Rewrite the Stars

“Definitely not happening,” Eros agrees. Elliot has been after this since he first showed up. He rides, but he isn’t ready for the globe, even if we did allow him the chance. Twenty percent is about skill. The other eighty percent? It’s about trust. Confidence. Instinct. I know what move Eros, Tres, and Lathan are going to make before they make it.

“There’s still something about him I don’t trust.”

“I think he’s harmless. Annoying as fuck,” Lathan concedes, “but harmless.”

“It’s been two years. If he was going to do something shady, he’d have done it by now,” Eros points out.

“Agreed. It’s not his fault he idolizes Sexy Sebastian,” Lathan says, laughing.

“Fuck off—” I start, but I’m interrupted by the bunkhouse coming to an abrupt stop before we’ve even made it off the lot.

“What the…” Eros leans out the door. “You’re not going to believe this shit,” he says, ducking his head back inside with a shit-eating grin.

“What is it?” Lathan asks around a mouthful of licorice.

“Not what. Who.”

Stepping out, I see Evan standing there, two bags on her shoulders and a suitcase at her feet. When she notices me, she lifts her arms, shrugging.

“Hi.”

THE DREAD IN MY STOMACH grows as I watch Sebastian’s back fade into the distance. I wish I could live like him. To be a nomad. To have no one to answer to, no frenemies, no drug-addicted, absentee parents to let you down. Sebastian is free, and what I want to be, more than anything else…is free.

Walking back into my house feels like walking into a snake pit. Savannah and Drew don’t really rate on my list of things to cry about since last night. The betrayal still stings, especially coming from Drew, but for some reason, it just doesn’t feel as significant. None of this does. I’m tired of putting on an act. Of being so fucking perfect all the time, when my life is anything but.

When I open my door, I find Sav and Drew standing in my kitchen. Savannah is leaned in close, her hand in his.

“Now it makes sense,” I say, startling them both. Savannah looks victorious while Drew looks caught. “You’re fucking her?” I ask, throwing a hand in Savannah’s direction. Drew doesn’t answer. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You hate her.”

“I did hate her,” he confesses, and Sav pouts. “But it just sort of…happened.”

“So, what, you slipped and fell into her magical vagina that made you spill all my secrets?”

“That’s not how it happened.”

“You know what, I don’t even care.” I can’t afford to care about this, for the sake of my sanity.

I turn for the hallway to my room, uncaring that I’m leaving them in my kitchen. Uncaring of just about everything right now. I throw my bag down and lie on my bed, looking at the lights that hang above while I hear hushed arguing coming from my kitchen. I yawn, rubbing at my kinked neck from sleeping on the couch in the trailer.

My mind wanders to Sebastian. I can’t seem to figure him out. One minute, he’s kissing the breath out of me and the next, he acts like he doesn’t even see me. I thought something would happen last night. Hooking up in a bunkhouse full of people isn’t exactly ideal, but he didn’t even try to kiss me or cop a feel. Then I didn’t get so much as a high-five when he left. I guess seeing a girl fighting with her pill-popping father kills the appeal.

“Drew didn’t tell me about your dad,” Savannah admits from my doorway. I drag myself into a sitting position, swinging my legs over the side of my bed. “I was looking through his phone when he was in the shower. That’s how I found out about everything.”

“Sounds exactly like something you’d do.” I nod.

“Consider it your karma.”

“Excuse you?”

“You walk around like you own this city. Like you’re so above everyone. You act like I’m the bitch when the truth is, we both are. The difference is, I own who I am.”

I give a bitter laugh. I want to tell her I’ve been a shit friend because my world has been slowly falling apart, like one long game of Jenga, hanging precariously on the edge. If one more block comes out, my whole tower might just collapse. It’s not about feeling superior. But I don’t say any of that.

“I just can’t figure out why Drew here would feel the need to lie to me.” I fling a hand in his direction.

“I was trying to be a good friend,” he says, coming up behind her. “To both of you,” he adds.

My eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you two were so close,” I say, gesturing between them.