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My heart stops. Torn between wanting to walk over and push her, and wanting to pull her to my chest.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask before grabbing the back of her shirt and tugging her towards me. Then I slam the window closed.

Aurora’s back lands against the wall. “I… I wanted to see you,” she says.

“How fucking dare you!” I yell, taking a step forward. My hand wraps around her throat as I push her harder against the brick wall. “Do you get some perverted fucking kick out of this? Coming to the funeral of the guy you fucking killed?” I hiss, my face so close to hers I can feel her breath brush across my lips.

“No, I wanted to see if you were okay. I had to see you, Connor.” She’s not fighting me off. Her body goes limp.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to see you. If I never see you again, it will be too fucking soon. You disgust me,” I tell her, almost believing my own words.

“You don’t mean that.” Aurora’s eyes fill with a fresh wave of tears. I’ve seen a lot of looks on this girl but never one so… broken.

I can’t allow myself to care, though. This is her fault. “You did this.You,” I say, my hand squeezing a little harder. “I wish I never met you. I wish I never fucking touched you.” I let go of her, and she falls onto her knees in front of me.

“You don’t mean that,” she repeats, shaking her head.

“Oh, I fucking mean every word of it. You’re sick. You should be locked up. You are fucking crazy, Aurora. Look at you! Did you really think you could come here and I’d justwhat? Welcome you with open arms?” I laugh hysterically. I don’t know what else to do.

Does she not understand the danger she’s put us both in by being here?Fucking hell. It’s as if she has a death wish.

She needs to stay away from me, and the only way I can guarantee that is to make her hate me as much as I hate her right now.

“You really are pathetic. On the ground, crying. For what? A fairy tale you let yourself foolishly believe? Guess what? I’m not the Prince Charming in your story. I’m the fucking Grim Reaper. And mark my words, I will be collecting on the debt you owe myfamily.” With those parting words, I turn and walk out. Ignoring the sound of her sobs behind me.

This is the last place I want to fucking be. Walking through the hall of this preppy fucking school full of preppy fucking assholes. It was bearable when I had her. When I had one good thing in these suffocating fucking walls.

Everyone looks at me with pity. I know what they’re thinking.He lost his cousin. It should have been him.

No one would miss me as much as they’ll miss Kenny. The school’s star quarterback. I walk right past the jocks, a group of guys I’d usually stop and chat with, when Kenny was with them. They were his friends, though. They’ve never been mine.

My steps stop when I spot Ian with a sling around his arm, his face various shades of black, blue, and purple. “What the fuck happened to you?” I ask him. He was one of Kenny’s friends. The guy looks away, doesn’t make eye contact with me, so I turn my glare on the kid standing next to him. “What happened?”

“The Valentinos happened,” the kid says.

“Why?”

“He gave Krystal a cup of laced beer at the party. Turns out, Krystal gave it to Aurora and she drank it.”

“Aurora drank laced beer? What the fuck was it laced with?” I ask, my fist clenching at my side.

“GHB,” Ian tells me. “Krystal was supposed to drink it, not Aurora.”

I look at him, at the sling on his arm. He got off fucking easy. Why the fuck is he still breathing? That’s something I’m going to change. Now.

“You’re coming with me,” I grunt as I take hold of his arm, the one not broken because I don’t need to make a scene in the middle of the hallway, and guide him to the staircase.

“Wait, where are we going?” Ian asks.

“Upstairs,” I reply, nudging him from behind. He tries to stop, so I push harder. “Because I want to talk to you alone. You know my family and the Valentinos aren’t friends, right? It seems we now have a common enemy.”

My words put him at ease and he walks up the stairs.Fucking idiot.

Once we get to the fourth level, I take him into one of the empty classrooms. Walking over to the window, where I look down at the concrete path right below us. This should work. “You know I saw Aurora that night,” I tell him.

“You did? Was she okay?”

“It was right after she killed my cousin.” I walk over to him and he backs up. “You see, Ian, we have a problem here. One, you know the truth about who killed Kenny. And two, you’re the reason he’s dead.”