Pretty When She Cries - Black Mountain Academy

A knock on the front door interrupts the conversation. I’m grateful for the reprieve until my mom jumps up with a huge smile on her face. “Oh, look. Landon’s here.”

“What?”

She doesn’t hear me. She’s already out of her seat and halfway to the foyer, where he’s apparently let himself in.

“What the hell is he doing here?” I choke out.

Theo gives me a strange look. “He eats dinner with us sometimes. Although, I suppose it has been a while. We haven’t seen him since you’ve been back. Aren’t you two friends?”

Whatever answer I may have had slides back down my throat like toxic sludge. Landon saunters into the dining room and meets my gaze with a taunting smirk as he takes the empty seat beside me.

“Kail.” He greets me with a nod before turning his charming gaze on my mom. “Sorry I’m late.”

“I was starting to get worried about you,” she tells him. “We haven’t seen you in so long. I’ve stopped by a few times, but you weren’t home.”

“Football season.” He shrugs and reaches out to grab two bread rolls from the basket.

My eyes bounce among them as Theo asks him how the season is going so far. I’m still trying to figure out what alternate universe I’ve stepped into when my mom looks at me encouragingly.

“Kailani, you remember Landon, right?”

“How could I ever forget,” I murmur into a bread roll.

Beneath the table, his foot bumps mine, and I send him a withering glare. Since when does he come over to have dinner with my family? Why isn’t he at his own house, annoying the poor woman who birthed him?

“Here.” My mom dishes up a giant heap of salad and two pieces of chicken onto a plate. “Eat as much as you want. I made plenty.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Grant.” He takes a bite from the bread roll, and my blood pressure boils.

“It’s Hale-Grant,” I correct him. “She was married to my father first.”

“Kailani.” My mom’s eyes widen, and an uncomfortable look passes over Theo’s face. All their attention shifts to me as though I’m the sour grape in the room.

“Well, it’s true.” I shove my plate away and bunch the napkin up between my fingers. “But I guess you forget a lot of things. It looks like you weren’t missing me too much while I was gone after all.”

Both Theo and my mother stare at me in shock. I’ve never spoken to either of them this way before, but I can’t help it. I feel like I was blindsided and then flayed open with a bayonet. My guts are still lying all over the dinner table, and nobody else has even had the decency to notice. They’ve been having dinner with my enemy the whole time I’ve been gone, and my mom never thought to mention that to me?

“I can leave if it’s a problem,” Landon offers half-heartedly between chews. Beneath the table, his thumb skates up my bare thigh, and I nearly jump out of my seat.

“Of course, it’s not a problem.” My mom stares at me as though she’s waiting for the demon who possessed me to exit my body. “Kailani is clearly having a bad day. And I’m sure she’d love to apologize for her outburst.”

“Actually, what I’d really love to do is leave.” I stand and grab my plate. “Can I be excused, please?”

She looks heartbroken, and I hate that I’m hurting her, but I just can’t deal with this right now.

“I’d really like it if—”

“Courtney’s going to be here any second. She’s bringing a ton of junk food for movie night. I promise I’ll eat some of that.”

Her shoulders fall, but she caves in with a dip of her head. This conversation is far from over, but my mom doesn’t air our dirty laundry in front of company.

“Alright, then. You girls have fun tonight. If you need anything, we’ll be in here watching The Bachelor.”Five hours later, Courtney is giving me the side-eye as we hover around the entrance of Alistor Barrington’s mansion. I don’t know much about him, except he’s friends with a few BMA guys, and his house is a near-constant party scene.

This was a really dumb idea. I know that’s what Court is thinking. I’m thinking it too, but I’ll never admit it out loud. After the shitshow that was dinner tonight, I’m determined to make some waves. If Landon can’t respect my own house as a safe zone, then I won’t respect the unwritten rules about who’s invited to these stupid parties. While I’ve been busy wavering in my morality, Landon and Audrey continue to find new ways to torture me. If I want to get real dirt on any of them, this is the place to do it. The party has already been in full swing for a few hours. If we’re lucky, they’ll all be too intoxicated to pay any attention to us.