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Something unsaid rolls behind his eyes, wild and shadowed. He releases my hand, a quick untangling of our fingers to signal that the odd moment is over.
Forcing myself to break our stare, I run to the door where Ava is waiting, my body hesitating for only a second longer before I rush out entirely to leave Ezra’s and my secrets behind.
Emily
Ezra wasn’t lying. Which honestly surprised me. I hadn’t expected him to keep his word.
On Saturday night, I’d left him in a dark room with the secret of his bruises and the secret of my inexperience, and I thought, with those secrets, I was also leaving a promise behind to linger in the darkness before it fizzled out entirely with time and disinterest.
Apparently, Ezra carried it out with him, held onto it, and followed through with it when the first opportunity arose for him to show me he meant what he said.
He nurtured those words.
So when Thomas Alexander made a passing comment about my banging both the twins, Ezra hurt him for it.
He made an example of him, actually, and also demanded Thomas spread a message through school with two black eyes and a bloody nose that any mention of Emily Donahue and who she kisses is strictly off limits.
I wasn’t there to see the fight, but like everything that happens in school, the story spread like wildfire.
At first, I was kept in the dark, only noticing when the boys I’ve known my entire life looked at me like some new girl that’s interesting, while the girls held even more envy in their eyes than I’m accustomed to.
There was jealousy in their eyes as well, ugly and green, something they’ve never shown around me.
I’m not like Ivy or Ava with the ability to date who I want or have much freedom. I can’t date unless it’s Mason. I can’t go to dances unless it’s Mason. And since Mason and I can’t stand each other, the girls in school have no reason to be jealous of me.
It was Ivy who finally told me what was spreading around school, suspicion arching her brow because why would Ezra do something like that if all we did was kiss?
And that was all before the third bell rang this morning.
It’s after fourth period now.
As usual, Ivy comes out of calculus with wariness in her expression. I laugh and shake my head because she hates math more than anything, even if she’s damn good at it.
Linking our arms together, we head down another hall to pick up Ava from her class, the three of us taking our time dropping our books off in our lockers before heading to the lunchroom.
We never eat in there because the lawns out back are preferable, but Ava likes their salads and always insists on stopping to grab one.
“So...” Ivy says, blue eyes peering my way from where she stands on the other side of Ava.
I don’t like the sound of that quick syllable, especially the snap of it from Ivy’s lips. It feels weighted, several hooks stuck through its skin with wriggling questions hanging from them. Somehow I know they’re questions I don’t want to answer.
“You want to tell me what was really going on between you and Ezra in that room Saturday night?”
“About as much as you want to talk about walking to the car looking like Carrie with red paint all over you,” I answer, a smirk on my face because her white blond hair is still stained pink from where she couldn’t get all of it out.
“Fucking Gabriel,” she mutters. “I’ll get him back for it. But sure, I’ll talk all about it when you finish telling me why Ava said Ezra didn’t have a shirt on and you two were laying on the bed.”
A groan crawls over my lips, and I shoot a look at Ava that’s dripping with disdain for opening her mouth.
She shrugs it off.
There are no secrets between us, and I know better than to be upset Ava told Ivy what she saw.
“Want to tell me why his shirt was off?”
I can’t tell her. It’s Ezra’s secret, and even though he never told me not to say anything, I feel obligated to stay quiet.
Sure, they were bruises, nothing new when it comes to the twins. But there was something different about the ones I saw, something darker and more painful, something that still sets my teeth together with anger.