Page 63 of Pretty Little Tainted

A few tears leaked from my eyes, but I gave him a tiny, trembling smile. “All I need is you and Mom. That’s why I came home.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

abi

My phone ringing pulled me out of a restless sleep. Jerking upright in bed, I searched for the device and finally found it under my pillow. Beside me, Hayat groaned and rolled onto her stomach, pulling the covers up over her head.

Hayat had been at my house all week, napping, watching inappropriate comedies, and eating junk food with me. Well, Hayat had watched the movies and gorged on the food while I napped. My eyes wouldn’t stay open most of the time. I’d been sleeping eighteen hours a day, but at least I wasn’t crying and freaking out my family.

According to my phone, it was ten in the morning on Friday, and Aunt Emmie was calling me.

“Oh shit,” I muttered.

“What?” Hayat mumbled.

“Emmie.”

My best friend shot up, the sleep disappearing from her face as she stared down at my phone like it was possessed. “That can’t be good. The last time she called me for no apparent reason, she told me the world knew I was Havoc. I already knew that, but she was doing what she does best. Trying to clean up the mess.”

“What should I do?” I whispered, as if the woman could hear me through the still-ringing device in my trembling hand.

“Answer it?” Hayat whispered back, staring at me like I was crazy. No one ignored Emmie’s calls. I was pretty sure politicians and royalty were scared not to pick up when her name popped up on their screens.

“Shit.” The phone kept ringing. Taking a deep breath, I hit accept and lifted it to my ear. “Hello?”

“Abi, sweetheart, do you have a few minutes to chat?”

I relaxed a little at how calm her tone was. My dad and his band members called her “fire-breather” for a reason. Her temper was white-hot. No one ever came out unscathed when she was pissed off.

My relief made me dizzy. “Hi, Aunt Emmie. Yeah, of course. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to check in to see how you’re doing. Kin explained what happened, and I made a few calls this morning. I spoke to the chancellor at Trinity University in an effort to arrange for you to do online makeup exams for your finals. But when he checked your records, it said you had taken them all.”

“What?” I shook my head in hopes of dispelling my confusion. Hayat lifted her brows at me, but I shrugged. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s what I said. But he emailed me the results. You aced every test.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I muttered in disbelief.

“Again, that was my reaction,” she mused. “Which was why I had Mieke do a little digging. But she said everything was in order. Your student ID was used to log in for each exam on the corresponding days they were administered. The only issue is that you were at home in Malibu, but the school’s system says you were in Creswell Springs.”

“What’s going on?” Hayat whispered.

Covering the receiver, I muttered, “I dunno.”

“Abi?” Emmie called out to me.

“I’m still here. Just trying to wrap my head around this.”

She blew out a frustrated breath, losing some of her calm. “You’re nineteen, so what you do is your own business. But a heads-up would be appreciated. I can’t get ahead of these things if you don’t warn me beforehand.”

I gulped. “I really don’t know how this happened. I’ll call my adviser and try to figure it out. Maybe someone put in the wrong student ID.”

“I’m not worried about your grades,” she groused. “I’m talking about you getting married and not telling me. What were you thinking? I can’t protect you from things I don’t know about.”

My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. “Married?” I squeaked. “I didn’t get married.”

Hayat let out a howl of laughter, falling back on the pillows. “Are you kidding me? That’s hilarious!”

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