Page 103 of Dare To Live

“What can I do for you?” I push up on the bed and rub my free hand down my face.

“I was hoping to talk to you. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“You woke me up. Does that constitute a bad time?”

“Woke you—aren’t you three hours ahead of Los Angeles?”

“I didn’t get to sleep until late. Spit it out, Ivan. What do you want?”

“While you were in New York, did you get a letter from your old school?”

Tension snaps my spine taut. “What if I did?”

“No need to be defensive, dear boy. I’m curious to know if you’re going to go.”

“No, I’m not.”

He sighs. “That’s a shame.”

And just like that dread unfurls in my stomach. “Why is it a shame?”

“It’s just that when Miles got the letter, I reached out to the board of trustees.”

“Why?” There’s a bite to my tone.

“Well, the letter is offering a day event, to show the final senior year before the school closed just how many things have been changed, followed by the prom you never got to have. Their hope is to get your blessing for the school to reopen.”

“They can fuck off.”

“Now, now, Eli. I spoke to the board and suggested that maybe instead of a single day, a week would be better. They can show you all the things they’ve changed, give everyone a chance to catch up … maybe slay some personal demons?”

“What the fuck would you know about personal demons?”

“More than you think. Anyway, the plan is for everyone to arrive on the Monday with the prom held on the Friday evening. There will be the opportunity to see the work that has been done on the buildings, meet the new staff, explore your old haunts, and finish off any projects you were working on in senior year.”

My mind flashes to the marble sculpture I’d spent most of my year on.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“What if I told you Miles was going?”

“I’d tell you to tell him from me he’s a fucking idiot.”

Ivan laughs quietly. “Alright then, what if I told you Bella is going?”

“She’s … what? Why the actual fuck would she go back there?”

“For closure, Eli. To realize that the school isn’t the monster you’ve all built it up to be. It’s just a building, a place where … yes, I grant … bad things happened. But it was a person who committed those things, not the actual school itself.”

“You sound like—” I snap my teeth closed. Telling Ivan he sounds like Kellan would not be a good idea. It’ll raise questions that I don’t want to answer.

“Ari is definitely going?” I hate the thought of her back in that place.

“She’ll be traveling with me and Miles, yes.”

“Fuck.” I scrub a hand over my face again. “Who’s fucking idea was it to reopen the place?”

“I’m assuming the trustees. Until that unfortunate incident, it had a very good reputation.”

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