Page 427 of Tis the Season to be Bullied

What little mirth remained inside me bleeds out. I stare at Alex with a deadpan expression. “That’s weird. I didn’t read about Sean or his friend in the obituaries.”

Alex winces and steps eagerly up to the food vendor. “Two please.”

I watch Alex’s back for a second and then come up beside him. “No pickles for me.”

He turns, frowns. “Oh, you have to have pickles.” He sounds borderline shocked. “It’stradition.”

I manage to chat to Alex for another half an hour after we get our hotdogs, but it’s tough going. Firstly, because I keep trying to get rid of the pickles on my food without him noticing. Secondly, because he seems adamant to become me and Jude’s therapist.Maybe he’s leaning toward a psychology major or something.

“Look, sorry, Alex,” I butt in after the fifth anecdote centering around Jude and how fucking heroic or intelligent or whatever the fuck he is. “It’s getting late. My parents are probably waiting for me.”

“I could give you a lift home if you want to stay a little longer,” Alex says.

I hold up a hand. “No offense, but I’m not in a trusting mood these days.”

He drops his gaze, somber lines creasing the skin between his brows. “You told someone right?” When he looks up, his brown eyes latch onto mine, intent and severe. “What happened at the party?”

I open and close my mouth wordlessly. He reaches for me, expression crumbling. “I’m sorry, that was way out of line.” He brightens up. “But, hey, if you want, I could go with you to the Sheriff’s office? We could?—”

The instant he touches me, I jerk away like he tried grabbing me. “You’ve donemorethan enough,” I spit out.

I don’t know where the anger comes from. I don’t know why I funnel it all toward him. And I have no fucking clue why he acts like he deserves it.

He says nothing when I turn away and doesn’t call out after me. It’s for the best—I can’t bear being close to him anothersecond.He’s a constant reminder of that night now. Of how badly I fucked up.

I head straight for Wayne’s Audi and stand around for a minute or two before shoving my hands in my jacket pockets to keep warm.

The pills aren’t there anymore.

I sigh and lean my head back against the car’s roof, staring up at the sky as I wait.

Why did Jude rescue me from Sean and his friend? Was it just to save his own ass? Or is there really a tiny part of him that can’t handle the thought of someone touching me?

I guess I’ll never know.

Chapter 40

Jude

I realize seconds after I climb behind the wheel of my truck that I’ve been drugged. Probably because it’s the first time I’ve paused, the first time I’ve actually had a chance tobreathe.After the game, Dad came down to the locker room to congratulate me. I told him about the scholarship, and he lost his shit in the best way. He’s already promised me a four-wheeler and a trip to Hawaii right after the Feast of Ashes. Rosie was there, but Diana hung back and thank God for that.

It was fucking perfect.

Especially because Harper was nowhere to be found.Little mouse scurried back into her hole when she saw how unstoppable I was out there.

But then I turn the Range Rover’s ignition, and I sit back and exhale...

And it doesn’t stop.

I’m still buzzing. My skin is alive in the worst way. My thoughts race a mile an hour, and now that I’m paying attention, I find my jaw is clamping shut so hard that I’m getting a headache.

I grip the wheel and consider getting out. But I want to get home, I want to calm the fuck down. Being here, with the noise and the excitement still palpable as the cheerleaders perform and little kids run around screaming through their sugar rush, it’s killing me. So I drive home. I’m no danger to me or anyone else on the road—driving is effortless. I’m a fucking machine. But I’m still relieved as fuck when I pull up to Dearth Manor’s gates.

I park haphazardly, too eager to get out and submerge myself in the quiet of my bedroom. All I can think about is taking a shower, getting into bed, and sleeping off whatever the fuck is coursing through my system.

But my mind refuses to shut off. It was bad on the way over here, but as soon as I open the front door and thatquietI’d been longing for hits me, my thoughts switch into overdrive.I already know who did it. It’s the only thing that makes sense, after all. Why else would Harper show up at my game, only to disappear again?That energy drink. There was something in there. Speed, crack, Adderall, I don’t fucking know.

Why? Was she hoping I’d freak out? Fuck out? Die? I try to open her bedroom door, but it’s locked, which means she went through my shit when I was out and got her key back. What else did she take? What else did she find?

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