Page 16 of Apathy
“Who? Kane?” She started laughing. “He wishes, but he could never replace…” She trailed off, losing the smile from her face. “Anyway…” Lauren cleared her throat. “He’s not, and between you and me, he never will be. But not for lack of trying. I just don’t think that he and Skylar are compatible enough for all that to happen.”
“And you think she would be compatible with me?”
“No, not really.” She shrugged. “But it would do her good to have some fun at least. Besides, she doesn’t talk too much, you don’t talk too much, see, perfect.”
Perfect, indeed. Little Lauren was a true matchmaker.
I just wondered if she would feel the same about putting me together with Skylar if she knew the whole story.
“Just think about it. And you could always use a friend.”
A friend. I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t sad at its core. Skylar Blackwood and I could never be friends. What they did to us… No, friendship would be the last thing between us.
“And what if I’m an asshole? What if I hurt her?”
I wasn’t sure if my words rendered her speechless or if she just didn’t expect me to say anything at all, but the carefree attitude she was showcasing was immediately replaced with something sinister.
“Then I guess I would have to kill you.” She smirked as she swam away, once again leaving me alone.
I sat there, unmoving, looking at the spot Lauren vacated, thinking about what she said. Her words rang in my head, and if this was any other town, any other families, I would think about those words as silly, empty threats, fabricated by a teenage girl who wanted to appear tough. But I knew about these people.
I spent my life learning everything I could, so that I would be prepared once the time came. And now that I was here, I just hoped I was strong enough to withstand the storm that was about to happen.
But before I could dwell more about the past and what the future was about to bring, a commotion on the other side of the pool drew me in. My eyes zeroed in on two figures, arguing, but not loud enough for me to hear anything they were saying.
When the fuck did he get here?
Skylar and Kane stood on the grass, facing each other. He seemed angry, and I would be too if I were in his place. It was obvious from everything I saw and from what Lauren told me, that Kane liked Skylar a lot more than she liked him. He behaved like a jealous boyfriend, while she obviously didn’t give a fuck.
Which worked in my favor, I guess.
The only thing that didn’t work in my favor was the burning rage in my gut as he took a hold of her arm, pulling her closer to him. The other thing that definitely didn’t work was the way my body reacted to her. When she touched me in the classroom, I felt as if a thousand tiny electric shocks traveled over my body from the place she laid her hand on.
When she looked at me in the crypt, I forgot about the plan, about the past, future, consequences and all the other things that were important to me. I forgot that Skylar Blackwood was nothing but an enemy. Nothing but a means to an end and someone I had to use to get to what I wanted.
Something inside of my soul screamed at me to get over there and pull her away from him. Something in the way she stood in front of him, quiet, submissive, didn’t sit well with me.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I started walking around the pool, heading toward them.
“Oh shit,” Rowan exclaimed as I passed next to him and Hailey, who were making out on one of the loungers. I didn’t stop even after he called my name.
A whooshing sound filtered through my ears, and nothing else mattered but getting to Skylar. I wasn’t a saint, and I wasn’t here to save her. But if anyone was going to hurt her, it would be me.
She didn’t know that I held her life in my hands. Skylar Blackwood was mine to break, and no one would touch her but me. No, Kane wasn’t a part of my plan and he had to be removed.
“Ash!”
I could hear them behind me, trying to catch up to me, but I was already almost reaching Kane and Skylar. I hated how she seemed smaller than she actually was, standing in front of him.
“Ash! Stop, goddammit!” I didn’t know if it was Rowan or Danny, but they were too late. I was already next to Skylar, pulling her behind me.
Kane’s blazing, dark eyes focused on me instead of her, and I knew. I could see it there. This guy wanted to destroy me. When I saw him this morning, standing there, behaving like he owned the whole world, I couldn’t pass the opportunity to fuck with the Golden Boy of Winworth.
I could smell the alcohol emanating from him. I could see the bloodshot eyes, dilated irises, and the cruelty shining from them. Just like his parents. I guess that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
“Why is it,” he stepped closer to me, until his face was mere inches from mine, “that everywhere I look today, everywhere I go today, you’re there?”
“Aww,” I mocked. “But I thought you loved seeing my face.”
