Page 516 of Hate Mates

It comes out in a husky cloud created by the frosty air, and I feel better.

Being back here means that I won’t see Gemma leave with her new family, and I won’t have to pretend that I’m happy for her like the rest of the lemmings here that will fake it, hoping that they’ll be the next ones out the door.

“Not me,” I state to my new and only screeching little friend. “I don’t want a family. Mine didn’t want me, so I don’t want one either.” It continues its raucous screaming, and I chuckle, leaning down and quickly nuzzling the side of the small, fragile body with my nose. “I feel like that, too, sometimes.”

By the time I settle against the building and lay the bottom of my boot against the brick wall, I hear an eruption of cheers coming from the front. I roll my eyes and shake my head as I try to focus on the baby bird.

“They’re so fake,” I mutter as I go back to stroking the fuzzy little head. “Don’t ever grow up to be like that. I sure won’t.”

I listen to the faint sound of a car door closing, then spit the piece of chewed bubblegum into the snow.That’s what I think of Gemma.

A few more moments pass by before I decide to keep walking. Now that I know I won’t have to watch her drive away, I don’t care if anyone sees me outside. The worst that can happen isthat I get sent to the Quiet Room and spend a few days there.Big deal,I think with a chuckle as I reach the other end of the building.

Turning the corner, I glance up and notice that no one has noticed my absence from the fake celebration yet and keep going. Besides, I’m bored, and the little bird needs to be warmed up some. I’m just the guy to do it because I like things that can’t really fend for themselves. It makes me feel better to be able to do that for them.

Tap, tap.

I stop walking and glance to my left, my mouth instantly becoming a tight line when I see Enya glaring at me through one of the large game room windows. She gives me a pointed look, then smirks as she turns her attention to …Karter?I arch my neck to get a better look, and when I see my favorite little orphan sitting across from her, I grin.

But instead of smiling back at me, Karter leans across the table to hear whatever it is that Enya is feeding her, then gives me an odd look before she shakes her head and stands up. I watch her walk away, feeling myself becoming angrier by the second.

When Enya glances at me again, a satisfied smile on her ugly face, I ball my fist tightly, crushing the baby bird in the palm of my hand. Drawing a finger across my neck, I throw the corpse at the window where she’s sitting before I stalk away angrily.

Whether she chooses to believe what I just said to her or not is her problem, but she’ll find out how serious I am when the time comes.

Then Karter will be all alone just like I am.

Chapter Three

KARTER

Twelve Years Old

Isit by the window and stare out into the rainy, stormy world.

Days like today, Enya would cheer me up by picking a game for us to play, and we’d laugh and talk about absolutely everything and nothing at all.

But she left last year without even saying good-bye, so I don’t think she’d make me smile much at all anymore. If she had ever really been my best friend, at the very least, she would have said good-bye.

I let out a dejected breath as I rest my hands on the windowsill, then drop my chin on them. I wish I could go aside and sit in the rain. I wish that the wind could blow hard enough to take me away from this place once and for all.

I blow my breath against the pane of glass, and when it creates a small fog, I draw a heart with the tip of my finger. I trace it again and again, until it starts to partially block my view of the grounds outside, then wipe my palm over it, destroying it in one fell swoop.

“Hey.”

I glance over my shoulder and nod at Harlan, who’s standing there, watching me with a curious smile. I’ll never tell him, but I like when he smiles. It makes the dimple in his chin sink in a little further.

“Got a crush?”

“What?” I ask, my brow furrowing in confusion.

He lets out a chuckle as he grabs one of the chairs from the table behind me and places it next to mine. Harlan leans forward and blows his breath against the glass where I drew my heart, and I can feel my face turn red when the heart starts to slowly reappear.

“You made this, didn’t you?” he presses, looking at me.

I nod.

“So, you got a crush?”

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