Elite - Chapter 13
Saturday
Kennedy pulled me into the bathroom with her before Miller had a chance to demand to search it for…whatever it was he was looking for.
“Are you okay?” she asked and put her hands on my shoulders. “Tell me everything. What was it like at their place? Were they as awful at home as they are in public?”
“I messed up.” I tried to blink away the tears that had started the moment she’d hugged me.
“What do you mean?”
“I told Mr. Pruitt the truth about what happened at lunch and got Isabella and her mom kicked out of the apartment for the weekend. Isabella’s going to be worse than ever to me. What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that the truth is better than lies.”
“Not when it comes to the Pruitts apparently.”
Kennedy’s hands fell from my shoulders. She was staring at me with so much concern on her face. I didn’t know if she was waiting for me to say more or if she had more to say. But it was easy for me to fill the silence.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “I can’t stay there another night.
And I was hoping Felix would help cause a distraction and then I’d be able to sneak away to your place.
But he brought up the point earlier that Miller would easily find me.
And I don’t have anywhere else to go. What am I supposed to do?
They’ll always find me. Won’t they?” I’d already answered my own question
Kennedy nodded. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to be brave. And you can tell me all about how horrible they are when we hang out every day. And you’re going to get through this. Before you know it, we’ll be off to college and you never have to see them again.”
That wasn’t what I was expecting her to say. At all. What was she talking about? “College?” That was two and a half years away. “Your mom told me she was going to fix it. She’s…”
Kennedy shook her head. “Matt even had his fancy lawyer go with my mom. There isn’t anything they can do.”
“But Mr. Pruitt isn’t my legal guardian. Of course they can do something. He freaking kidnapped me.”
“Trust me, they brought up that point. But no one’s budging. Matt’s fancy pants lawyer thinks Mr. Pruitt bribed someone. Everyone my mom goes to just looks the other way. Maybe he bribed a whole lot of somebodies.”
“So you’re telling me that there’s no way out?” I tried to take a deep breath, but it didn’t feel like my lungs were expanding anymore. “I’m stuck here?”
“Brooklyn, you’re the strongest person I know. You got through your mom’s death and…”
“I’m not through it.” I couldn’t breathe. “My heart is still broken.”
“That doesn’t mean you’re not strong. You’re still standing here, fighting the next battle.”
I was barely standing.
“And I’ll be there for you the whole time.”
“Kennedy, he’s not going to let me see you.
He barely let me leave the apartment today.
I’m…I’m…” I let my voice trail off. I’m trapped.
I’d known it all along. I’d held on to hope when I tried to sneak out last night.
And hope that today I’d be able to run away.
But I’d known the truth all along. I was trapped in this hell.
“He has to let you see me,” she said with a smile. “We go to school together.”
She didn’t get it. Mr. Pruitt had made it very clear about what he thought of Kennedy and her mom. Yes, I’d get to see her at school. But never after. Not on the weekends. Not at work. But all the fight was out of me once the truth sunk in. I’m trapped.
“Let’s just try to forget about it for a day.”
That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t living with the Pruitts. She hadn’t lost her whole family. But instead of saying anything at all, I just nodded.
Kennedy smiled. “Come on. It’ll be fun. It’s kind of like we’re having a double date.”
Oh God. That’s exactly the way it looked. But she had to realize that I couldn’t possibly be on a date right now. My heart had broken when my mom died. It had shattered when my uncle died. And it got tossed into oncoming traffic when I broke up with Matt. I didn’t have a heart left for anyone.
Kennedy pulled me out of the bathroom and we practically ran into Miller.
His arms were folded across his strong chest and he looked…pissed. Or was it amused? I didn’t really know him at all.
But then I realized that amused and pissed were probably exactly right if he’d just been listening to our conversation. “How much of that did you hear?” I asked.
“Just about all of it,” he said.
So…my plans to run away and the double date bit. Great. As if my day couldn’t get any more terrible, now he had to be mad at me too. But why was he mad? Really, I should be the one who was mad. Was it actually in his job description to eavesdrop?
“Awkward,” Kennedy said a little too high-pitched and pulled me past him.
Felix and Cupcake had already cracked open the box of sweets. I usually didn’t eat much dessert. It was easy to be hyper-aware of the food I put into my body when my mom and my uncle had both died so young. But today, I really didn’t give a shit.
I picked up what I figured was the infamous sugarcake and took a huge bite. It practically melted in my mouth. No wonder these things are so popular. I took another bite. And another. I grabbed a second sugarcake and pretty much shoved half of it into my mouth like a barbarian.
“You should probably slow down, you don’t need all that,” Cupcake said and grabbed my arm.
Excuse me? I was pretty sure that offhand comment about my weight was worse than him literally throwing a dodgeball in my face.
“What’s your problem, man?” Felix said, breaking the awkward silence that followed Cupcake’s comment.
“Nothing,” Cupcake said. “I just really think one’s plenty for her.”
There was no other way to look at it. Cupcake thought I was fat.
I looked down at my sweater that showed off my midriff.
I tried to pull it down a little. I knew wearing these stupid clothes was a mistake.
Justin was wrong about Diane Cartwright knowing how to dress people because I clearly wasn’t pulling this off.
“Don’t be rude,” Kennedy said and lifted up her own sugarcake. “She’s had kind of a rough few days if you haven’t noticed.”
“Right.” Cupcake nodded, but he still looked weirdly concerned about me downing a second dessert.
Screw you too, Cupcake. I picked up a third just to annoy him.
“Ignore him,” Felix said. “You look amazing.”
It was sweet of him to say when his friend had just called me fat. But all I could think about was that it was also very awkward. Because I could feel Miller staring at me.
I turned toward his piercing gaze. “Miller, don’t you want any?” I asked. I hated that he just stood there watching us. Couldn’t he just sit down and join us instead?
He didn’t budge from his spot on the wall, so I brought one over to him.
“They’re really good,” I said and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” He took it from me. “Who’s that little jackass?”
I didn’t need him to clarify who he was talking about. “Cupcake. He’s Kennedy’s boyfriend.”
“Want me to take care of him?”
“What does that even mean?”
Miller brushed a crumb off the lapel of his suit jacket. “You don’t need to know the specifics.”
Was this the kind of stuff that the Pruitts paid their security detail extra for? I didn’t need to hear anything else. I could tell by Miller’s tone that it was something sinister. “That’s definitely not necessary.”
“Let me know if you change your mind.”
I could take care of myself. I didn’t need him to do whatever it was he was referring to. And why was that Miller’s first reaction? Seriously, what line of work was Mr. Pruitt in?
I retreated back to the couch. Miller was the only person in the Pruitt’s apartment that I thought was nice. But nice people didn’t offer to “take care” of things in that tone.
“Are you feeling okay?” Cupcake asked. “You look a little pale.”
“So now I’m fat and sickly?” The words just spilled out of me like I had no filter.
“What? No. That’s not…” his voice trailed off. “I was just asking,” he said a little quieter.
And for some reason I started laughing. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. My stomach, which as far as I was concerned was very flat, hurt with laughter.
Cupcake started laughing too, probably just relieved that Miller wasn’t going to kick his ass, and then everyone started laughing.
“I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week,” I said and grabbed another sugarcake. “Cupcake, these really are great.”
“Thanks,” he said when he finally caught his breath. “I made them myself. It’s a new recipe with a secret ingredient.”
“What’s the secret?” Kennedy asked. “Love?”
He smiled and nudged her with his shoulder.
It was the first time that I actually thought they were cute together.
I polished off my third sugarcake and sunk into the couch.
I’d had that kind of love with Matt. And I threw it all away because he was being blackmailed by Isabella and refused to acknowledge my presence in public.
That was oddly specific and conclusive. And despite that, all I wanted to do was text him.
I looked down at my new phone. It was a bad idea. But I did know his number by heart…
What was I even doing texting Matt? I shook my head.
Thinking about Matt. I was most definitely not texting him.
Which was good because there was a guy that actually cared about me sitting next to me.
He had my back. He cared about me. And he wasn’t embarrassed of me.
Even when I did stuff my face with three sugarcakes.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to wear to homecoming?” Felix asked. “I want to make sure my tie matches your dress.”