“Shut up with your bullshit pity and pull your head out of your own ass. I think you might be the dumbest genius I know,” Oz fires right back.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Faith mumbles from next to me.
Knox enters the kitchen and pauses when he sees us all sitting there. His eyes lock with mine for a moment. I see the cut on his bottom lip. He turns his head and keeps on moving, leaving out the other side of the kitchen without a word.
Oz walks in behind him. He runs his hand through his hair. Kennedy walks over to him, wrapping her arms around him.
“For a moment I thought he was getting better,” she says against his chest. Oz’s eyes lock with mine.
“We’ll get him back. Sometimes you have to go through shit to get to the other side,” he responds to her. Faith doesn't say anything, but I can see the sadness on her face. She loves her brother.
It doesn't take a genius to put it together that Knox started going off the rails again the day everything went down with Jett and me.
“If you guys think having me here might be too much, I’ll understand if you want me to go stay somewhere else.”
“What!”
“No!”
“You’re not going anywhere.” They all say at the same time.
“You’re already becoming a part of this family. You’re not going anywhere,” Kennedy says, coming over and hugging me. She smells of sugar and love. She’s what a real mom should be. I hug her back tightly, relieved that they don’t want me to leave.
“Thank you,” I say as Kennedy kisses the top of my head. “I think I’m going to head up to bed. Thanks for the hot chocolate. It was delicious as usual.”
“Of course.” She releases her hold on me.
I pause outside of Knox’s room. I can hear music on the other side of the door. I turn when I hear footsteps coming down the hallway to see Faith headed my way with a look of determination and anger on her face.
“You good?” she asks me as I open the door to my room to slip in. I give her a nod. She goes over to Knox’s door and bangs on it hard. I shut my door behind me to give them privacy before I crawl back into bed.
How can I miss something I never had?
10
KNOX
I can still feel the ass-ripping my sister gave me last night. I was sure when she came pounding on my door it was going to be over Jamie. Oh, she hit that subject too, but it was clear that she was most pissed about Whitney.
Whitney thought my behavior was because of her and told Oz and Kennedy she was willing to leave if she needed to. If anyone is going to leave it would be me. Healing Homes is a safe place, but here is safer. This is where she needs to be.
None of this is her fault. It’s my own fucked-up head that is the problem. After weeks of trying to show Whitney I wasn't a threat, I’d gone and fucked it all up. I didn't really have much of a choice. I guess I could have pulled Jett off her and left it at that. Instead, I let my rage take over. It’s still simmering inside of me even now. The thought of that privileged asshole scaring her still has my blood boiling.
If Whitney hadn’t stopped me, who knows how far I would have taken it with Jett? The rumor mill is going full force around school. Everyone wants to know what happened to Jett. He’s one of the star receivers on the football team, which only brings more attention to the situation. He’s been keeping his mouth shut on the topic, thankfully.
Something about football drives some of these people crazy, and I don’t want anything blowing back on Whitney. People love to twist shit, and I’m sure they’d wrap it around to Whitney being at fault in some way.
I change my shirt before I head out of my bedroom. Whitney’s bedroom door stands open, but the lights are off. I walk down to Faith’s room and see she’s gone too. It’s Friday night. What the hell are they up to?
“Where are the girls?” I ask, walking into Oz’s office.
“Out” is his only response.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“Nope. If you want to know where Whitney is, ask her,” he challenges. I shake my head but pull out my phone, already heading toward my car. I fire off a text to Ace asking what he’s up to right now.
Ace: Why don’t you ask me what you really want to know?
Me: Cut me a fucking break will you.
Ace: Westcott twins are having a party.
I already knew that. I just didn’t think it was something Whitney would want to go to. The Westcotts’ parties can get a bit crazy. Their parents are loaded and are out of town more often than not. My phone chimes again, this time with a picture that has me moving my ass a whole lot faster.