Clara crossed her arms and looked down at me. “You still like him, don’t you?” She sounded as if that was the worst thing in the world.
“So? What if I do? You don’t even know him. You know about him, and that’s not even the full truth. Think of all of the rumors that went around about you. None of those were true, and at least you had the chance to prove it.”
“Well, you can call and ask Layla what the truth is. I’m sure she’ll fill you in.” While my sister was in recovery, Layla and I had talked a bit, but I wasn’t comfortable calling her for such a reason.
“I’m not calling Layla. I don’t know her well enough.” Not only that, but I knew Seth had really liked her once, and I didn’t want to upset him by doing that.
“Fine, I will.” She picked up the phone, but I snatched it out of her hands.
“You are not calling her. Stop butting into my business.” I had never had to tell her that before, but she was acting ridiculous.
“Your happiness and safety are my business. But fine, I won’t call her. If you see her around, talk to her. No one knows him the way she does. If you want the truth, get it from the source.”
“She knows her side of him. Not mine, and Seth doesn’t act that way with me. No one ever asks how she treated him.” I wasn’t going to ask Layla anything. Their relationship didn’t pertain to ours. “I miss him.”
“You sound as if there is more going on than you two taking a break.” Clara gave me a narrow-eyed look.
“I can’t talk to you about it. You’ve already made up your mind that he’s the devil, and you’re never going to change your mind.”
“I just don’t want you to get your heart broken. So, if there is something going on, yes, you can talk to me.” And get all of her opinions in the meantime? No thanks.
I dropped the half-eaten slice of pizza back into the box. “It was a mistake coming here. I’m not good company.” I didn’t want to upset her back into starving herself. My problems with Seth weren’t worth causing that much grief.
“Hey, I’m sorry, okay? I just care. I don’t want you to have a hard time like I did. Things could be easier for you.”
She would just never understand. Just because someone had hurt her doesn’t mean anyone, especially Seth, would hurt me. And even if I was hurt, it didn’t mean I was going to hurt myself like she did. I was more of a “take it out on someone else” kind of girl.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow. I’m going to go.” I left her apartment, and when I got in the car, I heard a notification ping on my phone. I glanced down at it and saw that it was Seth. He wanted to talk.
I just wasn’t sure what to do. If Clara couldn’t help me, there was only one person who could.
* * *
I drove across town to the dorms, and when I went inside, it was like party central with loud music, and I was run over by some guy on a skateboard who was using the hallway as his own personal skatepark.
“Watch it, you douchebag!” I pushed him off of me with enough force to put him into the wall, his skateboard taking a roll to the stairs where it became someone else’s obstacle.
“Damn, girl, you’re rough,” said the guy, who was about a head taller than me but twice as lanky. “It’s kind of hot.”
“In your dreams, dick.” I kept going without letting it get to me, and the music got louder as I approached Abi’s door.
When I knocked, I heard her call out. “This better be important!” The music went down, and she flung the door open with all of the force of her backswing.
When she saw it was me, she gave me a bright smile. “Hey, Ave!”
Abigail Hammond was my closest friend in college. A sweetheart and a true beauty with long blonde hair and a perfect tan, her looks were beauty-queen level, and her reputation was just as clean. But that might have been because her brother was on campus to keep her honest.
“Hey, I hope I’m not bothering you. If this is a bad time, I can come back.”
“No, it’s cool. I just thought you were someone from the dorms. Everyone’s bitching about the loud music, but I like the extra noise. And besides,” she raised her voice, shouting into the hall, “I don’t complain about their pot smoking, skateboarding, or the way the rest of this place smells. The last thing I want is another petition stuck in my face.” She stepped aside, and I walked in to sit on her roommate’s bed.
“I still don’t understand why you don’t just live at home,” I said. From what she’d told me, her family only lived a half hour from college, yet both she and her brother decided to live on campus.
“Because I can’t take living with my parents. And I live in the dorm so my brother won’t freak out about my safety.” Her brother was Thomas Hammond, one of Pro-U’s best baseball players.
I shook my head. “Doesn’t he worry that someone might kill you over the noise?” I gave a laugh to show I was joking. “But seriously, what is it about older siblings? They need to trust us.”
“No, kidding. Instead, he bugs the hell out of me.” She plopped down beside me. “So, what’s going on? You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
“I do. When I tried to talk to Seth after practice, he gave me the brush off, but I just got a message from him saying he wants to talk after all. I’m not sure what I should do. I feel like it’s all hot and cold with him.”
Abi gave me a sympathetic look with her big,
