Tell Me What You Hate About Me

22: Weakest Link

Was there more out there for me to find? How hadn't anyone found it before? And what did it all mean? Whose stuff was it?

Exactly none of the information from our new finding added up, and all it did was give me more questions that I couldn't find an answer for. Until proven otherwise, the new coin was going to be its name, and there was absolutely no way it was going to stay a secret for long. Ever since I picked up the talisman, it was like everything I had built myself to be—careful, observant, cold—was stored inside of it, and I couldn't get it back out.

Maybe it did suck my soul right into its tree of life. That would make sense with how stupid it made me.

I put the new coin in my dresser right by the talisman and sat down on my bed. I hadn't bothered to check my email or grades in days, and I certainly didn't want to know what was happening on that front. This time around, I had the excuse of the talisman in my back pocket, but what did it matter if I never got what I wanted from it in the first place? Just like Sierra said, I was a failure at school, and I was doing a great job at being a failure at treasure hunting, even if I had a new discovery with endless possibilities.

None of it meant anything if I couldn't buy my life back from myself.

If the talisman and I were on the same wavelength enough that it did exactly what I told it to do, I could have easily fixed my grades and rebuilt a relationship with my parents. I knew I was a waste of money, but I figured they would come around eventually. They always did.

I gave my phone a look. I wasn't a beggar by any stretch, and I knew that this semester was going to be expensive, but maybe if I cried a little they'd send me a little money.

But before I could pick up my phone, someone knocked on the door twice. That was Jack, but I didn't say anything and hoped he would go away.

He only knew one side of me: the side that didn't care about anything. And although he had his suspicions that there was someone else buried deep, I couldn't let him see me. I couldn't give him that satisfaction.

"Lindsay?" he said from the other side of the door. "Oh my god, did you actually go to class today?"

I was definitely not in class, but that wasn't his business.

"Good for you, Lindsay. It always makes me happy when you take your life into your own hands. Plus, I don't think you'd like what I have to tell you anyway," he continued.

That sneaky ass. How was I supposed to resist that?

I got up off my bed and opened up the door where he was still standing like he expected it.

"What do you have to say? And you can't back out of it now," I said.

He smiled. "I knew you were in there."

"You knew? How did you know that?"

"Your bed squeaks a lot." Of course he would notice that. "Harvey's pissed at me. Doesn't want me in the band anymore."

I raised my eyebrows. "What? Why? Did he finally figure out that you make him look bad?"

He swatted the air dismissively. "Don't worry. He can't kick me out without everyone else's vote, which he won't get. He just can't figure out why I hang around you if we're not dating, and it's sketching him out."

"Has he ever had a female friend before? It's just like having a male friend except way better in every way possible."

"I don't know. It's just weird that he thinks it's weird, don't you think?"

"It's jealousy, Jack. What else could it be? I haven't done anything to him or you," I said.

Why was everyone so obsessed with me? I shook my head. It was either the collar bone or the illusion of money. What else was there to like?