Elite (Empire High, #2)(16)

“Hey,” Matt whispered.

I didn’t look up from the blank page in my notebook. “Hey.” How was it possible that I already felt like crying again? I should have been out of tears after this week.

“I’m really sorry about what happened at lunch.”

That was a lame apology. “Yeah?” Because it certainly didn’t seem like it at the time. I wanted to tell him that, but it was easier to stare at my notebook. I wanted to ask him if he was really hanging out with Isabella every night before sneaking into my bedroom. I wanted to ask him if he realized he was being cruel. I wanted…more from him.

“What are you wearing?”

I was surprised that his tone was suddenly harsh. Couldn’t he see that I was barely holding it together? I lifted my gaze to him. Yeah, he looked pissed. But he wasn’t allowed to be angry with me for borrowing a blazer. I was the one that was pissed with him. “I’m wearing a different blazer. Because Isabella poured milk down the front of mine. While you sat there and did nothing.”

“Whose blazer is it?”

Of course he ignored the last thing I said. “Felix’s.” There was no point in lying. Felix had been the one to come comfort me. Felix was the one that kept showing up. Felix never made me feel alone.

“Take it off.”

What? “I can’t. I’ll get in trouble.”

“Take it off, Brooklyn.”

“And put on what? Your varsity jacket? Oh right…I can’t. Because no one’s allowed to know about us.” For some reason it was really easy to turn my sadness into anger. And it felt good to feel something besides despair.

“Look, I know this whole relationship is supposed to be a secret,” Rob said. “But…”

“Would you lower your voice?” Matt said.

Charlotte wasn’t even in the room yet. I thought about how Matt just let Rob assume that our relationship was a secret because I was poor. This didn’t feel like a secret tryst. This felt like he was embarrassed of me. Honestly, I was embarrassed of myself. What would my mother think of the fact that I agreed to be Matt’s dirty little secret? What would my uncle think?

How had I let myself become this person? This wasn’t me. My mom had raised me better than this. I was a Sanders. And Sanders women were good at walking away from assholes.

“It’s okay, Rob,” I said. “No need to worry about keeping it a secret.” I shoved my notebook into my backpack. “Because Matt and I are done.”

“Brooklyn!” Matt hissed as I stood up.

I didn’t turn around as I rushed out of the classroom. No one else said a word. Not a funny comment from Rob. Or an insult from Charlotte when I almost ran into her in the doorway. Mr. Hill didn’t even scold me for leaving. I was invisible again at Empire High. I mean, who wanted to talk to the girl that lost her whole family? The girl who was hated by the queen bee, Isabella Pruitt? The girl who cried more than smiled? I didn’t even want to talk to that girl. And it sucked that I was her.

It wasn’t until I got onto the busy city sidewalk that I realized I had nowhere to go.





Chapter 7


Friday

The black sedan pulled up next to me on the sidewalk. I quickened my pace, but Miller was out of the car and blocking my path in a matter of seconds.

“You have an appointment with the stylist in twenty minutes,” he said.

I had no idea how he’d found me. Did Mr. Pruitt put a tracking device on me like I was a dog or something? I wouldn’t put it past him. I’d been roaming around the city aimlessly for the last hour and his minion had still found me.

The whole time I’d been taking turns crying and seething. Mostly crying. Because I kept reminding myself that a broken heart from a stupid boy wasn’t at all comparable to losing the two people I loved most in the world. And the fact that I was even thinking about Matt made my stomach turn with guilt. He wasn’t important. He didn’t matter. I kept saying those two sentences over and over again like I could convince myself they were true if I heard them enough times. But it was hard to convince my heart that it was fine when it felt like Matt had driven over it with James’ Benz.

I tried to sidestep Miller but he blocked my path again.

“What happened to the blazer you were wearing this morning?” he asked.

I stopped moving and just stood in the middle of the sidewalk. “It doesn’t matter.” Nothing matters anymore.

“It does matter. The stylist has a whole list of things you’re going to need. And if you lost it, we need to add a new one to the list.”

I clenched my jaw. Lost it? I didn’t just lose items of clothing randomly during the day. I could barely afford this stupid uniform. I’d never lose it. And just the thought made me actually lose my mind. “I don’t need any more blazers! Or clothes! Just let me go back to Kennedy’s!” Yeah, I’d lost it, screaming at a practical stranger.

“You know I can’t do that, kid.”

Today the nickname wasn’t reassuring at all. Only my uncle was allowed to call me kiddo and make everything better. Not this random security guard. “Don’t call me that.” I tried to sidestep him again, but he put his hand on my shoulder.

“What happened today?” he asked. “Why didn’t you meet me outside the school like you were supposed to?”