“He was?” she asks with a look of utter shock on her face. “And did the two of you hang out together?”
I can tell by the look on her face that she is obviously just trying to pry and stir up trouble.
“Not much,” I answer. “I had a lot of schoolwork to do and I think Chase did too.”
Bridget bursts into laughter.
“That’s rich,” she says with a laugh. “Chase taking anything seriously, especially schoolwork, is definitely a joke.”
I feel both bad and strangely satisfied. I feel bad for Chase that it seems as if no one really knows who he truly is … but then again, no one really knows who I truly am either. And honestly, I like it that way.
If my time here at Ridgecrest has taught me anything, it’s that it makes it a lot easier to be myself in secret without running the risk of having to deal with anyone else’s perception of me.
It makes me feel oddly good that I seem to know more about Chase as a person than his best friend’s sister does. I’m also willing to bet that I might even know more about him now than Warren does.
Those guys might all be friends, but I think there are parts and pieces that they hide from each other, just as they try to hide things from everyone else. It’s probably a learned trait that emerged when dealing with their own parents and families—another thing that we have in common.
We are all beautifully dysfunctional, and I’m now starting to see that a lot of their nasty behavior is nothing more than a mask.
Just like my own, I suppose.
“Well, I guess it’s back to school and back to work now,” Bridget sighs. “I really wish we could just skip ahead to the parties. Tell my brother I said hello.”
She smirks at me and flounces back out of the room. She just got back from seeing her brother, so that is just a dig at the fact that I have to go to my volunteer shift with him this afternoon and I’m betting that he’s in a foul mood about having to go to it. Especially with exams coming up and him needing to meet with his tutor.
Not that he knows I know that.
I’m sure he’d be in an even more foul mood if he did.
But that’s just something I’m going to have to risk.
My time with Chase over break has made me determined to be better. To do better. I’m not ready to let my past tormenters off the hook entirely—but I can be careful not to stoop to their level.
Alaska tried to warn me about this earlier. I just wasn’t ready to listen then.
I am now.
“Hey,” I say when I see Warren in the hallway between classes. Unlike last term, when we shared most of our classes together, I haven’t had to deal with him—or much of the others—during any of my classes this time around. I walk up behind him to tap him on the shoulder. My class is actually in the other direction, but I need to get this over with while I still have the balls to do it.
And before he or anyone else can make me change my mind.
“I’ll cover your volunteer shift today,” I say, trying to keep my voice as matter-of-fact as possible.
I’m not expecting a smile or even a thank you. I’m simply expecting for him not to act like a complete ass.
“Why would you do that?” he asks, eyeing me warily. “Since when do you want to let me off the hook for no reason?”
Maybe I was expecting a little too much.
It’s all I can do to keep my voice steady. “I just thought that I could maybe help out a little this time and cover you.”
“Help out?” he asks with a raised eyebrow. “With what?”
“With your shift,” I say. Geez, why is he making this so hard? Why doesn’t he just say thanks and move on? “I just thought that since I’m going to be there anyway, and since you probably have more important things to do; that I could help out. It’s not a big deal.”
I don’t have time to sit here and spell it out for him, so I turn to start walking back in the other direction. There’s really no need for me to wait for a response from him anyway, but I only make it a few steps before I feel a hand pull my shoulder back and see that Warren has chased after me.
“Who told you?” he asks with a furious look in his eyes.
“Told me what?” I ask, knowing full well my voice doesn’t sound as convincingly confused as I mean it to.
Damn.
Chase is going to think that I betrayed him by telling Warren what we talked about.
“I’m going to kill him,” Warren growls as he shakes his head.
“Kill who?” I ask feigning ignorance.
“Chase,” he spits at me. “But you already know who, don’t you? I can’t believe that he told you. What kind of friend does something like that? And who do you think you are waving it around in my face like that?”
“What are you even talking about?” I say, still hoping to be able to backpedal out of this. I shouldn’t be having to backpedal.
I was trying to do something nice.
But I should have known Warren wouldn’t take it that way. Couldn’t take it that way.
Not, at least, from me.
“You’re such a—”
I don’t let him finish.
“Such a what, Warren? You can’t even see past your own self,” I snap back. “Chase is a good friend to you, and I have no idea what you’re talking about. But even if I did, I would tell you to stop trying to blame all of your friends—and even me—for all of your problems. We all
