Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(7)
Cami still felt a little woozy from her pain medication, but going to school had to be better than continuing to be smothered under her parents’ overprotective watch. It was as if someone had switched them from cold and uncaring to hover mode.
“Sophie’s son isn’t expected to walk again,” her mother said over morning coffee. “She won’t be returning to us this year. Maybe not ever. I’ll probably hold a few interviews this week for her replacement.”
Cami felt as if her ribs had given way and were caving in on her heart. Sophie was the only person she could talk to about Kyle. He hadn’t called, hadn’t come to see her in the hospital, and he hadn’t left for college because she’d driven by his house more times than she wanted to admit and his truck had been in the driveway each time.
She’d blown it. Lost him. And even though she’d once thought it was a summer fling, she knew now that it had been so much more. She could’ve sworn she’d heard his voice when the storm was upon her, just before everything had gone black. Yet her family and the medics had promised her that she had been alone when they’d found her.
“Okay. Well, um, do you think maybe she’ll come back next year?”
“Doubtful,” her father said, opening the refrigerator and removing the creamer. “From what her sister said when she called, her son’s situation is pretty dire. Poor kid can’t even dress himself.”
Neither of them looked at her and saw the tears welling in her eyes as her mother adjusted her father’s tie. Cami forced herself not to wallow in her own loss. Sophie and Kyle had both been the only people she felt like actually cared about her. And now, they were both gone.
When she slept, she dreamt of him. Dreamt of how hurt he’d looked when she’d hid from her stupid “friends.” He hadn’t known about her lie, hadn’t known that’s why she didn’t want to be seen. He’d thought she was ashamed to be seen with him. The thought was another sucker punch to her already battered heart.
Even if it was over, if he’d finally realized she was too shallow and vapid to deserve him, she was going to tell him the truth, the truth about everything—that she had been a self-absorbed bitch before him, that he’d changed her, made her want to be a better person, and that she loved him whether he went to college or decided to become a mime. Love was love. And she loved Kyle Ryan Mason with all of her heart. Now that she’d finally realized she actually had one.
The marble halls of Summit Bluffs High School were the same as always. Polished to shine, crowded, and alive with chatter—mostly gossip about who had done who or what over the summer. Underclassmen grouped together and compared schedules. Seniors sat on the hallway benches and in the courtyard looking bored with the whole thing while secretly trying to accept the fact that this was their last first day of school at Summit Bluffs.
It was a little more crowded now that the Hope’s Grove students had joined them, and judging from the wardrobe choices, the country kids were keeping to themselves.
Cami kept her head down as she made her way to her locker. She wasn’t in the mood to see Raquel or any of her minions. Having to regurgitate some acidic lies about her summer in the French Riviera would be more than she could handle at the moment. Glancing at her schedule, she saw that English would be first and checked to make sure Mrs. Calloway was still in the same classroom she’d been in for the last decade. After pulling her books from her locker, she tucked them to her chest and made her way to the room in the east wing by memory.
A few people said hello to her, but thankfully, none of them expected her to say much else since she’d always been too stuck up to bother unless it was near homecoming or prom queen elections.
Thankfully, the first person she saw heading her way with the intention of actually speaking was Hayden. She considered asking his advice about Kyle, hoping that it wouldn’t be too awkward but remembering that it hadn’t been at the party the day of the storm. The tension in her chest loosened as she smiled at his familiar face. But when she stopped at the trophy case that usually boasted the school’s latest athletic accomplishments, she saw something that struck her in the chest, tearing through her flesh and bone and gripping her heart with an iron fist.
Kyle’s face—his eyes bright and his lips pressed into a line as if he were trying not to smile as he stared back at her from a newspaper clipping that had been laminated. He wore his Hope’s Grove football uniform and stood proudly below the headline that stole the breath from her lungs.
PROMISING HOPE’S GROVE GRADUATE LOSES LIFE IN TORNADO.
He stood outside the ostentatious school building past the first bell alerting students that it was time to clear the halls and head to class. He honestly couldn’t give a shit about attending this godforsaken place. His truck stood out with a few others among the BMWs, Mercedes, and Land Rovers. He knew one of them likely belonged to Hayden Prescott.
Thinking of Pretty Boy actually lifted Coop’s spirits slightly. Now, there was something to look forward to. Relieving some stress by driving his fist through Hayden Prescott’s face would likely be the highlight of his day. Except, dude had lost his grandpa, and Coop actually felt kind of bad about that. The town of Hope’s Grove had practically erected a shrine to Erwin Prescott. And now that he was gone, his son, Prescott’s dad, owned Cooper’s family’s land. If that wasn’t some bullshit, Coop didn’t know what was.