The Exchange

Chapter 31

"And I know I'm technically not supposed to tell you anything, but I can trust you, right?" I asked Blaine.

"Um, obviously you can. I am the king at keeping secrets," he said, and even though we both knew that was a terrible lie, I let it go.

Since we were at his house (even though I technically wasn't supposed to be unless his mom was there), there wasn't anyone to eavesdrop, and at least I would be able to track who Blaine ended up telling.

I hadn't even talked to Viktor besides at his hockey game, but Blaine seemed to have Lukas all figured out the day we met him. Maybe he knew more than he was letting on.

"Okay, so you know how Lukas was at the girls' soccer game because his sister was on the team?" I asked.

He hesitated. "Yeah."

"And how he was at the hockey game earlier?"

Blaine nodded.

"Well, I don't like it. Apparently, he's the kid who punched Viktor in the face way back in the day, and no one is telling me why that even happened."

"I hate to say it, but I told you that he's weird, and you didn't want to believe me," he said.

"Is that necessary right now? Do you really need to remind me of that at this very moment?"

He nodded. "It is. I almost never win with you and Arti."

"Okay, well, congratulations. You win the prize of helping me figure out the whole entire situation." I smiled.

"That prize sucks. I want a different one."

I bit my cheek. Nothing was ever good enough for him, was it?

He laughed. "It's so easy to get you all pissy."

"That's not funny, Blaine. I'm trying to be serious."

He rose an eyebrow. "You're legitimately worried about this?"

I nodded. "I don't know what it is about Viktor, but he gets under people's skin, and it's hard to let it go. There's something about him that just drives me insane."

"What kind of insane?"

"I don't know. He just—he takes whatever he wants and doesn't realize what's going on half the time."

"You know what this sounds like?"

"Hm?"

"His own problem." He shrugged. "Come on, Amanda. Be real for a second. You've done enough to and for Viktor."

But the for things sure as hell didn't outweigh the to things. I took in a breath. However, it was also possible that Blaine was right (once again), and maybe I was just letting the obsession get the best of me again. That was it.

"You want to do something fun now besides planning for the apocalypse?" Blaine asked. Smartass. "Let's go for a drive."

"To where?"

"I don't know. Wherever we end up."

"Can you narrow that down a little further? I don't want to end up in Wisconsin with you, that's for sure."

He shook his head. "I can't promise you that. All I know is that there will be food."

Every day was a goddamn surprise with him, but he knew exactly how to keep me: food bribes.

"We could always stay here for a little bit longer and then get something to eat," I said.

"And do what? It's so quiet here, and there's never anything that goes on. Why the hell do you think I like you so much? You're loud, and you always have something going on in your head," Blaine said.