50. Jude
Chapter 50
Jude
I get the message I’ve been waiting the whole fucking weekend for minutes after I step out of the cinema with Rosie. I have to admit, the movie wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be—except for the musical numbers. God, I hate musicals. The parts where the characters weren’t singing in unison though, those were pretty cool.
Rosie’s still sipping on her Slurpee, although it’s probably just flavored water by now. “Hang on, squirt.” I pull gently on her hand, leading her into a quiet alcove beside an action movie poster so I can read the message.
SENT
My stomach coils in on itself as a smile crawls onto my mouth. God, finally! Rosie squeals when I snatch her off the ground and throw her onto my shoulders. “Home time!” Her delighted giggles follow us through the foyer of Cinderhart’s only movie theater as I race with her to my truck.
Rosie must really love this movie. She blabbers about it the entire way home and throws a sulk when I tell her I have a ton of homework to do so I can’t sit and talk about it some more. I sprint up the stairs, halfway to my bedroom when Harper emerges from her room.
We stare at each other in silence, my chest rising and falling from my stair climb. I almost can’t shove away the urge to pin her to the wall and rough her up. But I think about the message, about what’s waiting for me in my inbox, and I manage a wolfish grin instead.
Harper’s eyes narrow. “How was the movie?”
“Cut the bullshit.” I stick out an arm and push her out of the way—fucking gently, all things considered—and head for my room.
“Jude—”
She cuts off when I flip her off without looking back. I hear an angry mumble, and then I’m closing my door. Fuck, I wish Dad hadn’t taken my key. I’m going to have to be very circumspect. Last thing I need is someone sneaking up on me. I almost consider putting a sock on the door, but that would just draw the wrong type of attention.
I fall down in my chair and click to open my emails. After hitting refresh a few times, the email finally comes through.
“Yes,” I hiss under my breath.
$10,000?
Worth every fucking cent.
I spend the rest of the night on my computer. I don’t even go down for dinner. It’ll take me a few days to starve, but I’m running out of time before those test results come back. I can’t change the fact that I had drugs in my system...but I can force Harper to confess and hopefully soften the inevitable blow.
If Dad’s influence in this town can’t reinstate my scholarship, then I don’t know what the fucking point of being a Dearth is anyway.
Just before midnight, I’m done.
I sit drumming my fingers on the desk for a few minutes, considering my plan from every angle, looking for fault.
Not sure why I bother though...it’s foolproof. So much so, I almost want to wake up Harper and give her one last chance to do the right thing. Because this...?
God, this is going to hurt.