Savage Love (Ash and Innocence 2)

He was more of an observer, and I think that’s what drew him to me. It also meant we rarely clashed over the dumb shit Tristan and I fought over, like girls. And he didn’t always try to step in and lecture me about how I was being an asshole like Logan.

Gage just liked to watch, and that was okay with me.

People liked to see chaos. They liked fireworks and fights. Violence.

To Gage, I was primetime television, and I could live with that.3CharliI set my backpack down on the kitchen table as quietly as I could. Today had been my first day at Parker High, and it had kicked my ass. My head felt so full of information, projects, and upcoming tests that it might as well have been jelly. The only silver lining was that the other students had more or less left me alone. I’d managed to make it through nearly the whole day without saying a word to anyone, which I considered a small victory.

I did my best to stay quiet as I unpacked my things, but it still woke my dad.

He stirred, sitting up on the couch and rubbing his hand through the thinning patch of brown hair on his head. He’d been handsome when he was young. No, I thought. That wasn’t entirely true. He still would’ve been handsome if he wasn’t so dead set on self-destructing. Maybe if he just smiled, for once.

“You’re back.” His voice was flat and thick with sleepiness, or it might have been alcohol—there was really no way to be sure.

“I’ve got a lot to work on, so I’ll be in my room.” I tried to slip away, but I heard him stand from behind me and knew better than to flee.

I stopped, waiting. What would it be, this time? I knew what I was to him.

I was his outlet.

He looked down at me, eyes lit with a malicious fire. “I expect these boxes to be unpacked by tonight.”

“My teachers loaded me with homework and study material today. I really need to—”

“You need to listen to your father. Do I need to repeat myself?”

I lowered my eyes. “No.”

He swayed where he stood, then half fell back onto the couch. My submission seemed to be enough to satisfy him, and he was snoring again in moments.

I gritted my teeth as I looked at the piles of boxes, and then my backpack. Grudgingly, I set to unloading the boxes and hoped that if I worked quickly enough, maybe there’d be time to at least start my schoolwork.

A few hours later, there was a quiet knock at the door.

I pulled the front door open and found a girl with her hand raised to knock again.

She flashed an excited smile. “Hey, new girl.”

“Hey?”

“I’ve come to drag you out of here and take you to Dead Ringers. It’s basically the default hangout spot for all the upper classmen after school.”

I gripped the edge of the door, shifting on my feet. I took a close look at her, trying to decide if I could dig her name from some dark recesses of my memory. She was pretty, even if it was in a little bit of a boyish way. She had squared off features and somewhat broad shoulders, with shoulder-length brown hair. “I’m really not trying to be rude or anything, but—”

“Oh, no worries. I’m Zoe. We kinda knew each other when we were kids. I know you and Cassian were thick as thieves, but you and I were in the same Kindergarten class. Remember, I was the one who always traded my sandwiches for your candy?”

A memory popped up in my mind of her smiling as I handed her a couple chocolates at a brightly colored cafeteria table. A smile slowly spread across my face. “Oh my God!” I was careful to keep my voice low, but I reached out and squeezed her in a hug. There hadn’t been anything good about coming back yet, so even finding an old acquaintance felt like a major victory.

I closed the door behind us so we wouldn’t risk waking my dad. Thankfully, our freezing house meant I was already dressed for the cold. “How’d you find me here?”

“Everybody knows you’re back. It was the only thing people talked about at school today.”

“What? Seriously? Nobody said a word to me.”

She laughed. “They were too busy talking about you behind your back, I guess? Nothing bad,” she added quickly. “I mean, mostly nothing bad. You know how people are.”

I nodded, then tried to shift my head a little so my hair would fall across my scar. I still felt a little pang of shock every time I saw how short it was. I missed my long hair. It had been like my shield. Without it, I felt so naked.

“I’d ask if you want to come in, but my dad is taking a nap right now. Where did you say you were trying to take me again?”