Page 23 of Cruel Devotion

Dad:You can’t be too busy with studying. Not with the grades you’re getting.

I ground my molars, hating him more.

Eli:I have a long day of classes Wednesday. Picking the closest weekend would be easier with my coursework.

That was a reasonable request.

Dad:Stop being selfish.

Dad:The least you can do is go out to eat with her on her birthday.

I set my phone down, wishing I could lose it for good and never have to deal with them again, or at least not for a very,verylong time.

A horrible vision of living with them again filled my mind. If the West family made it so I couldn’t graduate or that I’d lose my scholarship before graduation, I’d have no choice but to go back home and live with them again.

They’d never forgive me for not graduating. They’d never understand the risky, stupid shit I’d done. It would behell.

I couldn’t give up. I had to see this dare through. Preston couldn’t tell his parents I’d ruined that car, and in order for that to stay a secret between us, I had to get Haley to that winter dance.

“No. I won’t give up. I can’t.”

Finn cringed, skeptical and worried.

“I’ll figure something out. There’s got to be a way to get her to warm up to me.”

The second after I said that, though, I seriously doubted it.

Haley did not seem likely to have mercy on me—at all.

9

HALEY

Most days, I brought a lunch so I wouldn’t have to spend money and so I wouldn’t have to count on Aunt Cindy to drive into town. Inconveniencing her didn’t seem fair. Besides, in these cold months before spring would ever show, once I was on campus, it seemed wiser to just stay there and be warm indoors.

Spending money in the food court didn’t seem like a good idea when I wanted to save every penny I could for moving to the city after graduation. But I pulled in some income by tutoring online or proofreading students’ work here and there.

Today, on the Wednesday after that damn sociology class with Eli where I had to accept a freaking C as a grade, I took a break from helping at the student tutoring desk at one of the smaller libraries to get a burger and fries—a fresh-baked brownie, too.

It felt like a splurge, one I wouldn’t try to get used to. Aunt Cindy and I were frugal by nature with her limited income on disability. When I moved out of Marsten, the cost of living would shoot up astronomically.

But today…I smiled before eating my burger.Today, I will enjoy what I can.

Ketchup and mustard dripped from the burger. It was too hot, heated by the meat, and I flinched at the burn on my lip. As I set it down and guzzled some water, I winced some more.

Ow. Ow. Ow. I amnotenjoying that, but?—

“What a slob,” a girl said from the next table, laughing at me.

Oh, grow up.

They weren’t even Marsten locals, just others I’d seen on campus. All the students I’d gone to high school with judged me, but the newcomers who came here for college didn’t wait to join in on the biases. Rumors spread and took root all too easily, and as much as I hated it, I was used to it.

“I can’t believe anyone would find you attractive,” another one said from the neighboring table.

“Well, Amber, no one does.” Her friend laughed. “I heard no one wants to get near her.”

“Which is weird, considering her mom was a whore.”

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