It's a Cruel World, Sir (Student/Teacher)

16 | Aftermath

"You went looking for him?" Whit demands.

I shrug. "Of course. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Literally anything else," she counters. "I can't believe—"

"Stop, Whit," Leon orders, immediately ending her tangent. "I'm glad you thought things through that much," he says approvingly, "Although, I wish you wouldn't've ran blindly in the dark. I'm guessing I don't have to tell you how bad things could've gone if you hadn't found him, though, right?"

I shake my head. "Chase already did that for you."

"Good," he says, nodding. "Maybe you'll actually listen to him."

"I'm so jealous," Nikki inserts, leaning on Leon's shoulder.

I ignore her, looking pointedly at Darestin. "Can we let him go now?"

"Oh, right." TJ looks back at Trent, waving. "It's fine, Trent! The guy's clean!"

Trent nods in turn, hopping off of the back. He says something to Darestin, who suppresses a smirk as he jumps off of the edge of the truck. Calvin heads to Trent, clasping his cousin on the shoulder as Leon, Nikki, TJ, and Whit head over to the truck. TJ and Nik are in an argument over whether Chase was in leather again, and Whit keeps trying to inject that it doesn't matter what he was wearing.

I follow after them slowly, shaking my head when Whit persists in her "There's something wrong with him!" speech.

"Interesting group of kids you all are," Darestin pulls me from the disagreement, smiling crookedly.

"Why are you still here?" I wonder. "If you start acting suspicious, they'll do worse than hold you hostage, you know."

He grins, the idea obviously entertaining to him, though normal people would cringe away at the thought alone. "Yeah, I know. I kind of want to test how far I can push them, but Chase would kick my ass if I did."

"I'd kick your ass if you did," I warn.

The grin doesn't waver. "You wouldn't stand a chance, and you know it."

"That brings me back to... whatever it is," I say, stopping and turning to him. "What the hell was with you before Chase showed up? And why did he feel the need to warn you when you got close? And what the hell—"

"Woah, slow down, killer," he says. When I glare at him, the grin on his face widens. "There's no way I can answer your questions here."

"Why not?"

He looks over at the others, who are too engrossed in their own conversations to notice I'm not behind them. "Because little ears have big mouths."

"Are you implying my friends would rat you two out?"

He chuckles. "They weren't the ears I was talking about."

I blink. "What?"

"Chase told you, right? That there are worse things out there than humans?" he checks.

I nod.

"Then you should get it: humans aren't the only beings who'd want to know how we tick."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I demand. "I just want to know—"

"You want to know what's going on," he finishes. "Look, how about I meet you at your house later tonight? I promise to answer everything then."

"Why?" I wonder, suddenly suspicious. There's a reason Chase warned him away from me, right?