Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95950 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Before I can protest, Mr. Pembroke swings to Austin. “I’d like to see you and your mother in my office at seven o’clock sharp Monday morning. Failure to report will result in an automatic expulsion.”
Mrs. Hawthorne elbows her way through the crowd until she can reach her son. Tears shine in her eyes as she wraps a protective arm around him.
“Rest assured, we’ll be there,” she says in a clipped tone.
“It would probably be best if you took your son home now. He’s disrupted quite enough of the evening.”
Not bothering to wait for his mother’s reply, Austin stalks toward the French doors that are wide open. As he strides through the throng, it parts like the Red Sea, creating a direct path to the exit. Whispers follow, increasing in volume with every step he takes. When he’s no more than a handful of feet from where I stand, frozen in place, his furious gaze locks on mine. The hatred swirling through his green depths is enough to make my blood run cold and have me recoiling.
Just as he’s about to pass, he grinds to a halt. His lips ghost over mine without ever quite touching. A shudder slinks down my spine as the fine hair on my bare arms prickles with unease. I rack my brain for the words, something that will make this better, but they refuse to be summoned.
Before I can utter a sound, he walks away, disappearing inside the illuminated mansion. The buzz of conversation explodes with his departure, swirling around me as the past ten minutes is rehashed. Classmates throw inquisitive glances in my direction and talk amongst themselves.
Now that the show has ended, everyone returns to the party that is in full swing. I can almost see the gossip spreading from one person to another until it’s all anyone is able to discuss.
The thought of stepping inside Jasper’s house makes me sick to my stomach.
I have no idea what to do or where to go.
I’m frozen in place.
Unable to move.
Unable to suck a full breath into my lungs.
I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and feel the painful hammering of my heart. It continues to grow in intensity. Any moment, it’ll explode from my body.
I’m knocked from the anxiety gripping me by the throat when someone slams their shoulder into mine. Eyes flying open, I gasp and stagger before catching myself on the stone railing, only to find Summer Hawthorne scowling at me. Her hands are balled so tightly at her sides that her knuckles have turned bone white.
“How could you do that to him?” She pauses. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I wince at the fury that whips through her voice. Any possibility of a friendship between us has now been destroyed.
Thick emotion rises within me and it takes effort to summon my voice. “Summer, it’s not—”
“Save it,” she growls. “You’re a real bitch, you know that? I don’t understand how I could have been so wrong about you.”
Her words hit me like a physical blow. I have no idea how I remain upright when all I want to do is double over and sink to my knees.
When tears spring to my eyes, she advances. “Don’t you dare cry after the shit you just pulled! If he gets expelled, it’ll be your fault!”
I shake my head.
No…
When she takes a menacing step forward, her boyfriend grabs her, tucking an arm around her shoulders before steering her away. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Summer Hawthorne, it’s that she’ll go to battle to protect her brother. Their connection is unbreakable.
Kingsley’s dark eyes lock on mine, and what I see within them makes my bones quake. If I thought my life was hell at Hawthorne Prep before tonight, it’s nothing compared to what I have to look forward to Monday morning.
Before I can blurt out the truth, they disappear inside the mansion. I swing away, turning my back to the house as I stare blindly into the darkness. Shock spirals through me as everything that just happened replays in my head like a slow-motion picture show until I want to sob.
My freshly painted fingernails dig into the cement baluster. It’s only when I hear the crickets chirp in the yard that unease prickles the back of my neck and I realize that I’m not alone. I swing around and find Jasper loitering a few feet away. Splotches of blood decorate the snowy whiteness of his shirt.
Our gazes lock and hold.
I shake my head and croak, “Why would you do that?”
A smug smile lifts his lips as a spiteful glint fills his eyes. It’s a look I’ve become intimately acquainted with. A fresh wave of nausea crashes over me.
“Did you think I was just going to let you walk away?”
The question explodes in my brain but for some reason, it doesn’t compute.