Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 44127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 221(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
He smiles thinly, shaking his head as he turns and starts to walk away.
“Maybe I will, shithead,” he throws over his shoulder. “Enjoy your whore—I mean your drink.”
My jaw clenches, and I glare at his four guys as they all glare at me before following Lorenzo out.
Well, this just got more interesting.
13
Brynn
“You’re sure you’re okay?”
I blink, looking up from my study notes across the table at Waverly.
“Huh?
“Look,” she sighs. “I don’t want to be a nag, you just seem… you know, off? You have for a few weeks now, and I’m just worried about you. I’m not trying to pry, I just—”
“Okay,” I swallow, sighing. “Okay, I’m going to tell you.”
She frowns. “Brynn, I’m seriously not trying to—”
“No, no it’s fine,” I sigh, pushing a strand of hair out of my face. “You’re going to hear about it soon anyways,” I mumble.
No, I’m not telling her about Colton. I mean, not right now at least. With as crazy about him as I am, and as wild as it is, and as much as I want to scream it from the roof of Winchester, I know what the stakes are. I know even if Waverly would, of course, keep it a secret, it’s just one more possible way for it to leak, even accidentally. And the story of us leaking could destroy everything. His career, for one, not to mention making life hell for me for the rest of senior year.
So, no, I can’t tell her. Yet. I will, someday, but it’s not today. But I know I can get some of the weight off my chest, and if anyone will be able to not judge about all the shit with my dad, it’s Waverly.
And so, I tell her.
I tell her about the fraud, and the fleeing the country, and Geraldine disappearing, and that the government might be taking basically everything we own. I leave out Colton, and all the stuff with Lorenzo, but when I’m done, I’m near tears, and Waverly’s running around the table to grab me into a hug.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Brynn,” she gasps, holding me tight as I sniff away tears. “Holy fuck, that’s a lot! You should have told me!”
“I know,” I mumble quietly. “I just…” I shake my head.
I was just too caught up in falling head over heels for our gorgeous, hunky principal.
“I was just trying to process it all. And I guess I thought if I didn’t talk about it, it would just… I don’t know.”
She smiles wryly. “Go away?”
I nod, and she smiles again as she hugs me close.
“Yeah, been there.”
I snort. “Right.”
“I’m serious!”
I smile at my friend. “Waverly, all due respect, you’re breaking state records in swim, your mom just got a sweet new job, you got to move into a really nice single room in the dorms, and you’re all glowy all the time, which makes me pretty sure there’s a guy you’re not telling me about.”
She blushes scarlet, and I grin.
Knew it.
Waverly has been all glowy recently, I just haven’t given her a hard time about it because I know she’ll tell me when she’s ready. But it’s been going on for weeks now, and now I’m just really freaking curious about who this mystery boy is that has her all peppy and smiling all the time.
“It’s no one,” she blurts out. “It must be the chlorine.”
I snort, rolling my eyes. “Right. I’m sure.”
She bites her lip, eying me. “Look, it’s, uh…” she shrugs. “It’s complicated?”
“More complicated than Ramona Weiss dating her stepbrother?”
Waverly giggles, and I grin.
“I mean, you want to talk scandals…”
“Yeah, but that’s just a scandal because people are ridiculous and gossipy. They’re not related, and they had that whole history before his dad married her mom. And besides, Jamison and Ramona are—”
“Fucking adorable, I know,” I groan. And it’s true. Despite being one of the “big events” of the school year so far, most people have stopped really giving a shit about Ramona and Jamison. Because at the end of the day, they’re just two people in love, and they’re stupid-cute about it.
Waverly sighs. “Anyways, yes, it’s more complicated than that.”
My brows arch. “Go on.”
She laughs. “Nope. Later. Maybe.” She smirks. “Maybe I’ll tell you when you tell me about whatever secret you’re keeping.”
Doubt it.
“We’ll see,” I say quietly. She smiles, giving me another squeeze before she sits in the chair next to me.
“I’m sorry about your dad, and your stepmom.”
“Thanks,” I say quietly.
“Look, no one here is going to—”
“Probably half the students at Winchester have parents who bought into my dad’s bullshit, Waverly,” I mumble. “Trust me, when it comes out, they’re going to care.”
She smiles wryly, squeezing my hand. “I’m here, you know. So is Sasha.”
I snort. “I thought Sasha was holed up with Charlie getting laid eight ways to Sunday all week.”
Our friend Sasha has been with the same guy—Charlie—since they were really young. He goes to another private boarding school in Connecticut, but whenever he visits, Sasha fully utilizes having a single room to basically disappear for the week. Which is fine, even if honestly, Charlie seems like kind of a tool.