Chapter 27 #2
I blink at him. “After Maths.”
Lilia looks thoughtful for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek. “I would go with you, but I have lessons all day.” She exhales, clearly irritated. “Damn, this is the worst timing.”
Everyone turns to Will at the same time.
He’s leaning against a set of lockers, messing with his camera, adjusting the lens… doing whatever it is Will always does on that thing.
Slowly, he looks up. “Yes?”
Liam crosses his arms. “Welcome back to reality, man. You good?”
Will tilts his head. “I was just—”
“Will.” Lilia stares at him.
Will stares back. “Lilia.”
“You’re taking Addie to the hospital,” Liam says then, rolling his eyes and gesturing to me.
Oh god. No.
I look at Will, pleading with my eyes. Please, no. I can wait till the end of the day. I can go with someone else. Hell, I can go alone. Anyone but him.
Will’s gaze shifts to mine, and he watches me for a moment. Watches the look of pure desperation in my eyes.
“I’m not,” he says simply, though there’s something else in his expression. Irritation, maybe? “Kai is.”
Lilia freezes. “What?
My stomach tightens, and I blink at Will, waiting for him to correct himself. “He said that?”
When did he even get the time to ask?
Will pulls his phone out of his pocket, scrolling for a second before saying, “I told him what happened. He said he would.”
Liam makes a face. “He did?”
He did?
“That doesn’t mean she has to go with him,” Lilia’s voice cuts in, arms crossing tighter. She’s right next to me now, holding me up, and I want to tell her I won’t break or collapse if she lets go. I’m not as fragile as everyone thinks.
Will, ignoring her completely, locks his phone and slides it back into his pocket. “After lesson.”
“What makes him think I’d agree?” I say to myself more than him, disbelieving.
“Because no one else can,” Will says flatly, not looking away from me.
A chill creeps up my spine, and I don’t know what bothers me more—the fact that Kai agreed, or the fact that Will is right.
Probably both, honestly.
Liam lets out a low whistle. “You sure he didn’t mean he’s going to dump her in a ditch somewhere?”
And Lilia turns to him, horrified, shoving him lightly. “What is wrong with you?”
Liam shrugs. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Kai, but he can be a bit…” He lifts his hand, circling his fingers next to his head.
“You really don’t have to go with him, you know,” Lilia mutters, pulling at my sleeve lightly.
I swallow. I know that. But I also know that if he already agreed, it’ll be hard to dissuade him.
Seriously, arguing with him right now sounds about as appealing as slamming my head against a wall.
In fact, arguing with him is probably exactly what that feels like.
And honestly? I don’t have the energy for it right now.
Lilia must see the look on my face, because she sighs, muttering something about how she’d rather send me into the woods blind than with Kai.
***
Brentwood College is covered in snow. Completely.
An endless expanse of whites and greys. But the air is so cold it practically bites at my cheeks through the gaps in my scarf.
It’s beautiful, sure, but freezing. My coat isn’t nearly thick enough, though my scarf helps—a massive, absurd thing I’ve wrapped around my head like a balaclava but is still barely enough to keep my ears from freezing off.
Everyone’s outside, though. Of course they are. It’s a snow day. And as much as I want to complain, there’s something oddly nice about it. Everyone’s willing to suffer just to be part of it.
Liam has managed to rope everyone in and convinced everyone to meet by the arc. Something about “desperate matters”, and since Kai has agreed to help, that means we have to cooperate. Even in the cold.
The arc comes into view as we trudge along, and though every square inch of my body hurts, I try to focus on the white around me, the people around me, and my breath fogging up in the icy air.
The arc is a tall, beautiful curve of stone framed perfectly by the snow-covered grounds beyond it. I’ve seen it before, admired it, but that’s as close as I got, since it’s probably the most popular hangout spot in the entire school.
Everyone’s already there when I get closer.
Even Kym, who’s currently shouting at Liam—who sped off to find her not even moments before—with more enthusiasm than I’ve seen from her in weeks.
She’s holding a snowball—or, no, a snow boulder—and before I can even process what’s happening, she launches it straight at his head.
It hits dead-on, and Liam stumbles back with a loud yelp.
Kym shouts something I can’t quite hear, and Bea, off to the side, is laughing while mouthing something I can’t make out.
“Guys! Over here!” Bea’s voice rings out, and she waves at us from under the arc, her gloved hand flapping in the air.
Her smile is wide, and somehow, she doesn’t look half as cold as I feel.
Hearing her, I try to speed up, my boots crunching faster through the snow.
My scarf slips a little, and a gust of icy air stings my face, but I don’t bother fixing it.
Lilia takes my arm tighter as we approach, pulling me gently under the shelter of the arc.
“They’re putting up cameras around your house.” She smiles like she’s trying to keep things casual, but her voice betrays something else entirely.
“What?” I blurt out, blinking at her in confusion. I glance around at the group. Kai is standing slightly off to the side; his hands stuffed in his coat pockets. As usual, I can’t tell what he’s thinking.
“We have someone doing it right now,” Christian speaks up, his tone calm but firm.
I blink at him. Cameras? Around my house? My stomach twists, though I’m not sure if it’s from relief or just unease. “And if they wear a disguise?” Bea asks, narrowing her eyes at Christian like she’s already several steps ahead of him.
He lets out a soft sigh, as though he’s humouring her. “The cameras aren’t going to solve everything,” he admits, “but they’ll give us a head start. We’ll know if someone’s still lurking around.”
“Unless they’re clever,” Bea mutters, crossing her arms. She tilts her head, her black curly hair catching the faint light spilling under the arch. “Like, really clever.”
Liam shakes his head, stepping closer to me. “The point is deterrence, Beatrice,” he says. “They’re not going to walk straight up to a house with cameras everywhere unless they’re really stupid.”
I just know Bea cringed at that. She hates being called by her full name, only her parents call her that.
“If they’re not stupid, they’re at least predictable. People always leave a trail, whether they mean to or not.” Kai, who has remained silent up to this point, finally speaks, but he’s only looking at me.
For a second, no one says anything. But then, from the corner of my eye, I see Will grin, the tooth gem in his mouth catching the light. No doubt real diamond. “I agree,” he says, his camera hanging around his neck.
“Or she can just live with someone else for the time being,” Liam suggests.
Lilia grips my arm tighter, her eyes lighting up. “Great idea! You can live with me!” she says, staring at me hopefully. If only it were that easy.
“What about my sisters?” I ask, pulling back slightly to look at her, then at the others.
“What about them?” Kai’s voice cuts in again. He’s not being cruel exactly, but the way he says it… like it’s that simple. Like I can just walk away.
“I can’t just leave them,” I say, louder this time, because it feels like no one is listening.
Kai’s response is a sigh—an actual sigh—before he rolls his eyes. “They’ll manage.”
Something inside me snaps. My chest tightens, and before I know it, the words are spilling out.
“They’ll manage? They’ll manage? Oh, that’s right, you wouldn’t know what it’s like to have nothing to eat.
Or to have to count every penny just to make it through the week.
” I glare at him. “They won’t survive without me. ”
Kai’s gaze doesn’t falter, but there’s a shift in his expression, and for a moment I think he’ll argue. Instead, he tilts his head slightly, his eyes narrowing in thought.
“Is it exhausting?” he asks, his voice quieter. Scarier.
I blink at him. “Is what?”
“Caring so much for other people that you forget to care for yourself?” His tone is so calm it feels like a slap.
Heat rushes to my face, and I can feel the anger slowly bubbling up. My hands curl into fists at my sides. “Excuse me?” I manage, my voice shaking with rage. “They need me, I’m just doing what’s right.”
Kai doesn’t flinch. He stands there, perfectly composed, like he’s just stated a fact. So simple, so unfeeling, and so infuriating it hurts. “And what exactly do you need? Or does that not factor into your math?”
“It’s not about me,” I say finally, quieter than I mean to. “It’s about my family. They need me. I’m trying to protect them.”
He studies me for a moment. Not cruelly. Not even coldly. Just… patiently. As if he’s waiting for me to hear myself. “Of course it’s about you,” he says. “You’re just terribly clever at finding reasons to disappear inside other people’s problems.”
I’m about to say something else in response, before I hear the faint click of a camera.
I whirl around, and my eyes land on Will, who’s standing a few feet away with his camera pressed to his face.
He lowers it slightly. “Don’t stop on my account,” he says, and my stomach twists as I feel the heat rise in my cheeks again.
There’s something about the way he looks at me through the camera, something behind his eyes. I had noticed it before too.
“Man, I told you not to do that,” Liam says, giving him a light shove on the shoulder.
Will tilts his head slightly, still grinning. “And do you remember how I responded to that?” he asks, his tone light, despite what I’m sure was a threat.