because of Mum and Rhys and everything else that’s fucked up in my life.
I sit like this for about ten minutes, until I calm myself down by steadily inhaling through my nose and then blowing out deep breaths through my mouth.
When I’m done, I stand up and position my shirt right before going over to the sink and rinsing my mouth out with some mint-flavoured mouthwash. I stare at my reflection. My grey eyes appear dead and murky with bags underneath them. My black hair hangs around my face, dishevelled and my nose is red. I look like shit. I run the edge of a white washcloth under warm water and then wipe my face, before heading back into my room.
I have to go to the game because I want to go to that party later on, so I strip off my clothes and climb into the warm comfort of my bed for a short nap. As I fall asleep, I can’t ignore the growing tension I feel in my chest.
4
PIKE: CHAPTER IV
Now
“Did you see the new guy?” Quinn Slade whispers in my ear. “Heard that he’s quite easy on the eyes.”
Quinn is the most pleasant of the Slade triplets and the closest thing I have to a best friend. We’ve known each other for two years and when I say pleasant, I mean she restricts herself to a small group and I am glad that I’m a part of that group.
Everyone who attends St. Charles comes from affluent families. They’re all rich and stuck-up cunts, but there are only a few families in the elite tier and the Slades are one of them, considering that they helped build the foundation of Columbus with the most reclusive families and their heirs: The Osbornes, Violet and Christian, and the Cotherans, Gray and Odessa. The Slades are posh and even considered by virtually everyone as part of the nobility. Both of Quinn’s brothers, River and Atlas, also play on the hockey team and no one dares to cross their paths.
That’s just the way the hierarchy works and also the fact that the Slade triplets are all equally desirable with their dark green narrow eyes and dirty light golden brown locks, porcelain skin and aristocratic noses. They’re the definition of elusive. Everyone wants them, but not just anyone can have them.
Glimpsing down into the ice rink, I don’t have to look hard enough to know who Quinn is talking about because I already know who the new player is.
“Rhys?” I ask as she hands me her black water flask. It’s a fruity punch drink laced with a lot of vodka and it’s also Quinn’s pre-party ritual.
I sense her eyes on me as I take a long sip from her flask before handing it back to her.
“You know him?”
I swallow, letting the deliciously cool alcohol coat my throat while thinking of an answer. I’m tempted to say no, but I don’t because there’s no reason to keep things from her. Quinn doesn’t have a proclivity for gossip anyway.
“Yeah.” I offer her a glance before turning my attention back to the game. “He’s my twin. Well, we’re fraternal twins.”
