Chasing Sin

14

"Wouldn't surprise me," Sin says, his mind clearly running a mile a minute. I see a calculating look in his eyes, thoughts churning. He always discovers and puts the 2 and 2 together before the rest of us, so I wonder what he's figuring out in that head of his.

Kace and Sin share a look, and I wonder what that's about. Beckett says something else, though, tearing me away from my intrigue.

"It probably doesn't help that Sin was there."

I look over at him, confused. Then I turn to Sin. "Why is that?"

Sin sighs, clearly annoyed, and bites his jaw at angle, making his jawline sharpen. Of course he looks 10 times hotter when pissed off. I shouldn't be surprised at this point.

"She went after him before she did me," Peyton answers for him. "Didn't work though. He turned her down, in front of all her crazy friends."

I look back at Sin, nodding now. Of course he did. That was why she seemed so angry at Sin, too, not just me.

"He's a total freak, just like the rest of Sin's group," Emily had said at the cafe.

I can only imagine how badly her ego is bruised after being turned down by Sin Black, the school's resident bad boy, just weeks before she's publicly screaming about her bowel movements thanks to me.

"Even if she does try to confront me again, I'll be fine. Seriously, guys, I'm not worried," I tell them before they start overreacting.

"Still, we need to keep an eye out for you," Peyton says.

"Yeah, we're not going to let anything happen to you, Ave," Beckett agrees.

I look around at them, shaking my head at their over-protectiveness. "You guys never listen to me, do you?"

---

The rest of the day, Taylor walked with me to nearly every class, still feeling the need to protect me in whatever way she can. We never see Emily again, though, which helps everyone feel a bit better at leaving me alone at the end of the day.

Hours later, I'm finally leaving work and driving home, thankful that Ethan let me have the car. I really hate taking the bus.

Zara didn't work today, so I got stuck with the annoying guy Van, who never stops talking about his band. He's a junior at Eve Hall, and it's obvious he's got a bit of a crush on me. He plays bass for a rock band called Death Killers, which I told him was redundant.

At first, I thought it was kind of cute, him trying to impress me with his band and whatever, but now I'm convinced he actually hates me and is trying to get me to quit out of boredom.

Whenever I get home, it's nearly ten-thirty. I worked the later shift tonight, meaning I didn't get off work until ten.

"Hey, honey," my dad says as soon I walk inside and hang my keys up. I haven't seen him since our argument, and I stop when I hear his voice.

"Dad," I say, not sure what else to add.

"Come sit down, Bee." He gestures toward the chair beside him and I reluctantly do as he says.

"How was work?" he asks me.

"It was fine but... long, very long," I reply, remembering Van's incessant chattering about the Death Killers.

He nods, and I can tell he doesn't really want to get around the main event of our conversation yet.

"You know, I used to really hate your uniform," he tells me. "All black and showing way too much skin. But... I think it's growing on me a little. You look good. Grown up."

Again, I'm not sure how to respond. "Thanks, I like it."

After everything that happened in Charlotte, I really ramped up my wardrobe. I've always enjoyed adding a bit of edginess to my outfit, like just a little extra eyeliner or some black combat boots every once in a while.

However, I soon began to feel more like myself, and I started dressing more like myself. Blacks, reds, grays, and blues make up most of my wardrobe, a pop of color only coming out every once in a while.

My black uniform suits me well, even if it does show some skin. As I've gotten more confident with who I am as a person, it's helped me be more confident with my body as well. Hence the limitless number of crop tops in my closet.

"Bee," he starts, then thinks about what he said. "Haven, I want to say that I was wrong to treat your friend the way I did yesterday."

I keep a smooth expression, but I'm a little surprised. I thought he might admit he was wrong to yell at me, but I didn't think he would admit his wrongdoing toward Taylor.

"I still believe what I said is true. There's no doubt about that," he clarifies. "But I should have handled myself a bit better. It wasn't really the right time or place to have that conversation."

I want to add that he has no right to call Taylor's dads' marriage ridiculous, no matter the time or place, but I don't.

"I appreciate you saying that to me," I tell him. I know that he won't want to apologize to Taylor directly, so I'm glad my mom did this morning.

"And about what you said to me..."

Here it comes. The never-ending lecture on respect.

"I'm..." he trails off, then restarts. "I didn't know you felt that way, and so I'm... sorry."

I look up at him, shocked. I was sure I was getting a lecture, not an apology.

"You've just..." He stops and takes a breath. "You've been through so much in the past few months. I know it's been hell for you, and I haven't been able to help much. You're so tough, it's easy to forget you need help sometimes. I just want you to be happy."

He looks at me, and I smile, feeling like I have my dad back. I lean forward and hug him, wrapping my arms around his neck tightly.

"Thanks, dad."

We don't say much else to each other, but I can tell a weight has been lifted off both of us.

I go to sleep, confident that my father and I's relationship will be just fine.