Elite (Empire High, #2)(32)

He frowned.

“They’re my friends. I don’t care if they’re on Mr. Pruitt’s approved list, because they’re on mine.”

“Brooklyn…”

“Miller, please.” My voice cracked. “Please.”

He sighed.

“Come on man,” Cupcake said from behind me. “I brought cupcakes.”

“Yeah, we brought dessert,” Kennedy said. “And we absolutely won’t hurt her. That’s not really what you’re worried about, is it?” There was an awkward silence. “Wait, that is what you’re worried about?” She lifted up her camera. “The worst I could do is sell pictures to the paparazzi, and I’m not even going to do that.”

I laughed. “See? Please, Miller.” I blinked up at him. We’d shared some kind of moment last night. Maybe it was one-sided. Maybe it wasn’t. But it felt like he was at least my friend. “Please.”

“Fine. But don’t tell Mr. Pruitt.”

That was a promise I could easily keep. Because I was never going to see Mr. Pruitt again.





Chapter 13


Saturday

Kennedy pulled me into the bathroom with her before Miller had a chance to demand to search it for…whatever it was he was looking for.

“Are you okay?” she asked and put her hands on my shoulders. “Tell me everything. What was it like at their place? Were they as awful at home as they are in public?”

“I messed up.” I tried to blink away the tears that had started the moment she’d hugged me.

“What do you mean?”

“I told Mr. Pruitt the truth about what happened at lunch and got Isabella and her mom kicked out of the apartment for the weekend. Isabella’s going to be worse than ever to me. What was I thinking?”

“You were thinking that the truth is better than lies.”

“Not when it comes to the Pruitts apparently.”

Kennedy’s hands fell from my shoulders. She was staring at me with so much concern on her face. I didn’t know if she was waiting for me to say more or if she had more to say. But it was easy for me to fill the silence.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “I can’t stay there another night. And I was hoping Felix would help cause a distraction and then I’d be able to sneak away to your place. But he brought up the point earlier that Miller would easily find me. And I don’t have anywhere else to go. What am I supposed to do? They’ll always find me. Won’t they?” I’d already answered my own question

Kennedy nodded. “Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to be brave. And you can tell me all about how horrible they are when we hang out every day. And you’re going to get through this. Before you know it, we’ll be off to college and you never have to see them again.”

That wasn’t what I was expecting her to say. At all. What was she talking about? “College?” That was two and a half years away. “Your mom told me she was going to fix it. She’s…”

Kennedy shook her head. “Matt even had his fancy lawyer go with my mom. There isn’t anything they can do.”

“But Mr. Pruitt isn’t my legal guardian. Of course they can do something. He freaking kidnapped me.”

“Trust me, they brought up that point. But no one’s budging. Matt’s fancy pants lawyer thinks Mr. Pruitt bribed someone. Everyone my mom goes to just looks the other way. Maybe he bribed a whole lot of somebodies.”

“So you’re telling me that there’s no way out?” I tried to take a deep breath, but it didn’t feel like my lungs were expanding anymore. “I’m stuck here?”

“Brooklyn, you’re the strongest person I know. You got through your mom’s death and…”

“I’m not through it.” I couldn’t breathe. “My heart is still broken.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re not strong. You’re still standing here, fighting the next battle.”

I was barely standing.

“And I’ll be there for you the whole time.”

“Kennedy, he’s not going to let me see you. He barely let me leave the apartment today. I’m…I’m…” I let my voice trail off. I’m trapped. I’d known it all along. I’d held on to hope when I tried to sneak out last night. And hope that today I’d be able to run away. But I’d known the truth all along. I was trapped in this hell.

“He has to let you see me,” she said with a smile. “We go to school together.”

She didn’t get it. Mr. Pruitt had made it very clear about what he thought of Kennedy and her mom. Yes, I’d get to see her at school. But never after. Not on the weekends. Not at work. But all the fight was out of me once the truth sunk in. I’m trapped.

“Let’s just try to forget about it for a day.”

That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t living with the Pruitts. She hadn’t lost her whole family. But instead of saying anything at all, I just nodded.

Kennedy smiled. “Come on. It’ll be fun. It’s kind of like we’re having a double date.”

Oh God. That’s exactly the way it looked. But she had to realize that I couldn’t possibly be on a date right now. My heart had broken when my mom died. It had shattered when my uncle died. And it got tossed into oncoming traffic when I broke up with Matt. I didn’t have a heart left for anyone.