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Everyone silences.
I search her features. “That’s really deep.” I hand her the joint and she takes it, sucking on it softly. Merica seems demure and gentle. “You obviously dealt with it fine. I might need some tips.”
Merica chuckles, coughing softly while banging on her chest and passing it off to Eden. Her honey eyes come to mine. “I merely learned how to hide mine, so I didn’t have to cope with them.”
“You guys are killing my buzz,” Maya murmurs, bringing her eyes to me. “You and Killian. What’s going on there?”
I didn’t want to talk to her about me and Killian. In fact, I wanted to keep her the hell away from him and I.
“Nothing really to tell,” I answer truthfully. “We’re just us.”
“You’re just ‘us’?” she throws back, eyebrows raised. “I get you’re fairly new to Midnight Mayhem and The Brothers of Kiznitch, but Killian doesn’t do ‘us,’ so I’d remove that from the Saskia Dragavei dictionary.”
I let her rage pass me as she leans back in her chair and goes back to whatever it is that’s going on in that head of hers. I don’t have to justify Killian and I to anyone. I can’t even explain it to myself, let alone to other people.
I look straight at Kenan, who stops chewing, his eyes on mine. He nods. You okay?
I shrug. Whatever. I’ve never been the type of girl to have a lot of friends. I was never popular at school. I struggled to have girlfriends at a young age, and by the time girls wanted to be my friend, I had already figured out that most of them were only my friend so that they could learn my weakness. I decided to stick to myself.
I went through high school this way. I had one other person who I could maybe classify as a friend, and that was because I saved her from the Regina Georges when they shoved her head in one of the toilets in the girl’s bathroom.
“Really?” I scolded Alicia Rogers, aka the lead bitch who ran the school. I scrubbed my hands while watching Alicia and her loyal pack of hounds as they laughed, holding Alexa’s head over the white porcelain bowl. “You couldn’t think of something more original? You’re all such a fucking cliché.” I wiped my hands with a paper towel before tossing it into the trash. I reached into the stall, grabbing the back of Alexa’s backpack and shoving her to her feet.
I looked at all of them until I finally rested on Alicia. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t so much as mouth off. I think mostly, she was shocked. The quiet girl has a voice?
“Saskia, hey, didn’t know you were there…” Alicia murmured nervously. She was still wearing her cheer uniform from an early morning practice, and of course, she was obviously dating the star quarterback of our school, and of course he was cheating on her behind her back with her bff, also known as Grace Marks, the beach blonde standing beside her.
“Sure,” I answer, pulling Alexa behind me. “Leave her alone.” I dragged Alexa out of the bathroom behind me.
I don’t know if the reason why they stopped picking on her was because they were either scared of me or because they didn’t know what to think of me. Silence is a weapon when everyone around you has so much to say. When I say I was a loner, it was by choice. People always gravitated toward me, wanting to be my friend, or just downright wanted to know the weird pretty girl with no emotions. Their words, never mine. Anyway, since being here, I’ve found another friend.
Well, three actually.
Perse, Val, and Kenan. That is more than enough friendships to have in a lifetime.
“Where’s Val?” I ask as soon as I realize she’s not here. “She’s supposed to be staying at mine.”
Maya doesn’t answer.
Kenan gestures inside. “She went back to your place.”
I grab my phone and flick through the new text from Val.
V: I’m sorry. I had to tap out. I think I need to put some distance between her and I before I can do this.
My heart sinks for her. I hate that Maya is so obviously toying with her feelings.
Me: It’s okay. That works for me anyway. I’ll be home soon.
She sends another one through just as I’m about to put my phone down. No, you’re not. I saw you all snuggly on Trickster’s lap. Girl, you are so gone. Be careful.
My heart races in my chest as I read over those words. Before I can stop myself, I realize I’m smiling like a nerd.
I hit reply. Don’t judge me. I’m always careful.
She sends a whole lot of laughing emojis. I just hope these walls are soundproof. Night x
I send her a quick reply before tossing it back onto the table. I genuinely care for Val, as much as I could care for someone. It wasn’t something I expected either, since she threw so much shade toward Perse when she got here, but I think she has changed. Drastically since Perse and King have been together.
Arms wrap around my neck and I instantly melt into a puddle of goo. His cologne is like a welcome home, his touch a reminder of why I’ll never be satisfied with any other man.
I bend my neck to look at him.
He leans down and presses a kiss to my lips. Then another. Until Kenan is groaning and throwing Cheetos at us.
“Ready to go?” he asks. Perse is smirking at me smugly.
Everyone is so interested.
Sliding up from my chair, I grab my keys and phone off the table before following him out the front door.
“Wait!” I reach for his hand. “Where’s Kyrin? We should talk with him.”
“I already have. He was down there with us. Why do you think I took so long?” He tilts his head at me, searching my eyes.
I shrug. “Figured you were stuck with your mom?”
His face falls slightly. “Yeah, that.” He turns and I jog, catching up to him.
“Everything okay?” I ask as we fall into step. Figure we can pick the car up in the morning and we could probably do with the walk.
Killian doesn’t answer me, his attitude shifting one-hundred different ways. Something is bothering him. Bad. His confusion of whatever he’s dealing with is starting to shine bright like a diamond.
“Killian,” I say, a little frustrated. “You can talk to me.”
“Sass, some shit isn’t easy to say. Just drop it for now.”
I think over his words, and I know that right now isn’t the right time, so I decide to drop it.
For now.
The gravel crunches beneath my feet as we get closer and closer to my house. He hooks his arm over my shoulder and pulls me into his chest, stopping his walk. He kisses the top of my head, and I’m momentarily paralyzed by his silhouette. Wrapping his fingers around the edge of his hoodie, he flicks it down until it’s resting around my shoulders.
“Listen.” He clears his throat, his arm hooking around my back. “What I’m about to tell you, I’m telling you here because there’s nowhere for you to run and there’re no weapons that you can use against me—or at the very least access to use against me.”
My heart stops for a few seconds as the silence stretches between us. Scenarios go through my head. One after the other. Thinking of what he could have done. Truthfully, it’s Killian, he could have done anything.
His arm tightens. “The day before we were leaving Kiznitch, when I left you in bed to see Delila, she told me something that I’ve been trying to get to the bottom of. I can’t tell you what that is right now, because I’m a Brother, that means that we don’t share anything outside of our star unless we all agree it needs to be shared. You have to understand that this is what I live by, bleed for and kill for…” He tests the words out on his tongue.