Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Huh?” I lean against the wall outside the lecture hall.
“My presentation this morning in class? You watched it, right?” Anja moves closer, hooking her arm into mine.
I’m about to shove her off when I catch sight of Aspen limping down the hallway on her crutches. Her head is lowered, her eyes glued to the floor in front of her, but I know she saw me. I can tell by the way her jaw is set and her eyebrows are drawn together in anger.
“Of course, I watched it,” I lie, watching Aspen head toward us. “Why don’t we skip this class and go to my room? You can tell me more about your project.”
Anja straightens up, and a satisfied smile spreads across her face. I can almost see Aspen roll her eyes.
Digging the knife in a little deeper, I drape my arm around Anja as Aspen passes us. She looks up just in time to see me pulling Anja into my side.
Aspen’s eyes turn to fiery daggers, and for a moment, I think she is going to attack me with one of her crutches.
“Yes, let’s go,” Anja chirps, planting her manicured fingers on my stomach.
Again, I fight the urge to slap her hand away, but instead, force a smile and drag Anja with me down the hall without glancing back at Aspen.
Anja keeps yapping about a Halloween party, but I drown it out with thoughts of Aspen and wonder where she is going right now. As soon as we’re out of sight, I shove Anja away.
“I’ll see you around,” I dismiss her unceremoniously.
“What? I thought we were going to your room?”
“I changed my mind. Maybe another time.”
“You’re a real prick, Quinton!”
“I know.” I shrug. “It’s not my fault you haven’t figured it out yet.”
“There’s something you should have figured out by now as well. You shouldn’t play games with me.”
“Is that a threat?” I take a step toward her, crowding her space.
“It’s a fact.” Not backing down, she also takes a step toward me until the tips of our shoes are touching. “Have you wondered why my parents weren’t at the founders’ ball? It’s because my mother killed my father… and I helped her.” A wicked smile spreads across her lips, and the murderous glint in her eyes tells me she is not lying. Anja killed her father. Maybe I underestimated her.
“Touching story. Sounds like some quality mother-daughter bonding.” I keep my tone bored. “Like I said, I’m done with you for the day.” I step past her and head toward my place.
“You’ll regret this, Quinton,” Anja yells after me.
Fuck, I already am.
When I get back to my apartment, I’m glad to find Ren is not here yet. No matter his reasoning, I’m still fucking mad at him. I know I can’t be mad at him forever, but I’m not just gonna forgive him either.
Trying to get my mind off that situation, I wrack my brain, trying to figure out why Aspen was walking through the hallway past the bio labs. She doesn’t have any classes on that level. So why was she there?
Fuck. Not knowing is going to drive me insane. Not being able to control her has been bugging the shit out of me, but at least I knew where she was and what she was doing, or at least I thought I knew.
Maybe it’s time to feed into my stalker tendencies a little more, and I know just how I’m going to do that.
I’m already in a bad mood today, but when Ren comes up behind me in our small kitchen, I know it’s only going to get worse.
“Are you gonna talk to me, or just ignore me for the rest of the school year?”
Pouring milk over my bowl of cereal, I let his question linger in the air for a while before I answer. “What is there to talk about? You lied to me, stole from me, and went behind my back.”
Ren huffs behind me. “You heard the tape. What would you have done?”
Slamming the jug of milk on the counter, I spin around to face him. “I would have talked to you. I would have told you everything right away instead of playing fucked up games.”
“I’m sorry, Quinton. I meant what I said. I thought I was protecting you. I don’t know what else to do.”
“Was the helicopter crash planned?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. Your father asked me to get her away from Corium. That’s all, I swear.”
“So, you work for my father now? Was your friendship with me nothing but a ruse? Let me guess, you’re here to babysit me so I don’t make any stupid choices that my father might not approve of?”
Ren shakes his head. “No, of course not. I’m not a spy, and I don’t work for your father. It’s not like that.”