Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
* * *
Zepp skipped the class we had together, which did nothing but add to the unsettled feeling churning in my gut. By the change of class at lunchtime, that painful twinge had only grown worse. I shoved my books into my locker, bending the pages. It had been a long time since I’d been truly scared of anything, but now a reality and its infinite possibilities terrified me. Zepp had become necessary to me, like air. And yet this niggling feeling told me that he didn’t need me the same way. It wasn’t even about college. It was about the opportunity to be with me in Florida, and his rejection of it hurt more than it should have. I slammed my locker and met Jade’s concerned gaze.
“I’m going to go to the library. Chase and I need to put our project together and write a summary.”
She lifted a brow. “You’ve been weird all day, and Zepp isn’t hanging around like your personal guard dog. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. It’s fine. I’ll see you later.” I walked off before she could ask any more questions, texting Chase on my way to the library. I told myself it was because I didn’t want to have to stay after school. But truthfully, I was avoiding Zepp. My emotions were raw right now, and I didn’t want him to see them written all over my face.
I ducked into the library, trailing my fingers along the spines of books as I inhaled the dusty scent of old paper. A couple sat at one of the tables in the study area, making out. They didn’t bother to draw a breath as I passed. The computer table in the back corner by the window was empty, and I dropped into the seat. The machine had just booted up when several books and a king-sized bag of chips landed on the desk beside me.
“Do we have to work over lunch?” Chase slumped into the plastic chair.
“Well, this way, we won’t have to work later.”
“Right. Don’t want to piss off Zepp.” The annoyance in his tone did not go unmissed.
“This—” I gestured between us—“Has nothing to do with Zepp and everything to do with you becoming a football prick.” I shoved his shoulder when his expression hardened, but he didn’t crack a smile.
“I never changed, Moe.” And this was something I was absolutely not in the mood to discuss.
“Whatever. Doesn’t matter.” I pulled up our assignment on the computer. “So, the summary…”
After fifteen minutes, I was typing in the concluding sentence. That was when I felt Chase’s eyes on me. “What?” I stared straight ahead at the computer and jabbed at the period key. “Do I have something on my face?”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” I said, my eyes fixed on the screen.
“You act like I don’t know you, Moe.”
For a second, I found myself wanting to talk to him, to tell him everything. I guess I was just so lost and out of my depth with Zepp, and I wanted someone to tell me what to do. Chase knew me in ways even Jade couldn’t. He’d known me before life became really hard. When I was just a little girl with simple dreams, untainted by the adult understanding of Dayton and what my mom did. What was the saying? Innocence, once lost, can never be regained. Ain’t that the truth.
“I made a mistake,” I said. “And now, I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Well, did you apologize?”
“No,” I mumbled.
He looked at me like I stupid. “Well, maybe start there.”
I really was stupid. “Thanks, Chase.” I fought a smile and pushed to my feet. “I think we’ll get a good grade on this.” I left him at the table, gathering his things as I headed through the bookshelves to the door. There were still a few minutes of lunch left, which meant I could talk to Zepp.
But I didn’t have to go to the cafeteria to find him. I stepped through the library doors, greeted by Zepp leaned against the wall right across from me, thick arms folded over his chest. Dark, brooding, and dangerous as always, but that air of danger seemed far more intense right now.
Like an idiot, I stood there, fiddling with a strand of hair, unsure what to say or do. “Hey.” I took a small step forward when the door creaked open behind me, and Chase walked out.
Zepp gave him a fleeting glance, then shook his head and pushed off the wall.
“Zepp!” I jogged after him, grabbing his arm, though I didn’t actually know what to say.
“What, Monroe?” He glared down at me not so differently than he had that night I’d stolen that Hurst. Like he hated the idea of me.
He was still mad. Zepp made me vulnerable, and while part of me needed to fix this, the other part told me to let go, that it would be best if we just ended this now before I was any more attached. Everything in life had taught me that Zepp would leave, that it was inevitable. And as the silence stretched between us, that fear dug beneath my skin.