Jaded (Jaded #1)(67)

He asked hoarsely, “Who?”

“Denton Steele.”

Bryce turned away.

I cried out, “Don’t—please don’t leave. Just…stay and yell at me.”

I still hadn’t looked at him.

He asked, softly, “For what? We’re not together, Sheldon. You and I, we’re not a couple.”

I finally raised my eyes to his and saw pain mixed with an unnamed emotion.

I held my breath. “You’re not mad?”

He shook his head, but he didn’t reach for me.

“No. I have no right to be mad, remember?”

“But…”

Bryce shook his head again and said faintly, “I gotta go to class. Bell’s already rung. I’ll see you inside.”

When he left, I stood there and felt the same coldness as before.

I knew, I already knew, that it’d be a long time before he held me again.

Dazed, I was in the same place when Corrigan stuck his head out and exclaimed, “There you are! Holy hell—where’ve you been?”

“Corrigan,” I said weakly and crumbled to the floor.

“Hey,” he soothed as he knelt beside me. “What’s wrong? Hey, hey.”

I shook my head, it was all I could do, and whispered, “I just lost him.”

Corrigan sighed and sat beside me. He flung an arm around my shoulder and pulled me to his side.

I burrowed into his side as he said against my forehead, “No. No, you didn’t.”

“I did. I had sex with someone else. I screwed up, Corrigan. I really did.”

“No,” he soothed again as his hand brushed my hair back. “Bryce loves you, Sheldon. Like true, gut-wrenching, love. One screw-up and he’s not going to leave. He could’ve walked a long time ago, but he hasn’t.”

I asked, hoarse, “How do you know?”

“Because whenever you think that he’s gone off with some girl, he’s usually on the phone with me talking about how he should actually do it. He should screw half the girls that you think he does, but he never does. He’s just angry and tired of waiting. And he doesn’t do it because Bryce loves you and he’s waiting for your self-destruction to stop.”

“Self-destruction?”

“Yeah,” Corrigan laughed. “That’s what Logan told me this morning. Last night, I told her a little about what else is going on. Logan was amazed that you could still come to school. She said she would’ve broken down and end up in the asylum or something.”

He laughed. “She said you’re made of strong stuff and, no wonder, because of all that’s happened to you.”

“What? The notes and Leisha?”

“No,” he murmured, tenderly. “Losing your parents. She said that Miss Connors told her once that the worst thing that could happen to a kid is to never be loved. That’s the absolute worst thing. She said Miss Connors told her that every kid has a right to be loved and when they’re not—it’s never their fault.”

It wasn’t my fault.

Corrigan shifted away and remarked, “Um…about that…Miss Connors said that we were supposed to make an appointment in three days or something, but she’s booked so…”

“What?”

“I signed up for her first available slot and it’s…”

“Right now,” I finished for him, numb.

He laughed nervously and watched me. He even scooted away from me.

“I have to go and see a counselor like this,” I said flatly.

“Well…” Corrigan shrugged.

“Fine. Let’s do this.” And just as abruptly, I was up and through the door. I didn’t care what my face looked like, if they could see the tears or not—I wanted this hour done and over with.

Bryce was already in the office, leaning in the same spot, but unlike the last time, he didn’t straighten when we walked inside.

He ignored us.

Mena sat beside him, her face closed to everyone else.

When we traipsed in, Miss Connors looked us over and announced, “Well…is there special significance that Corrigan is in the middle this time and Sheldon isn’t?”

Corrigan didn’t say anything. Neither did I.

Bryce shrugged and commented as he looked out the window, “No significance.”

Her eyes looked us over again and studied each one before she harrumphed and leaned back in her chair.

“You know,” she spoke flatly. “If I’d judge from our last session, I’d think that this was another dog and pony show for me. So…is it? I come down on you guys about protecting Sheldon, so you put Corrigan in the middle this time? Is it going to be you, Bryce, next time?”

Bryce failed to react and Miss Connors’ eyes sparked at that.

She asked, sharply, “Sheldon…I was told that you skipped every class yesterday. Did you?”

“No,” I murmured and looked at the door.

“Really? Because I have the attendance sheets.”

“I didn’t. I went to first period.”

“Right.” She sighed and asked, “So how about you, Bryce? You were missing all day yesterday. Where were you?”

He laughed, chokingly, and shook his head. Our eyes met briefly and we both looked away.