Page 3 of Little Do You Know

Owen smiles and hugs me again quickly. “Prove me right, please.”

I push him off me. “Go away. You’re smothering me.”

My brother leaves, and I drop my bags into the bedroom that’s mine. I quickly jump in the shower to scrub my body clean of anything disgusting I could have come in contact with at the airport. After getting dressed, I flop happily onto my bed. It feels incredible compared to sleeping on the flight back from France.I text Vera quickly and let her know she can come to the apartment whenever.

I should be using this time to unpack, but I’m exhausted. I really hope Vera is okay with the movie night I told Owen we’d be having. I need some time to settle after the hecticness of the last week.

You also need to come to terms with living next to Bash, my brain reminds me.

Part of me wants to know how he feels about me living here. Actually, I don’t need to wonder. Sebastian probably hates it because he hates me. Maybe after having over a year to cool off, he isn’t as mad at me as when I left?

I push the wishful idea out of my head. Sebastian definitely hates me, but it’d be nice if he didn’t. I’ll have to prove that I’m different in a good way now compared to the irrational, impulsive teenager I was before I left. I’m aware there’s not a shot in hell that we could go back to how things might have been before our fight, but I’d like to not be walking on eggshells in the apartment I’m living in.

I can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

CHAPTER TWO

Thalia

A KNOCK ON the front door has me rolling reluctantly out of bed. Movie night, pizza, and my childhood best friend, whom I haven’t seen in person in a year and a half, are all good reasons to answer the door.

Would Vera mind if I took a nap during our movie night? It’s not like I’m leaving again anytime soon, so we’ll have plenty of time to catch up.

“Vera, I’m—” I freeze, taken aback by the three people standing in my doorway.

“Thalia!” Vera says, jumping forward to throw her arms around me before I can ask what’s going on. “I missed you so much!”

I thought it was only Vera coming over? Owen didn’t mention Stacey and Jeremy, but I guess he did say I could have friends over. Maybe this was a planned surprise?

“I missed you too.” I squeeze her back, getting over my initial surprise. “I don’t know if Owen gave me enough money to get pizza for all of us,” I joke, smiling at my friends. I’m glad to see them; I just wasn’t expecting them to be standing there.

“No worries. I brought beer for my liquid diet.” Jeremy grins widely, and now I’m confused.

“Ignore him.” Stacey rolls her eyes at her boyfriend, stepping forward to hug me briefly. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too.” I laugh shortly, my cheeks flushing as I look down at the sweatpants and crop top I’m wearing. It seemed like a good idea to wear after my shower, but now I’m wishing I’d picked something different. “So are you ready for a movie night? If you drink enough of your beer, you might actually enjoy a rom-com, Jeremy,” I tease, letting them into the apartment.

“I had something a little different in mind for tonight,” Vera says, bumping me with her hip.

“What?” I ask, laughing nervously.

“Vera promised there’d be a legendary rager tonight. I already spread the word to the swim and basketball teams. Landon said everyone will be here in about an hour. The group chats are blowing up,” he says, pulling his phone out of his pocket to show me. Vera? She promised Jeremy there would be a party?

No, this isn’t a good idea. Owen and Bash are going to kill me. “Guys, I’m not sure—” I start to say, but Stacey slides onto one of the bar stools, interrupting me.

“A bunch of my friends at the sorority house are coming. I’ll tell them to bring booze,” she says, and my heart stops in my chest. I know that the version of myself before I went to Paris would be all about this, but it’s my first day back. I’m jet lagged, and this isn’t what I was expecting.

I look to Vera for help, but she is leaning against the counter. Her long midnight hair is almost to her waist, much longer than the last time I saw her. My hair hangs to the middle of my back, and I thought it was long. I couldn’t imagine having as much hair as Vera. “I couldn’t believe it when Owen told me that you were going to live with him and Sebastian,” she says, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Yeah,” I agree quietly, trying to wrap my head around the last five minutes. “Owen failed to mention that Sebastian also lived here so that was fun to find out at the airport.”

Stacey tilts her head to the side. “You didn’t know they lived together?”

I realize how stupid it sounds now. I never put the pieces together that living with Owen meant living with Sebastian. “Obviously I know they live together, but I didn’t connect the dots before today that living with my brother would also include living with Bash. In my defense, moving from one continent to another is hard.”

“Will you finally tell us what that fight at your party before you left was about? Bash clammed up anytime someone mentioned you, and not knowing is killing me and Owen.”

Well, I guess that answers my question earlier; Sebastian never told Owen what happened.

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