Page 226 of Fragments

Bringing up Parker was a low blow. Seriously… What the fuck??

Kang marches back over to where Trevel is talking to Felix. I don’t know what they’re saying, but it doesn’t appear unpleasant. In fact, Felix is smiling.

Kang takes Trevel by the arm, yanking him away. And I catch a pleased grin on Trevel’s lips as they wander off together…Close. The closer he gets to Trevel, the further he gets from us, and it’s wrenching painfully on my insides.

I can’t believe he just said all that…

Does he really feel that way?

Am I a bad friend? Am I… selfish?

I still can’t move, just staring as one of my best friends in the world confides in somestranger. My eyes shift to Darcey, only to find that his smile has evaporated, and he’s glaring at Trevel with a calm so frightening, all the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

This isn’t right…

Trevel isn’t just some weirdo, he’sbadfor Byron. I know he is.

He’s here to stir the pot, and for whatever reason, Kang just doesn’t see it.

Because he hates us.

We’re toxic. According to him, we’re both the problem….

Ourrelationshipis the problem…?

Commotion snaps me out of my despondence, and I look up as Joy, Velle, Rook, and Dr. Love are stomping back over. Their walkies are going off like crazy, a bunch of voices blaring through at once.

Joy has hers in hand and she’s barking into it. “Wait… hold on a second…Whatthe fuck is happening??”

“Keep the goddamn lines clear!” Velle roars into his, twisting the nob on top. “Peters, what the fuck, man?? What’s going on?”

Officer Peters comes through, garbled and frantic. “They’re fuckingeverywhere… rushing the halls like they own the place…”

I hear Jasper shouting through Joy and Rook’s walkies. “Back the fuck up, asshole! Who do you think you are??Velle!Get the fuck up here now!”

“Peters…Who??” Velle snarls, eyes wide as he shares a look of severe unease with his partners.

“New guards…” Peters breathes. “A whole team of them. They say they’re here onhisorders…”

“Fuck…” Joy’s face drops in horror as she switches off her walkie, cutting off the shouts of mayhem from just upstairs.

Velle grips his so tight, the plastic snaps in his fist when Officer Peters adds, “He brought them in… The Ivory.”

When I was eight, my parents took me to watch the fireworks for the first time.

Fireworks have always been a family thing for us. Something we’d do together on all sorts of occasions. But that first time, on the Fourth of July, I remember feeling riddled with anxiety.

The crowds were too big and noisy, people everywhere. I was a stressed little kid, probably the first sign that social situations weren’t exactly myjam.

Nonetheless, my parents assured me that once the show started, I’d calm down and have fun.

Yea, sure, Mom and Dad. There’s no way the loud-as-fuck explosions in the sky will stress me outmore.

Together, the three of us spread our blanket out on the sand and plopped down, surrounded by dozens, maybe hundreds of other families, there to enjoy the same thing. And I was understandably nervous, because I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t like loud noises, or huge groups of people, and all I could focus on was the laughter of all the kids who were so much cooler than me. Less anxious than me… With theirfriends, sharing jokes, running around and beingfree.

All I felt was weighted to the ground with my fingers digging in to hold on for dear life.

But sure enough, on the first pop, everyone went silent. All butts were on the ground, gazes aimed at the sky, like a sudden blanket of calm had been draped over the half-mile stretch of beach.