Page 91 of Wicked Dreams

He says something, and she rears back, distain flashing across her face.

“Wonder what that’s about?” I ask. “And why are they here?”

She shakes her head. “They must be bored. And he was just… with you?”

Dread climbs up my throat. “Yeah.”

After we finish the muffins, I take a large gulp of my coffee.

“We don’t have to stay long,” she tells me. “Just say the word, and we’ll go. Hell, we can go right now.”

I wave her off. “I want to see it.”

We head toward the stands, but my attention is drawn to an approaching person. Not one of our usual cohorts—which, admittedly, just contains me, Riley, and occasionally Jacq.

Ian Fletcher.

“What does he want?” I ask under my breath.

Riley finds who I’m looking at. “Oh no.”

“Hey,” Ian calls.

I swear, everyone within earshot stops what they’re doing and stares.

“What’re you going to do now that your fifteen minutes of fame are over?” he continues.

My palms sweat.

Ian keeps coming. “You gonna move on to someone else?”

“Go away, Fletcher,” Riley snaps.

The louder he talks, the more attention he draws. Until students drift in our direction, forming a wide circle around us.

He scoffs, ignoring her and keeping his glare pinned on me. “Keep your whore cunt away from me and my friends. God knows you’ve caused enough damage.”

I lift my chin. “Lucky us, mycuntwants nothing to do with you. Or your friends.”

He pretends to be hurt for a second. It falls away easily, and his expression is just… blank. Frozen. “I’ve been wondering what’d you do to make your coke-whore mom run away. But then I realized! It’s just a fucking personality defect.”

—please don’t go?—

My ten-year-old voice rings in my ear.

Funny how that’s the button to push that makes me crack.

Ian’s laugh follows me when I bolt. I shove past people and pass the farmers’ market. Riley calls my name, but it’s easier to just leave everything behind. I run across the soccer field and up a path into the woods.

I keep going until my ribs ache and the laughter stops chasing me.

Panting, I lean against a tree.

“That was quite a show. Although, to be fair, I only saw it through my phone.”

I jerk around, pressing my hand to my chest.

Theo stands down the path from me, in the opposite direction of where I came. He walked into the market with Caleb, but he must’ve peeled away. To come out here…

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