Chapter 53
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
ASTRID
A soft orange sky decorated the horizon, glowing against the ocean. Waves crashed against the sand, the salty particles dancing in the air. I gazed at the seaweed ebbing and flowing in the water.
My chest was tight. Diya had left a few moments ago, her tears spilling down her cheeks. She had asked to be alone, which really meant that she was going back to her stepfather so he’d comfort her. But he knew, and I hadn’t found a good time to tell her.
I exhaled and ran a hand through my hair. “How long will it take for the rumors to die?”
Sakura frowned and followed my gaze. “I don’t know. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“We should’ve been quieter when we talked at the café. People are always listening.”
“Some people have nothing better to do than start drama,” I hummed.
If I had learned anything at Redwood Academy, it was that people’s lives were just so shitty that the best thing they had going for them was hurting other people. Nice people, people who had good lives, rich lives—and not in terms of actual money—didn’t hurt people like this.
After stuffing her hands into her pockets, she turned toward the dunes. “I should go.”
I walked with her toward the parking lot. “You think she’ll be okay?”
We stepped off the sand and onto the cracked concrete.
“I don’t know.”
My lips curled into a frown. “She’s scared, and I don’t blame her.”
Sakura gently squeezed my elbow. “You’re a good friend for taking the heat.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. “I appreciate it.”
Once she slipped into her car, I walked to mine and grabbed the door handle. I didn’t know why, but I scanned the lot, and my gaze landed across the street on a pair of cars parked right next to each other.
I furrowed my brow. What the hell? Is that …
Calix.
My fingers danced against the door handle, and then I dropped it. What’s he doing here? Did he follow us down to the beach? If I were him, that’s what I would do, especially if someone had been ignoring me the way I had been with him.
When Sakura sped out of the lot, I crossed the street to confront him. I didn’t know what I was going to say, but I had to finally talk to him because I didn’t want him stalking me and finding out what really was going on. Not until Diya was ready.
Yet the closer I got, the … the more something felt off.
Who is he with?
Once I reached the driver’s window, I froze in my tracks. Inside the car, Calix was sitting in the driver’s seat, completely oblivious to me standing right beside the car, staring at … his ex-girlfriend and my ex–best friend, Mira.
Her gaze lifted from him to me, her smirk widening.
For a moment, I just stared at the scene in front of me, not knowing how to feel. But then something clicked inside me, and I threw the driver’s door open, swallowing the bile in my throat. My chest tightened.
What the hell is he doing here? And with her, of all people?
Calix flinched, his head snapping toward me. “Astrid, I—”
“Well, well, if it isn’t Astrid,” she murmured. “How’s the pregnancy?”
I balled my hands into tight fists. “It’s good. How’s yours?”
“I’m not pregnant,” she said, placing her hand on Calix’s thigh. “Not yet.”
Fury bubbled inside me, and I drew my tongue across my teeth, beckoning myself to not say anything mean, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. She had been nothing but rude to Diya and me since she had dated Calix.
“Sure looks like it,” I growled.
“Don’t be a fucking bitch.”
“Astrid,” Calix said, shoving Mira’s hand off his thigh, “it’s not what—”
“Mmhmm,” I hummed. “Sure.”
“I swear to God,” Calix said. “You don’t believe me?”
Mira laughed from the passenger seat. “Relax, Astrid. I just wanted to talk.”
I nodded because I didn’t believe this bitch for one moment.
“You seem a little worked up though. Jealous?”
“You seem like a dumb little bitch,” I said between my teeth. Then I turned toward Calix and glared at him. “I just don’t appreciate being lied to.”
“I didn’t lie to you,” Calix said, jumping out of the car. “I didn’t know she’d be here.”
“So, you followed me here, and she followed you?”
“Yes.”
While I wanted to believe him, how could I? She was sitting in his car. If he hadn’t wanted her here, why had he invited her inside the car? Why had she felt like she could place her hand on his thigh like that? Not his knee. His thigh.
“Save it,” I growled. “I’m done.”
Without waiting for him to respond, I marched back to my car.
Calix ran after me, calling my name and beckoning me to hear him out.
But I had just spent the day being bullied by people at school over a rumor, had to comfort Diya for the past half hour over the pregnancy, now this? ! I needed time to myself.
I climbed into the driver’s seat, shut the door, and locked the car before he had a chance to stop me. Then I started the engine and peeled out of the lot. My mind was spinning, my emotions a tangled mess.
If Calix wanted to play games, fine. I could play too.
Frasier’s place it was.