Page 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Son, please sit down,” Mr. Kensington says. “We were just about to begin.”

Garret sits directly across from me not making eye contact. He’s all dressed up in a suit and tie and freshly shaven.

I try to act normal as my mind races to figure this out. Garret is a Kensington? As in the people who are paying for my college? As in the people who know my whole life story? A story I was hoping to hide from Garret and everyone else at Moorhurst?

“Jade, this is my son, Garret,” Mr. Kensington says. “He’s also a freshman at Moorhurst. Garret, this is Jade.”

“Hi, Garret,” I say staring right at him.

“Hi.” Garret glances at me for a second, then looks down at the table.

His dad clears his throat. “You could be more friendly, Garret. I’m sure you’ll be seeing Jade at school. We’re counting on you to introduce her to some people. Make her feel welcome.”

He’s made me feel welcome, all right. Pretending to be my friend. Trying to be more than that. Why was he doing that? Was he spying on me for his parents? Making sure their money wasn’t being wasted? Making sure I wasn’t an addict like my mom? They wouldn’t want to waste their precious money on someone like that, now would they?

“Have you two already met?” Mrs. Kensington asks. “You’ve been on campus a few days now. I suppose it’s possible you ran into each other.”

Garret keeps his head down, but his eyes turn up slightly, meeting mine across the table. “No, we haven’t met.”

His tone is telling me to go along with the story. I’m not sure if I should or if I want to. I have no idea why he insists on hiding the fact that we know each other. You’d think his parents would be happy about it. I guess he’s just a pathological liar. He’s lying to his parents and he’s been lying to me since we met. I can’t believe I was starting to trust this guy!

I should’ve seen this coming. I knew a guy like him would never be interested in someone like me and yet I let myself believe it was possible. Damn, he’s good. I really believed he wanted to be friends. I actually thought he was just being nice, taking me out, going running with me. But the whole time he had some ulterior motive.

The more I think about it, the angrier I get. My left leg starts tapping uncontrollably under the table. When I get angry I have to do something physical to get rid of it. And now I’m stuck here, sitting in this uncomfortable chair, unable to move for the next two hours.

Mr. Kensington starts talking to his wife. I’m not even listening and Garret doesn’t seem to be either. I feel his foot bump my leg under the table. He holds it there and stares at me, urging me to stop the incessant tapping. My leg stills and I tuck it under my chair.

The servers start bringing in the food. During dinner, Garret’s dad asks him questions about his class schedule and Garret answers with a short sentence or two. Then his dad starts asking me about school and growing up in Des Moines and how I like Connecticut. They’re all topics I can easily talk about so the dinner isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, the dinner would have been fine if it weren’t for the surprise visit from Garret.

At 9:30, we finish dessert and the driver comes into the dining room. “Are you ready for me to take her home now, sir?”

Mr. Kensington stands up from the table. “Yes. We promised her she’d be home by 10.”

Everyone else gets up as well. “It was truly a pleasure meeting you, Jade.” Mr. Kensington shakes my hand. His wife joins him and does the same. “Let us know if you need anything. Garret can give you our phone number.”

Garret stands there, saying nothing.

“Thank you. And thanks for dinner.” I go over to where the driver is standing.

“I can take her back,” Garret says.

I freeze, hoping his parents will tell him not to bother.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” his dad says. “That way you can get to know each other. I didn’t even think of that. Thank you, Garret, for offering.”

“It’s no problem. Right this way, Jade.” He walks past me, not even looking my direction. I reluctantly follow him out to the car. I get in and slam the door shut, turning my back to him.

Garret speeds off not saying a word. He continues to drive for 15 minutes in total silence, then pulls off the road into the parking lot of a scenic overlook. It isn’t scenic at night so nobody’s there. I’m not sure what’s scenic about it during the day either. There’s just a bunch of trees in front of us.

“Jade, I’m sorry about what just happened back there. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. And I’m sorry that—”

“Take me home, Garret. I’m doing all I can not to explode right now and I would really like it if you just took me home.”

“Let me explain.”

“I don’t want to hear whatever excuses you’re going to tell me. You lied to me. And don’t say that not telling me technically wasn’t lying. Because it IS lying. It’s lying by omission and it counts as lying.” I turn to face him. “I don’t understand. Were you spying on me for them? Did they tell you to do that or did you just do it on your own?”

“I wasn’t spying on you. I just wanted to get to know you.”

“Why? So you could sleep with me? Did you think I’d be easy because I’m an orphan from a crappy home? Jasmine was right. You are an ass. I’ll just walk the rest of the way.”

I get out of the car having no idea where we are. The road is pitch-black but I start walking down it anyway. I’m so angry at him and I don’t know what to do with all this negative energy. I could scream, but it wouldn’t be enough. So I try to walk it off in my uncomfortable dress shoes.

“Jade, get back here.” He races to catch up to me. “You can’t walk on the road. It’s dangerous.”

“My safety is not your concern. Now get the hell away from me.”

I keep walking. He stays behind, but I hear his voice. “There are all kinds of wild animals out here. Coyotes, raccoons, fox. They all come out at night.”

Shit! I hate wildlife. I’m scared of mice for crying out loud. I’m pretty sure I’d have a heart attack if I ran into a raccoon or a coyote.

I hear some rustling in the dark wooded area next to the road. It’s probably nothing, but now Garret’s put these images of rabid raccoons in my head and I’m scared to death of every little noise. I turn around and walk quickly back to the car. Garret’s waiting inside.

“Let’s go,” I say, slamming the car door.

He reaches over to put on my seat belt, purposely hesitating before he clicks it in place. “I swear to you, Jade. I wasn’t trying to spy on you or sleep with you or whatever other evil plots you’ve conjured up in your head. I just wanted to get to know you. That’s it.”

I look into his eyes. He looks so damn sincere that I almost believe him. Maybe because I want to believe him. I want whatever we started to keep going. I don’t want it to end. But it has to end because he lied to me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I grab the seatbelt from him and click it in place.

He sits back in his seat. “I’m embarrassed by my family, okay?”

“You’re embarrassed to be part of one of the richest families in America? Yeah, I’m sure it’s a real hardship for you.”

“Just because people have money doesn’t mean they have happiness or that they get along. My dad and I barely speak to each other. And when we do, we fight. And I hate my stepmom. She feels the same way about me.”

“Great. So you don’t get along with your family. I don’t know what that has to do with me.”

“It’s complicated. Being part of the Kensington family comes with responsibilities. And consequences.” He sighs. “And rules. Lots of rules. Rules that don’t even make sense.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about and I really don’t care. Can we go now?”

“No, because I’m trying to explain and you’re not listening.”

“What are you talking about? You haven’t explained anything! Why did you lie to me about who you really are? Why did you act like you didn’t know me at dinner? You haven’t explained any of that, Garret!”

“I told you. My family is messed up. I didn’t want you involved with them.”

“I’m already involved with them. They’re paying for my school. Why are you so freaked out about me knowing your family?”

He gets quiet for a moment and I wonder if he’s trying to come up with even more lies.

“How do you think people like my dad and stepmom get the kind of money to afford that house? And all the other houses they own? We have six houses, Jade. We also have a private plane. And a yacht. And at least 10 very expensive cars. Maybe more. I’ve lost count.”

“I don’t know. Your dad owns a big chemical company. The company makes a lot of money.”

“It’s more than that. You don’t get that rich from a single company. At least not from ours.” His hands tighten around the steering wheel and he stares straight ahead into the darkness. “They do things besides run the company. And those things result in secrets that have to be kept and then they have to protect those secrets. It’s messed up. And sometimes it’s dangerous. That’s why I wanted to keep you away from all that. As far away as possible. That’s why I acted like we didn’t know each other tonight.”

“You’re making no sense. Your parents just told you to get to know me. And as for your true identity, it was just a matter of time before I knew your last name.”

“Yes, but I wanted you to get to know me before that happened. I knew you’d think differently of me when you found out I was a Kensington. And I was right. Look how you’re acting.”

“Don’t put this back on me! I’m only acting this way because you lied! If you would’ve been honest with me I wouldn’t have cared about your last name.”

He shakes his head. “Yeah, right. You would’ve said a quick hello and then kept your distance.”

“Well, I guess we’ll never know because you never gave me the chance. You just assumed what would happen and took it upon yourself to lie to somehow protect me from your scary rich parents. Ooh, I’m so scared of them. Their money might come and attack me in the night. Is that the best excuse you can come up with, Garret? You’re just like every other spoiled rich kid. You get caught in your lies and then expect everyone to forgive you. But daddy can’t buy your way out of this one.”

Garret slowly nods and looks down, then starts the car and drives back on the road. He doesn’t say another word. I can’t tell if he’s mad or offended or what. He almost seems hurt, but I refuse to feel guilty about it. His lame explanation did nothing more than leave me more confused. When we get back to campus, he doesn’t bother walking me back to my room. He just goes straight up to the second floor.

It’s late but I’m not ready to go to bed. I have to release this anger that’s been building inside me all night. I’m angry at Garret but I’m even more angry with myself for letting my guard down and trusting him. For letting myself have feelings for him that I never should have had.

I change clothes and run sprints up and down the long road that leads to and from campus. It’s about a half mile each way and I run it back and forth until my legs give out.

After a long shower, I try to sleep but my mind keeps thinking of Garret. I keep remembering how he looked when he tried to explain everything. He was almost panicked, like he was desperate for me to believe him. Maybe he wasn’t lying. Maybe his parents do have these deep dark secrets that he doesn’t want me involved in. If so, it’s just another reason why I need to stay away from him, even though it’s the opposite of what I want.