I mean, that’s not something that you just keep from your best friend. Right?
Honestly, right now I don’t know what’s right or wrong. If Madeline and Quinn are really siblings, then that changes the whole game. It doesn’t make sense that she would hide that from me, but it also doesn’t make any sense that he would bring me food when he was the one who turned the entire class against me in the first place.
Sinking to my knees, I still try to be quiet. I have no idea how long the two of them are going to be talking, but there’s no way that I’m going to try to leave the room until they’re done and I know that they won’t catch me.
Madeline starts back up as soon as I sit. “I’m going to kill my brother, you know that? Is he in here? Hiding in the back?” Her footsteps start towards me and I throw myself backwards, scrambling along the floor as I try to stand up.
Her footsteps stop. “Who’s there? I heard you!” There’s an anger in her voice that I’ve never heard before, and I look around in a panic, trying to find a place to hide.
There’s nothing.
I’m next to an easel, but when she walks in, she’ll be able to easily spot me.
I could try to run for it, but I can’t seem to get to my feet.
Madeline is whipping open curtains now, coming closer and closer to me, and all I can do is stay where I am. It’s like my body has given up on me and I can’t seem to get my feet under me to just go.
In just a moment she’s going to rip back the curtain in front of me, I know it. And when she does, I’m completely and utterly fucked.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The curtain yanks back and I shut my eyes, not wanting to see Madeline. There’s no way that she can miss me – not with me curled up on the floor by the easel, my arms over my head, trying to hide from her. She’s going to see me, no doubt, and then she’s going to…
What?
Kill me?
I don’t have time to worry about what she’s going to do, because the curtain rips back, the sound so loud in the silence that I want to cover my ears and hide from it, but there’s literally nothing I can do and nowhere for me to go.
“What the fuck?” Madeline sounds surprised to see me on the floor and I risk a peek out at her, spreading my fingers just a bit so that I can see her face. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She doesn’t sound pissed, which I think is probably a good sign, but she obviously isn’t happy, either. I struggle to sit up, gasping when I accidentally put my weight on my right wrist.
“I…I hadn’t left after class yet. I was just heading to the door when I slipped and fell.” It’s a lie, and a terrible one, and her eyes narrow as she looks at me.
“Bullshit. How long have you been listening, Abigail?” She’s never used my full name before, and the way it rolls off of her tongue gives me chills. “Tell me how long you’ve been listening and what you’ve heard, you fucking cunt.”
“I didn’t hear anything. I was on my way out and I slipped, then you came and I got scared, not knowing who it was.” Even though I know she can tell that I’m lying, there’s no turning back now. I can’t possibly tell her the truth – that I heard the whole conversation between her and Mr. Stanfield – and hope that she doesn’t do something drastic.
She rolls her eyes. “Get up.” Reaching down, she grabs me around the upper arm and yanks. Her hand is in the same place that Quinn always grabs me.
Quinn. Her brother.
I still can’t wrap my mind around it but I don’t have any time to think about it right now.
Stumbling to my feet, I reach out to the easel to brace myself, but she pulls me out from the workspace before I have any time to think.
“Look what I found listening in on our conversation,” she calls to Mr. Stanfield as we walk. She knows the way through the workspaces and drags me with her to the front of the room where he’s waiting. He has a strange expression on his face and his face is pale.
“Abigail?” He sounds as surprised as I feel, but he doesn’t move to me when Madeline lets go of my arm and pushes me to him. “What are you doing here?”
I look down at the bit of paint on my hands that I wasn’t able to get off with turpentine. “I was painting and had just finished up when Madeline started walking through the room. I got scared and I fell, and that’s where she found me.”
“She’s lying,” Madeline hisses, walking up next to me and starting at Mr. Stanfield. “You and I both know that she’s full of shit. What do we do about her?”
He ignores her and looks at me. “Did you hear what we were talking about?” There’s genuine concern on his face, but I can’t tell if it’s for me or because he’s worried about what I heard.
I shake my head emphatically. “No, sir, I have no idea what you guys were talking about. I was just…thinking about my work and trying to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
The look on his face tells me that he knows that I’m full of shit, but that he’s probably too tired to deal with it. “Then you need to leave, Abigail.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice, and I stand up, whipping around to the door, but before I can make a run for it, Madeline steps in front of me. “What the hell,
