Page 517 of Hate Mates

I shake my head as I wipe the heart away again, “I’m just sad today.”

“Don’t be sad, dog face,” he says in an almost sincere tone. “Tell me what’s up, and I’ll see if I can fix it.”

“You can start by not calling me that anymore,” I snarl, giving him a level stare.

He rolls his eyes and nods in agreement. “Okay. What next?”

“Huh?”

“What can I do to fix your sad next?”

I hold Harlan’s gaze for a moment before I shrug and look out the window again. “Nothing.”

He doesn’t say anything else, instead, sitting next to me and watching the storm rage on in silence. A flash of lightning, a clap of thunder, and another round of torrential rain pounds against the glass. I can hear some of the rejects behind us scream and giggle, but we sit here quietly, watching nature try to destroy itself in complete, content silence.

Almost like grown-ups,I think as I steal a glance at him.

“Pussies,” Harlan mutters under his breath after another clap of thunder ripples through the air, eliciting more screams behind us.

I look at him with a small, amused smile on my lips, and he grins back at me. But then the grin disappears as he looks at me with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“You know, it’s okay to be sad sometimes, d—Karter,” he says, quickly correcting and giving me a nervous smile. “Being happy all the time is impossible, so I say be sad when you feel that way.”

As soon as he’s done with his token of wisdom, I turn my eyes back toward the window just in time to see another flash of lighting. Blowing my breath on the glass again, I quickly draw another heart, then get to my feet and let out a sigh.

“Woof, woof,” I reply softly as I turn and walk away.

My pillow doesn’t feelas fluffy as it used to.

In fact, it feels flat and lifeless.

I sigh as I turn onto my stomach and wrap my arms around it, trying my best to bunch it up so that I can try to be comfortable. It’s nowhere near bedtime yet, but I have to still be asleep because it’s been nothing but a nightmare since Enya left. No one seems to look the same anymore, the sun doesn’t shine as brightly as it used to, and even the colors seem a shade blander than normal.

Knock, knock.

I press my face into the pillow.Go away.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Go away!” I holler out, my voice muffled by the flat pillow.

Knock.

With a breath of frustration rushing out of me, I flop onto my back and stare at the ceiling. “Come in,” I finally relent.

“Hey, Karter,” a voice greets me cautiously.

Kellan.

“Hi,” I reply in a small tone. I push myself up onto my elbows, interested about what the new boy wants, and tilt my head curiously when I see him standing inside of my room. “I didn’t mean all the way in.”

He smiles nervously as he takes a few steps backward until he’s in the hallway again, and I sit up, cross my legs underneath myself, then drop my hands into my lap.

“I was just wondering how you were doing,” he says with a shrug.

“I’m tired. I was going to take a nap.”

“Oh.”

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