Page 10

Emmie

I run hard, pushing myself until my chest burns for breath. The second I got home last night, I turned off my mobile and locked myself away in my bedroom. I tossed and turned all night, hardly sleeping a wink, and when the sun rose, I gave in to my insomnia and came for a run to clear my head.

But as I arrive back home, I’m filled with disappointment. Because for the first time in a week, Kai didn’t show up. Am I surprised? Not really. I fully expected him to give in to the party lifestyle the second the weekend came around. It doesn’t hurt any less though.

Zara is up and eating breakfast. I go to the fridge and retrieve a bottle of water, opening it and downing half. “Why do you continue to punish yourself?” she asks, looking amused.

I grin. “I enjoy running. It was hard at first but I’m into it now.”

“And it’s got nothing to do with your uninvited running partner?”

I scoff, shaking my head. “You mean the one that didn’t show up today?”

Her eyes narrow. “Why do you sound bothered?”

I give a nonchalant shrug, rubbing at an invisible mark on the counter. “I’m not.”

She breaks out into a grin. “Oh my God, all that complaining and you’re actually disappointed he didn’t show?”

“Not at all,” I say defensively. “I knew he wouldn’t show. He’s probably in some random chick’s bed nursing a hangover.”

“You’re jealous,” she accuses, looking more amused by the second.

“Christ, Zara, I am not. And can we talk about you telling people about why we ended?”

Her frown deepens. “I haven’t told anyone.”

“Not what Landon said.”

“I swear,” she says, putting her bowl in the dishwasher. “I haven’t told a soul, especially not Landon.”

I don’t get a chance to ask her anything because Landon walks in. We both freeze.

Zara gasps. “Jesus, what happened to you ?” His eye is swollen, an ugly bruise already forming beneath it, and there’s dried blood on the collar of his shirt. She rushes over, gripping his chin and tilting his face toward the light. “Landon, are you okay?”

He winces and pulls away. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine,” she snaps. “Who did this?”

His eyes cut to me, cold and sharp. “Your ex.”

My stomach lurches. “Kai?”

“Yeah,” Landon says, shaking his head like he can’t believe it either. “I saw him at the bar. He was all over some girl, had her on his lap, hands everywhere.”

The breath catches in my throat.

Landon keeps going, his voice hard. “I told him he should have more respect, that it wasn’t fair to mess with your head if he’s out doing that. And the next thing I know? He swings at me. No warning. Just bam. ” He gestures to his face. “I didn’t even hit him back.”

Zara swears under her breath. “That psycho.”

But I barely hear her over the ringing in my ears. “He was with someone else?” I ask, barely above a whisper.

Landon shrugs. But his eyes never leave mine. “Guess he moved on quicker than we thought. But if that’s not proof you need to do the same, Em, I don’t know what is.”

I want to defend Kai. Say it doesn’t sound like him. That he wouldn’t do something so cruel, so violent. But the words won’t come. Because deep down, some part of me wonders if I ever really knew him at all.

I head back to my room. I turn my phone on and see last night’s messages from Kai. Did he send it whilst chatting to someone else? I scoff, tears stinging my eyes. And then it pings.

Kai: Truth 5. The night we kissed, I wasn’t thinking about anything else but you. Not the dare. Not what anyone would say. Just you. And how you looked at me like I was better than I knew I was.

A sob escapes my throat and bile rises, threatening to make me vomit. It’s almost a slow torture with his constant contact, yet when out of sight, he’s fucking around campus like I don’t mean shit.

Me: Stop messaging me, Kai. I’m not interested.

His reply is instant.

Kai: I know I broke something in you. I want to be someone who helps you heal, not dig the crack deeper. I’m not asking for forgiveness right away, just a chance to earn it.

Me: I saw Landon. He’s a mess!

He reads my message and a second later, my mobile lights up with his call. I cancel it and he tries a second time. I throw the phone on my bed, letting it ring out. I don’t want to hear more lies.

I must fall asleep, because the next thing I see is Zara’s face over mine. She grins as my eyes flutter open, alarming me enough to roll away in panic, and almost fall off my bed.

“What are you doing?” I cry, clutching my chest to try and calm my racing heart.

She giggles. “I tried to wake you, but you were out of it. I was checking you weren’t dead.”

“As you can see, I’m alive.”

“Anyway, these got delivered,” she says, gesturing to a bunch of dried flowers on my bed. I sit up, grabbing them. “Are they dead?” she asks, plucking the head off a daisy.

I shake my head. “Dried,” I whisper.

“Who sends dead flowers?” she asks, ignoring my response.

I shrug and she sighs before leaving. I wait until she’s closed the door before taking the note out and reading it.

You own all my truths, Little Rebel. K x

My phone buzzes and I reluctantly pick it up and open the message.

Kai: When I first kissed you, I told you it was the truth. I wasn’t lying then, and I’m not lying now.

A second later, it beeps again.

Kai: Truth 6. You once asked me why I always act like I don’t care. Truth is, I grew up learning not to. First time I cried in front of my dad, I was seven. He told me boys who cry grow up useless. I think I believed him for too long.

It’s followed by,

Kai: Truth 7. I used to draw when I was a kid. Not the dumb graffiti on desks but real stuff, faces, hands, people who looked how I felt. One day he found my sketchbook and set it on fire in the backyard. He said art was for “soft kids.” I haven’t touched a pencil in years. Not until that party.

Me: Truth 8. Did you punch Landon last night?

Kai: Yes.

Me: Truth 9. Why?

Kai: Because he disrespected you. Meet me so we can talk.

I groan shaking my head even though he can’t see it.

Kai

“I’m tired of seeing your miserable face,” Seb announces. “Go and see her.”

I shake my head. “She isn’t answering my text. If I show up, she’ll lose it.”

“What if Landon lied to her?”

I glance up. “What do you mean?”

He shrugs. “Well, if it was me, and I was desperate to get into her knickers, I’d use your violence as a way to make her feel sorry for me. He could have made anything up but the truth.” He checks himself out in the mirror. “Just come out for a few.”

“No,” I mutter. “It always ends in a disaster.”

“Punching Landon after what he said, is hardly a bad thing. Just go and tell her.”

“I don’t want her to know that everyone’s seen the video. She’ll be mortified.”

My mobile rings and for a second, my heart fills with hope. Then I see Noah’s name and it leaves just as quickly as it arrived. “Hey,” I mutter, pressing it to my ear.

“Man, I didn’t tell you this, but Emmie is drunk. I think she needs someone sober to come get her.”

I frown. “She okay?”

“I don’t wanna speak bad about my housemate, but after what you told me, I don’t trust Landon’s intentions are pure if you get my drift. He’s glued to her, Kai. It gives me bad vibes.”

Anger pulses in my veins. “Send me your location.”

I don’t wait for Noah to say anything else. I hang up and shove my phone into my pocket, already heading for the door. Seb doesn’t ask questions, he just follows.

My legs move on instinct, fast and determined, like my body knows something my head hasn’t caught up with yet. All I can see is Emmie; drunk, vulnerable, and with him .

Glued to her, Noah had said. That image alone is enough to make my blood boil.

I weave through the streets, ignoring the ache in my knuckles from last night, ignoring the pounding in my skull from last night’s session. My breath turns sharp in my throat as I near the club, the bass thudding through the pavement.

Noah’s standing near the entrance, pacing. He spots me instantly and waves me over.

“They’re in the back corner,” he says. “I tried to separate them earlier, but Emmie kept laughing and telling me to ‘relax’. She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t see how he’s watching her.”

I nod once; jaw clenched and push through the crowd.

And then I see her.

She’s slouched into the booth, cheeks flushed, hair slipping from her bun.

She’s smiling in that way that tells me she’s drunk, and far too relaxed to notice the danger she could be in.

Landon’s arm is stretched behind her like he owns the air she breathes.

He doesn’t see me at first. But Emmie does.

Her eyes widen, dazed and glassy, and something flickers across her face. Surprise. Relief. Maybe even guilt.

“Kai?” she says, blinking.

Landon follows her gaze and stiffens when he sees me. “Oh great,” he mutters, sitting up straighter.

I ignore him. “Em,” I say, keeping my voice level even though it’s costing me. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”

She blinks again. “I’m mad at you.”

I force a tight smile. “Yeah, what’s new. Let’s just get you out of here and you can tell me all the ways you hate me, yeah?”

“I’m fine,” she slurs, and then hiccups. “Landon said I can stay with –”

“No,” I cut in, sharper than I mean to. “You’re coming with me.”

Landon stands. “Back off, man. She’s not yours.”

I step closer. “And she sure as hell isn’t yours.

” A tense silence settles between us. Emmie sways slightly.

“I’m not doing this in front of her,” I say, biting back the urge to put him through a wall.

“You want to act the good guy? Fine . But not tonight.” Then I turn to her and soften my voice. “Come on, Em. Let’s go.”

She hesitates, looking between us like she’s trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing. Then, slowly, she reaches for my hand. And the second our fingers touch, something in my chest snaps back into place. “I’ve got you,” I murmur.