Chapter Eleven
Soren
While the day is warm and sunny, the hallways of Macedon High feel cold and full of alarm. Everyone worth a damn is tagged by security, and most of those elite students harbor anxious expressions. Nothing has been the same since Osmond got shot in a hail of bullets. It’s a weird callback to Felipe’s murder, yet remains its own enigma of mystery.
Things are getting tense.
I’m alone while I meander through groups of students thickened by guards. The hallways are getting crowded with this much activity, and the situation is as aggravating as it is dire. I’m not sure where Parker has disappeared to—he and his mother left with their security shortly after his father’s death—and Alex has been avoiding me too.
No one seems to want to be near me right now.
The Somerville mansion feels weird without anyone around. I’m not sure how long I can stay there with Parker’s blessing or if I should take my leave. But that thought fades from my mind when I notice Alex with two security guards flanking her.
She looks gorgeous, regardless of her downcast expression. All that pale skin is properly moisturized and free of the usual crap most girls around here pass off as makeup. She’s better than that, highlighting her natural contours and enhancing her eyes with a simple day palette of peach tones that enhances the lovely pink of her lips. I always prefer her natural look to the dark, expressive shadows that she wears for Tomas.
While clutching my bag to my shoulder, I cautiously approach her, heatedly aware of how her guards linger close enough to hear us speaking. Does it matter? Everyone can probably hear us out in the middle of the hallway.
But I don’t think anyone cares to listen with such a dangerous atmosphere bubbling around us.
“What happened at the pier?” I ask in a low voice. “I need you to tell me.”
She stammers over her words while avoiding eye contact.
If I could get away with grabbing her hand right now, I would, but I’m sure her guards would have something to say about that. “Take a breath and explain it to me.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Soren.”
“You don’t know what to tell me, or you don’t want to tell me?”
She glares up at me, her lower lip protruding slightly in that knowing pout of defiance. She might be able to play cute like this with Tomas and Parker, but it won’t work on me.
“I don’t know,” she says firmly. “Everything happened so quickly. One minute, Parker and Osmond were arguing. The next, Osmond was fucking fish food.”
“Bet you were really happy about that.”
She blinks rapidly. “Excuse me?”
“That guy would have torn you up if you’d married Parker. Isn’t that right, sugar?”
“You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m happy about witnessing his death.”
I shake my head. “No, you probably didn’t have a strong stomach for that, but you’re not crying over him either.”
“What the hell are you implying, Soren?”
“You stand to gain from his death. That’s all I’m saying.”
Her expression darkens while her lips tighten together. A long beat of silence passes between us as students swarm around us in a wide circle, the thrum of conversation resonating around us. She holds my gaze for a second longer before whispering hotly, “I didn’t have him killed.”
“Could have fooled me with all that ambition.”
“You’re a fucking prick.”
I smirk maliciously. “There’s a joke there somewhere, but I’m sure with all your confidence, you can figure it out for yourself.”
“You’re really ugly when you act like this.”
“And I hate those ripped jeans you love wearing for Tomas.”