Page 31 of Hateful
For a moment I pretend have no clue what she’s talking about. I stare at her uncomprehendingly before a mock look of sudden recognition starts spreading across my face.
“Not yet,” I tell her.
“And why not?”
Again, I try hard not to roll my eyes. There’s a whole host of reasons why I wouldn’t want to go ahead and steal records. The possibility of getting caught and expelled, for one. Plus, I was angry when I agreed with her; after my brief encounter with Jasper, I’m not entirely sure how I feel anymore.
On one hand, I want The Brotherhood to pay for the way they’ve treated me.
But on the other … I keep remembering the look on Jasper’s face when … when …
When he kissed me.
Of course, I don’t tellHeadmistressRobin any of this.
“I just haven’t,” I say with a shrug, not looking directly at her. “Maybe the bullying isn’t as bad as I made it out to be, anyway.”
She glances around. None of the students pay her any attention. She’s become a regular fixture in the school nowadays, unremarkable. The few students who do look this way are staring at her ass, but who can really blame them? It’s not often they get to see a woman.
And as long as they’re not staring at mine, I’m not about to complain.
“What, just because there’s a pause, you think it’s not a problem?” she asks quietly. “Think about what you’ve suffered. Think about how they’ve done nothing to help you.I’mtrying to help you.”
“I’m not so sure,” I snap. “I think I’m the one trying to helpyouhere.”
Her face contorts into an ugly expression of anger, then relaxes into vague politeness once more. “Do you even know where the records room is?”
“No,” I tell her, the same thing I told her that day she convinced me to do this in the first place. “And I don’t know when I’ll be able to find out.”
“Dean Robin!” calls a girl’s voice somewhere behind us, the headmistress turns as some girls push through the double doors, and I step back into the crowd.
I’m not going to ask for another opportunity like this. Not, especially when the sound of that voice means I havetwopeople I need to hide from.
Chapter Twelve
I lace up my shoes,throw on my hoodie layers, tug my beanie down over my ears, and head outside toward the hiking trails with a spring in my step. I’ve really started liking my afternoon runs, to the point where if I’m not able to do them—because of snow or whatever—I feel listless and slightly irritated, like a caffeine addict without their morning coffee.
Which is just great, because the last thing I need in my life right now isanotheraddiction.
Today, however, I’m greeted with a surprise. As soon as I round the first bend outside the school on my way to the hiking trails, Heath is there, his phone in his gloved hands. He grins and tucks his phone in his pocket when he sees me.
“Heath?” I say uncertainly, my footsteps faltering as I approach. I take a hasty glance around the forest to make sure Beck isn’t leering behind one of the trees.
“Hey, Alex.” He grins, once I’m pretty sure he’s actually here alone. “Thought I’d join you. Like that one time we ran together.”
“You mean that one time you followed me?”
He shrugs. “You say tomato, I say to-mah-to.”
I stare at him a moment before letting out a long, exasperated sigh. “As long as you can keep up.”
He nods and I pick up the pace and he falls in next to me. I keep my lips pursed for the first leg of our journey. When I slow for my first break beneath an old, gnarled tree, Heath slows with me and eyes the snow around the base of it suspiciously.
“Wolf tracks,” he says, pointing. “That’s why I wanted to come, y’know. Make sure you’re not attacked.”
I roll my eyes as I open my water bottle. “Sure.”
They’re probably just coyotes or wild dogs. Even if they are wolves, they’ll rarely venture this close to town, not with the two schools right up here on either side of the valley.
