Chapter One Kami #2
She’d asked me to come over to her place that morning and ride with her to school so she could tell me what had really happened with her and Julian—how he had managed to get her to avoid me and convinced her to hook up with Danny, my asshole ex-boyfriend.
She was scared, just like the rest of us who had been caught in Julian’s web.
I knew she wouldn’t want to go into details, but I wasn’t going to let her off the hook.
I texted Taylor to let him know he didn’t need to pick me up, put on my warmest coat, my red hat, and my gloves, and left early, while my mother and brother were still asleep.
My grandmother had gone home a few days ago, but with the promise that she’d be checking in on us to make sure no one messed with her family again.
Outside, it was as cold as the arctic. It had snowed the night before, and there were huge mounds piled up around all the houses and trees where snowplows had been clearing the streets since early that morning.
The sidewalks were still glistening white, which meant I had to walk in the road.
It was before sunrise, but I didn’t care.
I needed a few minutes to myself. Sometimes, being alone is just what your mind needs, and since everything with Julian had gone down, nobody would leave me alone.
People stared at me as if I were a time bomb about to explode, and all I wanted was for things to go back to the way they’d been before.
I looked around at the winter wonderland, admiring the precious place where I’d grown up.
A lot of people said Carsville was a boring small town, but I had always liked being surrounded by nature.
I loved Christmas with snowmen in the woods and summer afternoons swimming in the lake.
Once we got older, we’d go there to party without the watchful eyes of adults.
I loved nights camped out in the yard, looking at the stars, away from the city lights that made them difficult to see.
Carsville: a place where nothing happened, would soon be on everyone’s radar.
I got to Ellie’s house with enough time to talk before we had to go to school.
When I rang the doorbell, I figured she’d be having breakfast. Her dad opened the door.
He was a tall guy with dark, curly hair.
Mr. Webber’s size sure made him intimidating, but I knew deep down he was nothing but a puppy dog.
“Hey, Kami! How have you been?” he asked as he motioned for me to come inside. “C’mon in, quick, it’s chilly out this morning! Did you walk all the way here?”
“Good morning, Mr. Webber. Yeah, I was in the mood for a walk. Is Ellie around?” I asked with a smile.
“Yeah, she’s having breakfast,” he said, hanging my coat, hat, gloves, and scarf on the coat tree in the vestibule. The heat inside was stifling, and I wanted to strip off more layers. I was already sweating as I followed Mr. Webber into the kitchen.
Ellie’s house wasn’t big. There was just room enough for her parents, two cats, and her.
She used to always tell me how she envied my big bedroom, the huge TV in my living room, and our impressive staircase.
She always wanted to come over to my house, and I always wanted to go somewhere else, to get away from the imposing decor.
I usually found an excuse to end up at her place, and Mrs. Webber made one hell of an apple pie.
Her house might have been small, but it was homey and always smelled of coffee and fresh-baked bread.
I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
As I entered the cozy kitchen, with its round table in the corner and light wood cabinets with little stencils of lemons, Ellie looked up from her cereal bowl with surprise, asking, “Why are you here so early?”
Her mother looked up from her newspaper and smiled. “Hello, dear! Long time no see! Can I get you some coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? Just give me a few minutes…” She stood, laid her newspaper on the table, and walked over to the stove, ready to make whatever I asked. That was just like Mrs. Webber.
“I’d love a coffee,” I told her, smiling, because I knew if I didn’t accept something, she’d have gone on listing options for the rest of the day. I sat down next to Ellie and asked her, “What do you think about walking to school?”
I hoped she’d say yes, but she hesitated: “Don’t you think it’s a bad idea, considering that…” She trailed off.
Ellie’s parents had no idea what had been going on.
Since she hadn’t been directly involved, the principal hadn’t gotten in touch with them the way he had with my parents and Taylor and Thiago’s mom.
Ellie had decided not to inform them because she didn’t want them worrying about a crazy kid on the loose, blackmailing half the student body.
“It’s just twenty minutes,” I told her, hoping she’d notice how much I needed her company.
She nodded, but I could tell she was nervous. And that made sense. We were all scared and angry at Julian for what he’d done.
As we finished breakfast with Ellie’s parents, I told myself that Julian was harmless.
I hated him for what he’d done, for the lies and manipulation, but I was convinced it ended there.
His cruelty, his conniving, the way he’d hurt people, were all the actions of a coward, carried out from a distance, hiding his real identity.
Julian wasn’t the type to confront us on the street and try to harm us.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
When breakfast was over, we bundled up and headed outside. Ellie’s father usually drove her in, and he didn’t like the idea of us being out in the cold, but we managed to convince him.
Once we were finally alone, walking side by side in the bike lane, I could sense that my worries about Ellie weren’t wrong. Something was going on with her. And that something had to do with me.
“Listen, Ellie…” I said after a brief uncomfortable silence, only interrupted by the chirping of birds and one or two passing cars.
“Do you have some kind of problem with me?” I said, cutting to the point.
I didn’t want to feel awkward around my best friend, especially not now that I needed her more than ever…
She didn’t speak for a few seconds, then she told me, “I’m really sorry for what happened with Julian, Kami.” She was looking at the ground, as though she didn’t have the courage to meet my gaze.
“What do you mean, exactly?”
“You know he forced me to do things I’d never have done otherwise…”
Like hooking up with Danny at the Halloween party.
How could I forget! I still had nightmares about the two of them together, not because I was jealous, but because my best friend, someone I loved and respected, had gone after the maniac who’d made my life impossible for two years.
It made me angry, but it made me sad, too.
Danny didn’t deserve someone like Ellie.
And Ellie… She deserved the best. A good guy, someone fun, someone who could make her laugh, get under her skin, push her to do things she’d never do on her own.
She deserved the best guy in the world, which I told her straight up. Ellie looked off at the trees and said, “What if the perfect guy’s out of my reach?” Then she turned back to face me.
“Ellie, no decent guy with a brain would turn you down,” I responded. She was a total catch: smart, pretty, fun, sweet. She looked at me skeptically, hinting that she had her eye on someone. I shouted, “Oh my God, who is it? Do I know him? Is it someone from our class?”
I went through all the guys at school in my head, and no one jumped out as someone even remotely in her league, but hey—if there was someone she liked, I wasn’t going to be the one to burst her bubble.
“We’ve got some classes with him…” she responded, even more nervous than before. Dammit! Who was it?
“Ellie, spit it out!” I said when we were almost to school.
I could tell she was hesitant, but at last, she took a breath and said, “Sorry, Kami, it’s just… I don’t want you to hate me. It’s not like I planned this or anything. Feelings, you know, they just appear out of nowhere, and I didn’t see this coming…”
Just as she was about to say more, a car honked, and we both nearly jumped out of our skin.
“Jesus!” I shouted, and noticed it was Thiago and Taylor pulling into school.
We watched them turn as we kept walking.
The brothers parked at the edge of the lot, far from the school building but close to us.
I could feel the nerves in the pit of my stomach as Thiago got out of the driver’s side, slamming the door and turning toward me. Taylor did the same from the passenger side.
“What have you done now?” Ellie asked.
I froze: They were headed straight for me, with angry expressions on their handsome faces.
“You want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing walking to school by yourself?” Believe it or not, it wasn’t my boyfriend, Taylor, who asked. It was his brother, Thiago.
I was stunned. Thiago was like a bulldozer; he couldn’t control his temper. I looked at Taylor, and he was pissed, too, but part of that was his anger at being upstaged by his brother.
Thiago was going too far. I think sometimes he forgot that I was going out with his brother, not him.
“What am I supposed to do?” I shouted. “I wanted to take a walk with my best friend!”
“Your best friend can do whatever she wants. You’re a different story!” he shouted, standing just inches away from me. God, he was so tall, so strong, so fucking irresistible.
I looked to Taylor for help. “Can you get your brother to stop yelling at me?” The last thing I needed was somebody else making a spectacle of me at school. Thankfully we were at least far enough from the doors that no one could gawk at us except the last few people pulling into the parking lot.
“Sorry, Kami, but not this time. I hate to say it, but he’s right. It’s pretty stupid to walk around alone when you know an absolute psycho has you in his sights!” Taylor said.