bitter | e.d

| four

SAME NIGHT
EVIE'S POV

"what?" I ask, confused as to what she even means by that.

reese puts her glass down on the coffee table and turns to face us, both julian and I looking at her with wide eyes. "hold on, just hear me out."

I cross my arms, waiting to hear her idea, already knowing I'm not going to like or agree with it.

"just think about how many girls he's taken advantage of and ruined for the sake of pleasuring himself. it's sick." her eyes keep darting between julian and me. "I mean, we can all agree what a horrible person he is."

"he's a prick," julian adds, never having liked him. he brings his glass of wine to his lips, taking a pretty large gulp before clenching his jaw and swallowing.

I can't help but agree. the way he treats girls like toys and messes with them mentally is beyond disturbing. hence why I've done everything I could to stay away from him. I'm afraid that if he were to ever get me wrapped around his finger, I wouldn't be able to get out of it. or even recognize that he's playing with me. I'd just be trapped like every other girl he's brainwashed.

what's worse is julian's hatred for him is personal. his sister isla, who's older than him by a year, got so mentally fucked up by him. last year, she was a senior here. she had been "seeing" him for almost three months, never telling julian it was ethan because she was convinced he'd never give him a chance. rightfully so, being that ethan eventually forced himself on her and then slut-shamed her with the rest of his buddies to the point that she ended up moving to live with her grandma in vermont.

that's pretty unforgivable. she was so in love with him that all the warning signs went straight over her head. but the only person that knows her side of the story is julian, and us; everyone else believes she was just a slut.

reese takes our agreeing that he's an ass as encouragement to continue. "maybe we turn the tables on him. he deserves to have his heart broken."

"what heart?" I scoff, pointing out the flaw in her idea. "he doesn't feel anything. how are we supposed to break something that doesn't even exist in the first place?"

"it does exist. he just uses his dick to mask it." she licks her lips before continuing. "come on, evie. that fucker is trying to take advantage of you next. do you wanna know why he was arguing with kellan after school?"

"not really," I shortly reply in full honesty.

she lets out an exasperated sigh. "he basically claimed you. he said he'd beat the shit out of kellan if he tried anything with you."

I rub my hands over my face, feeling stressed. "god, this is so ridiculous. I don't even know how I got wound up in all this."

it's only been the first day of school and it's like all hell has broken loose. but that's the epitome of my life. it feels like everything is crumbling around me nonstop.

the sound of harley's paws running across the hardwood floors grabs my attention, and I see her coming towards us. she jumps up on the couch and settles herself between julian and I, resting her head in my lap.

I lay my hand on her fur. "wait, I still don't understand where I would fall into this idea of yours."

reese looks at me plainly, as if I should've caught on. "he's obviously interested in you. and he's not going to stop until he gets you. so you need to be the one to break his heart."

my throat gets tight at even just the thought of making that happen. "how would I ever be able to do that?"

reese shrugs, reaching over to grab her wine again and take a sip. "I don't know. but you're going to have to figure out how to make him fall in love with you."