Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kai
Tuesday
My phone rang and I made a face. Though it was time to get up for class. I didn’t know what the number was. It was probably Logan’s mom calling to yell at me more, because her poor baby's car had been stolen.
Yesterday it had been ridiculous that he’d done that. Entitled much?
The call stopped and the number rang again.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hi, this is Drea’s dad again,” a male voice said.
“Hi?” Oh? I’d been a little surprised that Logan hadn’t said anything about Drea, other than that I needed to apologize. He got back, did she?
“I wanted to let you know that we did get things sorted and brought Drea back from Bali, but she won’t be returning to your school. Obviously, she’s not ready to go to college away from home yet,” he said.
I sucked in a breath. “Logan left her in Bali, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Wow, what an asshole.
“The reason I’m calling is because Drea has something to say to you–don’t you?” His voice went sharp as the phone changed hands.
“I’m sorry that your feelings got hurt and that your friends and boyfriend like me more than you,” she muttered.
“That's not an apology,” her father snapped in the background.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. Logan came to me willingly. Your so-called friends were happy to leave you behind. Did you expect me to turn down a free trip? Even Logan stealing from you was his idea,” she gloated.
This was amusing, because she absolutely didn’t think she was in the wrong. Though I had to admire the fact that her father was trying to get her to apologize.
“Drea, I said apologize. I taught you better than this,” he added.
“You’re not going to let me go back even if I do apologize, so what’s the point? Besides Logan’s going to come for me he loves me,” she added.
“He’s coming for you? Drea, Logan left you with passport issues and no return ticket in a foreign country. Also, after graduation, he’s going back to the East Coast and getting back with his ex,” I replied.
“What are you talking about? He’s absolutely staying on the island for his doctorate so that he can continue to be with me,” Drea whined.
I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
“Besides, I wouldn’t have been stranded if you wouldn’t have canceled our tickets or taken his money,” she retorted.
Yeah, this wasn’t going anywhere.
“You can have Logan, but you don’t get my money. You can have my ex-friends, too,” I added. “Drea’s dad, I appreciate the fact that you want Drea to apologize. But this isn’t happening.”
“You're right. I’m sorry. I feel bad about everything that happened,” he apologized.
“You paid me for the ticket. It’s fine, thanks for calling.” I ended the call, because it was just super weird. Though it was sweet of him to try to get Drea to be accountable.
Drea not apologizing absolutely tracked.
Her dad pulled her out of college? Wow. But then I suppose lying to your parents about going to another country was bad enough, without adding in all the other things.
I got dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Not feeling cute today. My hand hovered over Steven’s hoodie. Did I wear it again?
Why not? It was cozy. I hadn’t taken the dragonfly necklace off either.
Again, I was tempted to send a picture of me in the sweatshirt, but I wasn’t sure if I should or not.
I glanced at my phone and saw that Steven had sent me another shirtless workout picture.
So, I sent one of me in the sweatshirt.
Me
Like? It’s so comfortable.
Steven
Nice. I’m not getting it back, am I?
Me
I’m holding it for ransom.
After I said that I immediately regretted it. I shouldn’t be engaging in witty text banter with them. The longer I drew this out, the harder it would be when they met someone else. Someone geographically compatible.
But it felt right.
Steven
You okay? Ex hasn’t tried anything yet?
Me
I’m about to eat breakfast, but Drea’s dad did try to force her to apologize which didn’t really work. He apparently pulled her out of school.
Hopefully she learned something from this, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath.
I went into the kitchen. My cousin Jake was making breakfast. Pika was at the table, finishing an assignment.
“Do you think Logan figured out where the smell is coming from yet?” Jake gave me a plate of Loco Moco, which was eggs, a hamburger patty, and gravy on rice.
I grabbed some coffee and sat down. I took a picture of my breakfast and sent it to the group chat.
Me
My cousin made me breakfast.
I got a picture of Steven’s face. It looked like he was trying to lick the camera.
Shit, I missed them. I really should ghost them for the sake of my heart.
But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I finished my class and went to meet Leigh, so that we could go over everything for the quiz today.
Today there were food trucks on campus, so we grabbed boba and poke, and found a place to sit on a covered patio where we often liked to study.
As we ate, we went over the flashcards.
“Your shithead ex hasn’t contacted you today has he?” Leigh asked as she popped a piece of salmon in her mouth.
“No.” I’d already told her about the phone call from Drea’s dad.
“I think his meeting was today. Seth’s and Raven’s too,” Leigh added. “Raven’s back on campus.”
I looked around and saw Pika sitting with a couple of guys from the wrestling team, eating lunch.
One of Logan’s classmates walked by, giving me a long look. Leigh flipped them off while taking a drink of boba.
“Can we talk?” Raven came over to us, looking a little sickly.
“I have nothing to say to you,” I answered. Seeing her hurt more than Logan. But then I remembered her calling me the drama. I didn’t need that in my life.
Raven’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry I was shitty. I let Drea and Logan get in my head. You know they shit talk you a lot, right? They also talk a lot about their life together when he starts his doctorate program.”
“Which is funny considering he literally has been accepted to a program back home, where he can live with mommy, and get back with his ex,” I replied, wondering where all this was going
Raven’s eyebrows rose. “I thought he was staying here.”
“He also said he loved me and wanted to be with me forever, and we all know that was a lie.” I rolled my eyes.
“While it was Logan who wanted to bring Drea, it was my idea to move everything and to leave you out completely. I realize now that you weren’t nagging, you were simply trying to prevent us from having a bad time,” she confessed.
“I wasn’t trying to be controlling. Nobody was planning anything and there were a number of things we had to get organized. I know you. If we just went with the flow, no one would get to do anything they wanted. Was it your idea to not have anyone pay me?” I asked.
“It was Logan’s. Rowan and Aaron didn’t know about all this.
They believed us when we said that we were moving it earlier because it was cheaper, and you would meet us because of class, and that you were paying for it as a graduation gift to us.
So don’t blame them. Rowan also broke up with me after everything came out about us intentionally leaving you out and replacing you with Drea.
He said that there was no point in being with me if I was going to be like that.
He and Aaron actually went off together for a bulk of the trip. ” She fidgeted with her rings.
I just stared at her expectantly.
“It was a huge mistake. I regret it. I was jealous of you. And well, I felt like you owed us this vacation even if you weren’t going.” Raven stared back at me.
I wasn’t sure what she wanted from me.
“You smeared her all over the campus forums, you even made an #amithevillain post,” Leigh countered.
Raven sighed. “I thought we were right, until everyone pointed out how wrong we were. I’m sorry for everything I said online. I was upset. I didn’t take into consideration that some of the things I said on the forum were against school policy and could be held against me.”
“So, you’re upset you were caught?” I stared at this person who’d been my friend, the person who I’d told so many things to, who shared my triumphs and listened to me when I had a bad day.
“Yeah.” Her voice went rough. “I didn’t expect that meeting today with Campus Affairs. Seth is not sorry.”
“Seth has always been more Logan’s friend than mine. But you, I thought you were my friend.” My voice grew quiet.
For a moment, Raven said nothing. “They’ll let me graduate. But I might not get to walk.”
“I’m not going to make this go away for you. Thank you for apologizing, but I don’t forgive you. I don’t forgive any of you.” Maybe I’d forgive Aaron and Rowan, if it was actually true that they didn’t know any of this, but we’d see.
“I wouldn’t ask. Um, I have class.” Raven left, looking defeated.
What did she expect? That I forgave her and wanted to be friends again?
Leigh and I finished our food and started walking towards our class. It was a little grey today. We walked past a number of chickens and a few cats.
“Kai,” a voice yelled.
“What do you want?” I snapped, as I saw Logan running toward me, panicked.
“I need you to come with me.” Logan looked flustered.
“Why? You literally called the police on me for stealing my own car.” I gave him a wary look.
“I honestly didn’t think the car was in your name. I thought that you’d bought it for me as a gift.” He shot me a puzzled look. Like why wouldn’t I give him everything?
“I covered it for you because Uncle found a great car and we knew it would be gone by the time you got your scholarship funds. So, I put it in my name and told you that when you paid me back, I would put it in your name. We literally have this in writing.” I loved how he was trying to rewrite what happened.
“Oh, I don’t remember that. Anyway, I need you to come with me to Campus Affairs right now and clear up a misunderstanding.” He reached for my arm and I pulled it away.
Pika joined us, giving Logan a hard look.
Leigh had her phone out and was covertly filming this.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, Logan, we broke up. Please just leave me alone,” I pleaded, taking a step back.
I didn’t need closure. I needed everyone to leave me the fuck alone.
“They’re talking about suspending me. I don’t understand why.
It's all getting blown out of proportion. Just go clear it up and let them know everything’s all good.
That you forgive me and you’re dropping the theft charges.
” He was trying to be the same charming, disarming Logan he always was, but there was an underlying urgency in his voice that set me on edge.
“I’m not going to shield you from the consequences of your actions.” Did he honestly expect me to do this?
“You owe me,” he snapped, that easy facade dropping.
“I don’t owe you anything. Leave me alone, Logan.” The entitlement was suffocating. How did I never see this?
“You’ve ruined everything with this temper tantrum over something as silly as money.
Drea went home. Seth and Raven are in trouble.
Rowan even broke up with Raven. Aaron isn’t talking to us.
And I might be kicked out a few months before completing my degree.
All because you’re being petty. You need to fix this,” he yelled.
People were staring and other people had their cameras out.
Wow. Just wow. I was into that? I wanted to be with that? Thank goodness he showed me who he really was before I’d bonded with him. Yikes.
“Are you really threatening your omega ex? Campus Affairs is going to love that,” Leigh snickered, still recording.
“No, they won’t. Because Kai’s going to drop the police report and tell Campus Affairs that it was a misunderstanding.” He took a step toward me. “I can’t believe you filed a police report.”
Pika blocked him. “Why should they do anything for you? You’re the asshole cheater.”
“Ugh. You’re so exhausting. This is exactly why we left you behind. It’s bad enough that you stole my car. I’m not gonna let you ruin my life now. Come on.” He tried to grab my arm again.
“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME, LOGAN,” I screamed as I kicked him in the balls.
That wasn’t assault, it was self-defense. Right?
It felt good. Take that, you asshole.
Pika shoved him. “Get away from Kai.”
Campus Security arrived. “What’s going on here?”
“Kai’s trying to ruin me. There’s no campus rule about cheating. I don’t know why they want to kick me out,” Logan yelled.
“Kai’s ex came charging in here with threats. He’s under investigation by Campus Affairs for theft,” Leigh said, still filming.
“He won’t leave them alone, and he should,” Pika added, giving Logan a violent look.
“Do you want to file a report?” security asked me.
Leigh looked at me and nodded.
“Yes,” I said. Time to face the consequences, shithead.
“How could you? I know I broke up with you, but there’s no need for all this,” Logan snapped.
“I broke up with you. Leave me alone,” I retorted.
Pika stood in front of me. “Stop.”
Campus security took statements and made Logan leave.
“Thanks, Pika.” Once again, Pika was there.
He grinned. “Nice kick, Cousin. Feel good?”
“Oh, it did,” I nodded.
“I already sent the video to Campus Affairs,” Leigh informed me.
“Thanks.” I checked the time. “Shit, we’re late for the quiz.”
“He’ll understand,” she assured.
This professor would.
“Afterwards, we should go to the legal center and see about filing for that restraining order,” Leigh said.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath. While I expected him to confront me, I didn’t think he’d be so delusional that he’d ask me to try to make his mistakes disappear.
Though I should have.
“Let’s do this.” Yes, I wasn’t going to shield Logan from the consequences of his actions. He fucked around, now he was going to find out.