Page 182 of Burn Bright

Blush ascends her cheeks, but I can’t tell if it’s from embarrassment, bashfulness, or ire. “Why do you care?”

I nip this really fast. “I’m not jealous of him,” I state flat-out, point-blank. “Easton or Xander—whoever brought you here—shouldnothave. You’re a high schooler.”

“You were in high school not that long ago. Why are you acting like you’re so much older?”

I grind my jaw.Because I am, I want to say.

Because Winona, Vada, Kinney, and Audrey areyoung.And I don’t just mean their ages. They are theyoungestof our families. We’veallsheltered them in different ways.

I’ve loved that Winona sought after it. Reveled in it. Felt freer under the protection our families gave. I’ve wished my little sister felt the same, but she’s counting down to eighteen like every year beforehand is a ball and chain.

I don’t know what Vada hopes for. But I’m trying not to patronize her. She’s gone through shit I wasn’t around for, but I still don’t know why she’s here. It puts me on edge.

“So it was Xander?” I ask her.

Her reddened cheeks give her away.It was Easton.

I nod a couple times.

“I’m friends with Easton,” she says with visceral heat. “Actualfriends. The kind that call and make sure we’re not dead.”

Confusion draws my brows together. “When did you get so angry?”

“You think you’re theonlyone who gets to be mad? I didn’t have the luxury of expelling my rage on Tate’s cunty face.” She steps back in hurt, and I grab her wrist before she can bolt.

Her shoulders slacken, and she waits for me to speak.

“I’m sorry, Vada,” I say. “I’msofucking sorry. I’ll say it a thousand times until it means something to you. I shouldn’t have gone radio silent last year and left you and Winona to deal with those assholes.”

She breathes heavily. It takes her a minute to reply. “They’re cunts,” she mutters. “Not assholes. That’s way too nice.”

“Yeah, I’d call them that, but you’ve pretty much trademarked that swear word in the family.”

She stares down at her Converse shoes, still upset.

So I ask, “How’s boarding school?”

Her eyes well as if she’s surprised and grateful for the question.

“Better, I think,” she says more softly. “But our school is right next door to Faust, and those guys are next-level egomaniacs. Very dickish. I cannot believe your dad went there.”

My brows rise likeseriously.Her lips lift into a small smile the same time as mine do.

“Fine,” she sighs, “that sounds just like him.”

I nod more heartily.

She stares at her sneakers again, then scuffs the corner of the rug and sighs out heavier. “Okay, I have a confession to make.” Vada can’t meet my eyes. I’ve known her to be shy at times. So this isn’t that odd.

If she were Harriet, I would say,eyes up here, Friend.I’d probably tilt her chin up, maybe even hold her cheek. There are signals Ineverwant to send to Vada, and I overthink my interactions with her to where I end up doing nothing.

“Easton told me about the Halloween party and said how he heard you were invited too. The next day, I asked him if I could be his plus-one.”

“You invited yourself,” I realize. “Why would you…did Winona?—”

“I’m not here on Winona’s behalf. She’ll be upset I snuck out without her, but she’ll understand why I did.”

“Why?”