FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS OF THE CHEATER.FAKER.TROUBLEMAKER SERIES (WATTY'S 2016, FICTION AWARDS 2016, HACHETTE AUDIO 2017), JENNY ROSEN & KRISTEN MAGLONZO.
After bullies, braces, and brutal heartbreak shatters his faith in love, soon-to-be fre...
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CHAPTER 42
Elias
It's been two hours.
Two hours since I last talked to Lacey, and things have been radio silent ever since.
I should be looking for her. I should be out in the halls trying to track her down instead of stuck in the back of math class dodging the stares and whispers coming at me from every direction. But, thanks to the Daily Gawker, I couldn't outrun the eyes in this school if I tried.
I sink six inches further into my seat when the clique of girls a couple rows up turn around and glare at me for the fifteenth time this morning. I half-recognize one of them from the party scene I used to haunt last semester. Back then, I lived for the weekend 'cause weekends meant getting into parties and getting into party girls like the one sitting a couple feet away from me now.
She's looking at me like I owe her something, and chances are I probably do. But how do you apologize for using people? How do you apologize when you don't remember what you did?
Before Lacey, most of my days and nights were a blur. I didn't care about what I was doing or who it was with as long as I had a body and enough alcohol to keep out the loneliness. Half the time, I was too wasted to remember the girls I messed around with—but I vaguely remember this one. I wish I didn't—but I do.
I don't know if it's the upward pull of her lips, the wild redness of her hair, or the trouble in her baby blues, but seeing her only reminds me of every girl who came before Lacey and all the ghosts I've put her up against. All the girls who could come out of the shadows just to drag Lace into the limelight, just to tear her apart. But I don't want that for her.
I don't want her to have to pay for the mistakes I made. But if I don't get this situation under control, she'll have to. I've gotta track down who took that picture and I've gotta make that post disappear. Otherwise, Lacey will turn into Mission Bay's new favorite target, and I'll be the reason she has a bullseye painted on her back.
I grab my phone out of my back pocket and try to text Lacey again even though I'm probably not gonna get an answer. Honestly, I don't deserve one. I didn't show up for her after I promised I would. Lacey probably waited by herself in the girls' bathroom for the better half of first period hoping I'd be there. But, I wasn't—thanks to Derek Gibner.
The dickweed was out on hall patrol right when I sprinted into school, and he caught me trying to skip class. If he hadn't been on rounds with the vice principal, I would've dodged him and run straight to Lacey. But instead of ending up with her, I ended up here, tripping over my thumbs trying to get her to forgive me over text message when we should be talking face-to-face.
