Page 94 of A Sky Full Of Stars

“More time?” she asks, her eyes bouncing around my face, studying my reaction.

I smile to ease the frown lines visible on her brow. “An hour,” I pout to make her laugh. “I live so far away.”

She rolls her eyes, but puts her phone down on the table, her eyes narrowing. “Thirty minutes…and you better make it worth my while.”

“Thirty minutes. Done. Want to watch wrestling?” I joke, my body deflating as the tension leaves me. Lainey scoffs while I quickly pull on my jeans from last night. But when I link our fingers and pull her close, she smiles.

Instead of walking her to the couch like she expects, I lead her outside, only stopping when we reach the stairs to the private rooftop garden. After guiding her up, I make her comfortable on the lounge chair, settling inbeside her. She instantly wraps her body around me, as I stare up at the sky, catching the last glimpse of the stars before the sun erases them from our view.

We’re quiet for a moment until Lainey burrows into me and sighs. From the outside looking in, I have no doubt she’d appear at peace. But with her body pressed against mine, I can feel the subtle difference from last night, and I know something’s off.

Grabbing her chin, I tilt her face to mine and catch the frown lines before the facade appears. “Can you please tell me what’s wrong?” I ask, smoothing my thumb across her brow.

Lainey laughs until I stare her down, waiting for an answer, acutely aware that I never give her answers myself.

“Okay.” She sighs. “As I said, I have a lot to do today when what I really want to do is stay here, wrapped in your arms, pretending none of it exists.”

Pretending.I’m suddenly regretting asking her to do that for me.

“What happened with Jaiton?” I push, praying she wants to talk and just needs a push in the right direction…not that I’m out of line.

After briefly closing her eyes, she glances up at me with a new resolve and nods before sitting up and turning her body toward me. “I was kicked out of Jaiton,” she says, her expression devoid of emotion.

My eyes reactively widen but I quickly school my features. “Okay.”

“From the very beginning, I was treated differently because of my gran, and as you can imagine, the other dancers didn’t take that too well. It started off with simple bitchiness, exclusion, and fake rumors, but when I forced myself to act like I didn’t care, over and over, it got worse.”

“Shit, Lainey.” My body tenses as rage takes over. “You were bullied.”

Reaching out, she curls her hand around my wrist as though I’m the one that needs comforting, and I hate myself a little more. She flashes me a thankful smile before her expression drops and she continues her story. “I guess it could be bullying,” she says with a shrug. “Though I didn’t see it that way at the time. I had, um…I was seeing someone in our year level, and I thought things were good between us, until I discovered he wasn’t really with me for the right reasons.”

My fists clench and though it kills me, I hold back from asking who the fuck the guy is, letting her get it all out.

“He did little things—subtle things—on behalf of two girls that I never knew had an issue with me. I’d been under the impression they were keeping away from the drama, but I was wrong. They were just using someone else to do their bidding.” She pauses and brushes a hair behind her ear, her gaze peering through me. “Long story short, he put bleach in my shampoo bottle the day before our midterms, among other things, and…” she trails off and I can’t stop myself from questioning her.

“And what? What other things?”

Lainey speaks as though she’s telling me a story she heard about someone else, while I want to tear through the world to find out who did this to her.What the fuck is wrong with people?Lainey’s so fucking strong, but like Summer, I sometimes forget how young she is. How much she’s been through before she’s even considered an adult.

“That’s not important,” she whispers. “What is important is that instead of going to a member of the faculty and telling them what happened, I performed with my half-dyed hair, and…they kicked me out when I refused to explain why I did it. They wouldn’t tolerate that “kind of rebellion.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What about your gran? Didn’t she help? And who the fuck is the guy?”

Lainey shakes her head as she grabs my hand. “I never told Gran the full story, and it was actually a way out that I desperately needed. I hated it there, so I let her believe that I did it myself. I’m happier now.”

“Jesus. I’m happy you’re out of there too, but what happened yesterday? What had Luke so freaked out?”

An ache forms in my chest from tensing so hard, but I keep my cool. Lainey doesn’t need me getting all protective of her, no matter how badly I want to. She’s got enough going on.

“I’ve been getting some anonymous messages. They’ve been coming since I left, but they’ve ramped up now that it’s audition season. It seems my gran is making it difficult for some of my ex-classmates.”

“But you said she doesn’t know what happened.”

“Oh, she knows. Just not the full extent of it.”

“DoIknow the full extent?”

Lainey’s eyes flash to mine, and I see the answer clear as day in her expression—No. And she’s not planning on telling me anything more.

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