Page 57 of Inseparable
Betsy chugs and splutters when I turn on the engine, but mercifully she behaves the duration of the short journey.
I have my hand raised to knock on the door when it swings open. Mariah gawps at me with her mouth hanging open. “What the hell happened to your face?”
“Becky happened to my face,” I reply, stepping inside. Her parents and her little sister are away for the weekend, and Cody is staying over with her, but he’s doing stocktaking in his Dad’s hardware store today, so we’re on our lonesome. “Devin pulled up when I was walking home last night, and he insisted on driving me the rest of the way. Becky was waiting in his driveway when we arrived, and she didn’t take too kindly to me being there.”
“This has got to stop.” Mariah shakes her head. “You have to report her this time.”
“It didn’t happen on school grounds. They won’t care.”
“The hell they won’t.” She nudges me into a chair, handing me a mug of tea.
“Well then, we need a plan to take her down ourselves. I’m not going to stand by and allow this any longer. I can call Madisyn and Gabi right now and get them to come over.”
I shake my head. “Not tonight. I’m not in the mood for a group session. I just want to lick my wounds in private.”
She tilts her head to the side as she drops down on the couch beside me. “Yesterday was a bitch, huh?”
“Yep. Speaking of, did Ayd get home okay?”
Her brows lift. “You haven’t seen him today?”
“Nope. Either he’s still dealing with his hangover or he’s hiding from me.”
“Josh drove him home a couple of hours after you left. He was totally hammered and swaying all over the place, talking absolute gibberish, but he didn’t so much as look at any other girls,” she says, patting my hand, “so you can rest assured your boy is loyal.”
“I wasn’t really worried about that.”
“Devin showed up and he was disgusted with Ayden which is funny considering it’s usually him in that condition.”
“Was Becky with him?”
“No. He was alone. He was sprawled across the couch, snoring his head off when we left.”
“Did he… was he with anyone?”
She shakes her head, pausing momentarily before speaking. “You still have feelings for him, don’t you?”
I nod. “I feel so guilty over that, but I can’t help how I feel.”
“What about Ayd?”
“I have feelings for him too, but I don’t think he’s really into this. I’m not sure he ever really was.”
“What are you going to do?”
That’s the million-dollar question. “I honestly don’t know.”
Ayden finally surfaces Sunday night, groveling and promising faithfully that he won’t let me down again. He showed up with three bunches of lilies, and my room smells like a florist shop now. I know he’s pissed that Dev ended up making sure I got home safely, but he’s not stupid enough to criticize me for accepting the ride. He’s still insisting nothing’s wrong, just that he feels like blowing off some steam, and I let it drop because it’s not like I can coerce him to be honest if he doesn’t want to.
I endure a sleepless night, my thoughts consumed with how much things have changed between me, Ayden, and Devin.
The whole school is buzzing with the news on Monday, and I scan the hallways looking for Devin but he’s nowhere to be found. The more stuff I hear, the more concerned I become.
“I’ve heard that Becky’s minions are pointing the finger of blame at Devin,” Gabi is telling the others as I drop into my seat in the cafeteria at lunchtime.
“He wasn’t involved,” Mariah pipes up. “He was at Zach’s when it’s alleged to have happened, and he crashed there all night. Those bitches just want to cause trouble for him.”
“What exactly are they saying happened?” I ask, picking at my chicken salad. “All I’ve heard are unsubstantiated rumors.”
