Page 35 of I Despise You

“Liliana?” the teacher asks, her brows drawn in concern. “Are you all right?”

“I’m not feeling well,” I choke out.

“Then you should go to the infirmary right away,” the teacher says.

I hurry to the door.

“I’ll go with her,” Chase says.

“Yes, of course,” the teacher says, not even suspecting that Chase might be the reason for my current state, but I can’t tell her anything about it even if I want to.

I storm down the hallway, hoping to lose Chase, but he catches up with me all too quickly.

“You’re going in the wrong direction,” he says. “The infirmary is the other way.”

His hand lands on my wrist, and I pull away as if he’s burned me.

“Leave me alone,” I say and break into a run. All I need is to get away from him.

“Not after yesterday,” he yells after me. “You started this game and I wanna keep playing it.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I don’t care.

Before I reach my room, I run into Vanessa. She probably has a free period.

“Are you okay? You look pale,” she says. “Deathly pale.”

“I’m fine. I just forgot to eat,” I lie.

“Oh, okay. Then I need to talk to you. It’s important.” Her face is serious.

“Sure.” Anything to get my mind off the things I don’t want to remember.

“In my room, if you don’t mind. It’s kinda private.” She licks her lips, glancing around.

“Yeah.” I follow her inside.

“Please sit. Do you want a sandwich or a protein bar? I don’t have anything el—”

“No, it’s fine.” I take a seat on the edge of her bed. “What did you want to talk about?”

“It’s about Chase.”

I want to jump up and run.

Does he have to be everywhere? Does everyone have to talk about him? I clench my fists on my lap, my nails digging into my skin as I wipe all emotion off my face.

“What about him?” I ask.

“I heard some rumors that you hooked up with him, and that someone saw you coming out of his room. I know it’s none of my business, and I’m not judging or anything, but there’s something you need to know about him.” She settles next to me. “I don’t think anyone told you about it because it’s the school’s best-kept secret. No one really wants to talk about it.”

“Tell me.”

“It happened during junior year. After a party. One girl who used to go to school with us... She, um... She was found dead in Chase’s room. Her name was Kayla.”

“What?” My mouth goes slack as I stare at her.

Someone seriously messed up this school’s name. It should be called Crazyville Prep.