Mad Boys (Blue Ivy Prep, #2)(106)

“Sweetheart, I know you’re scared. We all are. Bronson’s furious he isn’t a match. But this isn’t anything either of you can control. Penelope is in excellent hands right now, I promise. You’ll see that for yourself soon.”

I swiped a hand over my face, the water soaking it. My eyes burned so badly. “Jackie…”

“I know,” she said with a soft hum. “I know. We’re doing everything we can. You’ll be here soon. Can you hold on for a little bit longer?”

Did I have a choice?

I swiped at the tears again. It didn’t seem to matter. The rain, the tears—the world wavered around me.

“I can,” I said, swallowing hard. “I will…I’ll call you when I have the flights booked.”

We didn’t talk for much longer. When we hung up, I just sat down on the steps and stared at the puddles as they jumped and rippled while the rain struck them.

It wasn’t fucking fair.

It just wasn’t.





Forty-Three





RAMSEY


Finals week was a slice of heaven and hell. As a TA, all I had to do was proctor the exams while keeping an eye on floundering students who might potentially be in danger of harming themselves. It had happened. The exclusivity of the school increased the pressure from the administration, the faculty, and then there were the parents.

As an RA, I had to keep the dorm on target. Curfews were suspended and all-nighters were commonplace. I split my sleep schedule so I could do random checks. My door was always open to students, too. While I had my own exams, I’d made sure to take as many early as I could to free me up for this week.

The week’s stressors got to everyone, apparently, even to Lachlan who had spent the last three weeks fucking moping and making me crazy. Before I headed to the gym, I told him to take Jonas out to dinner or a movie or something. Just get him off campus for a break.

“Why?” Lachlan demanded. “He barely speaks to me on a good day lately. And since the Fire and Ice Dance, he’s been in a shit mood.”

“Exactly, and he has exams this week. He needs to get out of his head. That means we need to keep an eye on him and make sure he is getting downtime.” Lachlan wasn’t alone in having no idea what happened. The growing closeness between him and KC seemed absent.

It had been evident, even in classes. She was shutting everyone out. The friendships she’d made were all gradually slipping away, as the tide of school and commitments swept them all up.

The only friendship KC maintained seemed to be the one she arrived with. She was leaving everyone—leaving me—even while physically on campus. After Lachlan left with Jonas, I went to the gym. A workout helped, and the rain had turned to a full-on downpour. I tried everything to take my mind off the blue-haired siren, but she was the only thing occupying my thoughts.

My instincts said she was hurting. Whatever went down between her and Jonas piled onto that crap Lachlan pulled with RJ. While the stunt has been effective in getting RJ arrested, as well as banned from the campus, there were no assurances he’d stay in jail.

Combine those incidents with the fire at the start of the academic year and the break-in to her and Jonas’ suite… I was impressed that KC hadn't just washed her hands of all of us and left. Impressed and a little grateful.

As long as she was here, I could keep an eye on her. While she might be avoiding my brothers and me, I had spread the word among the other TAs and RAs. We did our best to make sure she was never on her own, even if we weren’t physically with her.

Whatever preoccupied her, I kept thinking about the baby in the hospital. If her daughter was struggling, it would explain everything. Daughter. The idea she was a teen mom was hard to wrap my mind around. On the one hand, she just seemed—so self-possessed.

Then again, all the maturity in the world didn’t prevent mistakes from happening. Realistically, it was none of my business, but it didn’t stop me from thinking about her—I was jogging between the buildings when I spotted the figure sitting on the picnic table beyond the buildings, near one of the trees on the quad most popular in sunny weather for kids catching some rays.

Slowing my pace, I scanned the darkened area. One of the lights kept flickering, but even with the waterproof hoodie on, I was all too aware of the rain and this kid was just sitting there without a jacket…

Fuck.

I altered my route to get them ushered back into a building. If they were one of my residents, I’d look after them…

The soft sobs hit me as I got closer. Then the light flickered, illuminating her slicked down hair and damp face.

“KC?”

She sniffled, lifting her head to look at me. Any cosmetics she might have worn were gone, her eyes were reddened and her face blotchy.

“How long have you been out here?” I glanced around. Where the hell was her friend? Or anyone else for that matter? She didn’t say anything, just let out another hiccupping sob as she swiped at her face. It was hardly going to do any good with her crying.

“Kaitlin,” I tried her full name, but she didn’t stop crying. The soft sounds were gutting me. “Siren? What happened?” I reached out to take her hand, it was ice-cold in mine and she turned those huge, sad eyes on me and the blade sank deep. “C’mon, you’re freezing. Let’s get you out of the rain.”