The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

“Why? What are you so goddamn scared that I’ll find out? What does Geezer’s dad have to do with me?” I didn’t care about being quiet, or that I was attracting attention. I wanted to know.

I had to know because I knew that it had everything to do with me.

Mandy was confused, but she’d stopped crying. “Taryn? What’s going on?”

“Listen,” Brian closed the distance between us and reached for my arm, but the second his fingers touched my skin, Tray was beside me.

He didn’t say anything, but Brian let go nonetheless and watched Tray warily out of the corner of his eye.

“Taryn, you gotta drop this, okay? Listen to me, really listen to me. If you ever believed that I loved you—you gotta believe that what I’m telling you now is for your own good,” Brian pleaded.

He was such a stranger to me in this moment.

I didn’t even recognize him anymore. The boy who I fell in love with, the reckless, let’s screw the world attitude. An innocent rebel. This boy—man—that was standing in front me, I didn’t know.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I whispered, my eyes finding Grayley’s and seeing the torment in them.

Grayley knew too. He’d been lying the entire time.

“Taryn,” Grayley began, faltering as I took a step back, “don’t…I’m still your best friend. I still—”

“You lied to me,” I condemned hoarsely. “You’re lying to me right now and you aren’t going to stop! I can see that you won’t.”

“Taryn—” Brian pleaded.

I cut in, yelling, “Shut up! I don’t even know who you are anymore. Do you think I like this? That I like realizing that the guy who I wasted five years of my life on isn’t real. That everything…everything was a lie.”

“It’s not a lie. It wasn’t a lie,” he pressed desperately. “You have to believe that…I didn’t even…I didn’t even find out until…”

“Shut up!” Grayley hissed, shoving him back.

“But, Gray, it’s Taryn. It’s—”

“I know, you dumbass! Shut up.” Grayley punched him, and realizing what he’d done, he whirled to me, his eyes wide. Panicked.

I had all the answer I needed.

I walked over to Brian and asked him quietly, “Who was the bracelet for?”

The bracelet that I had seen in his room. When I’d broken in to screw with his computer. Brian didn’t keep bracelets. He didn’t buy them, he didn’t even steal them and it had been bothering me.

Brian didn’t break into places. That had been my job. The bracelet was an item I would’ve stole—from a personal account. Someone’s private safe. It wasn’t a bracelet that was found in a store that could be swiped up with the mere flick of a hand.

That’s why it bothered me.

“Who was the bracelet for?” I asked again.

“You,” he whispered, glancing nervously at Grayley.

“Where did you get it?” I demanded.

“That’s enough!” Grayley cut in, shoving Brian away. “Fine, Taryn! If you want to judge us, tell us to go to hell, fine. We’re done listening to your rants. When you realize the mistake you’ve made, you know where we are. You can come and apologize…and maybe…maybe things will be okay with us.” He turned and pushed Brian out the door, the sliding doors shut with a soft swish, just on their heels.

Oh yeah.

I had the answer I needed.

CHAPTER TWELVE