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“No wonder you hate him,” I mumble.
“Yeah, but now I loathe the fucking prick,” he grunts, his jaw clenched.
“Yeah,” I say absently. “Let’s talk about something else. Tell me about your family.” I yawn, and he chuckles.
“Lie down. We’ll talk after.”
“Okay,” I say, my eyes already closing.
*** *** ***
Allie screeches from close by, the sound pulling me from my sleep. I lift the blanket higher over my head, trying to block out the sound. “Put me down. I can walk, you big goof!”
A door opens, followed by a cool breeze, causing me to shiver under the blanket.
“Low’s asleep,” Cole hisses from close by, no longer next to me.
“Soz, man. She’s a screamer,” CJ says suggestively.
“Can you keep it down?” I moan, throwing the blanket off my face. I regret it the second the cool breeze hits me, shivers racing over my body.
“Willow,” Allie calls, sounding relieved to see me. “Are you okay? Knobhead filled me in.”
I chuckle when I catch CJ’s face fall, his eyes narrowing slightly at Allie, until her perk arse distracts him.
“I’m fine. I should have listened to you and taken the week off,” I tell her, chewing on my lip. “Was everyone talking about me?”
Her soft expression falls, a look of dread crossing her features, and the back of my eyes begin to burn.
“It’s going to be okay,” she promises, her voice hitching slightly.
“How bad?” I ask her, looking her in the eye so she can see I’m not in the mood to be messed around. I just want the truth, even if it hurts.
She glances back at CJ, a sceptical look crossing her face. She’s hiding something, and I know it’s to protect me, yet all it’s doing is feeding my anxiety.
I’m about to argue with her, to demand answers, but when I open my mouth to talk, CJ jumps in, saving Allie from getting any more grief from me.
“Someone recorded my speech this morning in class and shared it all over Facebook and Twitter,” he admits sheepishly, looking at me apologetically.
I understand why he did what he did and why he revealed so much. This subject is something that hits close to home with him and that’s why he flew off the handle. I can’t blame him for that.
Looking closer at CJ, I notice his jaw clench, his eyes glancing briefly over at Cole. With just that look alone, I can tell that isn’t the only thing that happened in my absence.
Glancing back at Allie, I see she’s wearing a similar expression, and it makes me wonder what happened that has them so worried to tell me. My stomach sinks just thinking of the possibilities.
“Why do I feel like I’m only getting the abridged version?” I bite out, eyeing Allie accusingly. She should know by now that keeping secrets doesn’t help in the long run.
Now I’m just being a bitch.
“Logan,” Allie begins, before she has to take a nervous gulp. “We bumped into him on the way back.”
“He was spouting off some shit by the cafeteria. You really don’t need to hear what he was saying,” CJ tells me.
Allie looks at me, nodding in agreement. Her expression is full of sorrow. I know they’re just trying to protect me, but I need to be prepared for what I’ve got to endure in the near future. Better they tell me now in private than to let me find out what was said in front of a crowd. I’ve gone through enough embarrassment. I don’t need any more.
“Please, I need to know.”
“Willow,” CJ warns, shaking his head.