Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“We should go,” Sybil urges again. “You can ask him about it later.”
“You can go,” I tell her. “I don’t want to.”
“Stella,” she pleads. “Don’t do this to yourself. If anything goes down with her tonight, then he’s a dog for real, and you don’t need to see it. Please don’t overthink this.”
It’s too late for that. I’m already overthinking it.
“What the hell are you two doing?”
My head snaps up at the shrill sound of Louisa’s voice, and the better question is, what the hell is she doing here?
“Are you following us?” Sybil hisses. “Seriously?”
“Why are you spying on Mr. Carter’s house?” Louisa cocks her head to the side like she already knows, but she wants to toy with me.
I’m too numb to think of a clever response, and I know this is bad. Really, really bad.
“We were going to break in and steal his whisky,” Sybil offers smoothly. “But it looks like he’s home, so there’s no point.”
“You could just buy whiskey from Charles,” Louisa challenges. “Why would you go to all the trouble of coming up here?”
“Why would you go to all the trouble of following us?” Sybil bites back.
“Because I saw you two creeping around, and I wanted to see what you were up to. Obviously, it’s nothing good.”
“Well, you would know.” I finally find my voice.
“We were just leaving.” Sybil grabs my arm and tugs me away from the window. “Just in case you’d care to follow us over to the boys’ dorms, that’s where we’ll be.”
Louisa eyes Mr. Carter’s house and then turns on her heel, stomping off in the direction she came from as Sybil drags me down the hill. Numbly, I follow her down to the border wall, and she pulls me aside with a panicked expression on her face.
“Holy shit. Do you think she knows?”
“I don’t know.” I bite my lip. “She seems like she knows something. If not, she definitely suspects.”
“This is crazy.” Her eyes bulge, and her fear only manages to inflame mine. “If the academy finds out, Mr. Carter could lose his job, like for real. His career would be over. And then… I don’t know. They might kick you out too. That can’t happen.”
“I know.” I pace back and forth as I consider the worst-case scenario, but even as I’m trying to be rational, I’m thinking about the mystery brunette. Logically, I understand that my house of cards is teetering dangerously right now. Sebastian could lose everything because of me. And I could lose the only home I have.
But is he with her right now?
The thought echoes in my mind, and I wish I could forget I ever saw them tonight.
“I think my mom knows too,” I blurt. “She came here and vaguely threatened his job. She wants his money.”
“Oh my God.” Sybil looks disgusted on my behalf. “What the hell?”
I fall quiet, trying to make sense of the jumbled-up thoughts in my head, but I can’t.
“Hey.” Sybil pokes my arm and offers me a soft smile. “I have an idea. Why don’t we get out of here this weekend? We can go check into a hotel room and have a spa day. I have my dad’s credit card.”
Normally, I would never even consider doing something so luxurious that I can’t pay for. But right now, I can’t think of anything else to save me from this black hole.
OUR WEEKEND SPA date turned into a chocolate and Netflix binging session, and by the time we return to campus on Monday morning, I feel five pounds heavier but a whole lot lighter too. After talking things through with Sybil, I’ve come to the decision that I need to avoid Sebastian until things calm down. And maybe, realistically, I just need to avoid him altogether.
That’s easier said than done when he won’t stop texting me. After hours of silence, I finally received a message from him just after midnight on Friday. He asked me where I was, and I didn’t respond. Then after about five minutes, I got another text. And another. The barrage of questions and demands started, and not only did I find them hypocritical, but I was too hurt to reply.
It seems childish now, but I can’t let go of this feeling of betrayal. He never mentioned who he was with or offered an excuse for not replying sooner. Yet he expects that courtesy from me if he doesn’t hear from me within minutes.
I turned off my phone that night and thought long and hard about our situation. Every time it feels like I’ve come to a decision, a different emotion comes up and drags me back to one unfaltering truth. I need him. I need Sebastian like I need air to breathe, and I don’t know how I can reasonably let him go. But I also don’t know how I can hold onto him with Louisa and my mother hot on our trail.