All the Little Truths (English Prep 3)

Ollie grunted. “I’d say. What a fucked-up thing to do. Fucking the neighbor, only a few yards away from your wife.”

A piercing pain shot into my chest.

“Yeah, my father is a fucking ass.” I sighed, unclenching my tight fist. “So anyway, that’s what’s been going on. That’s why I snapped when I saw Madeline.”

Not exactly true.

I glanced in the rearview mirror, barely able to see Ollie’s expression due to the darkness inside Christian’s Charger, but I felt the suspicion lingering.

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“Why were you about to kill Cole then? It looked like you were mad that he was hitting on her or something.” Christian was apparently also a little leery.

I shrugged, giving him a side glance. “Maybe I’m taking a little page out of the almighty Christian’s handbook. Madeline is my enemy. I’m the only one who can fuck with her.” I cocked an eyebrow. “It wasn’t too long ago that you threatened everyone that even dared look in Hayley’s direction. ‘She was yours to bully,’ I think is what you said in the locker room.”

Christian scoffed. “That was different.”

“Nah, brother. It’s not,” Ollie joked. “It’s literally the same fucking thing.”

I chuckled when Christian scoffed again.

“Fine. She’s yours. I’ll give you that.” He gave me a long look, as if he were trying to unravel my thoughts. “But don’t fall for her, bro. I don’t want to see you get wrapped up in the Madeline web. She has issues.”

Yeah, just like Hayley did.

“What kind of issues?” I asked patiently. Does he know more than he’s letting on?

He shrugged, turning back to face the road in front of us. “I don’t know. Maybe Hayley was right. Maybe something happened to her to make her the way that she is, but that girl has fucking thorns. If you get too close, she’ll cut you.”

Swallowing back the words I wanted to say, I nodded. “Don’t have to worry about that. I want nothing to do with her. I just like making her suffer. She deserves it, right?”

The words tasted bitter on my tongue. I’d basically just repeated what Cole had said. I didn’t fucking rape her, man. Although she probably deserved it. My lungs burned at the thought. My pulse skyrocketed. The remnants of anger were still coursing through my veins like a dam being broken. Blood rushed fast and hard.

My hand shot out to the door handle. “I’m tired. Those vodka shots I took with that annoying chick are catching up to me.”

“She was annoying,” Ollie agreed. “Why was she squealing like a seal every time you took a shot?”

I had no fucking idea.

“I’ll see you guys Monday,” I said, stepping out of the car. I bent down at the last second. “Thanks for having my back with Wellington Prep.”

Christian shook his head before glancing out the window. “Not the first time we’ve had to have each other’s backs when it came to those fucking pussies.”

I chuckled, slamming the door and walking up to my dark house. My mom was working again—the fifth night in a row. She’d texted me earlier and asked to spend some time together the following weekend, though, and I assumed she’d be telling me about the divorce then.

I fiddled with the front door latch until Christian and Ollie drove away. Then, at the last second, I turned and looked at Madeline’s window, only to find her staring at me. Her blue eyes widened when she saw that she was caught. The curtain closed quickly, and her shadowed silhouette disappeared.

I stood there, staring at her window for at least another five minutes before I found my feet dragging me over the driveway and into her house.

The front door was locked again, so I grabbed the key from under the pot and unlocked it. I climbed the steps slowly, trying to come up with a reason as to why I was in her house, but nothing came to mind.

I shouldn’t have been there.

But I was.

The glow from her light shone underneath her bedroom door into the dark hallway. My hand reached out to barge in, but I reconsidered.

Typically, I would. I wouldn’t give a fuck if I scared her. In fact, it would have been better if I did. But now, I felt at odds with it.