Page 521 of Hate Mates

HARLAN

Sixteen Years Old

Another day, another adoption, another feeling of not being good enough.

I watch as the twins, Lucille and Lucinda, are walked to the front door by their new parents. Maybe it’s because they’re young, and most adults don’t want to deal with raising older kids. Apparently, we’re too set in our ways.

I roll my eyes as they walk by me and give me a wave.

It’s the traditional going away walk and the first one I’ve participated in since I landed at this shit hole.

When Mrs. Jessop catches me, I plaster the biggest, fakest smile I can on my face and make a huge show of waving back at the girls. They’re seven years old, have been here for only a few weeks, and seem to have broken out faster than any other kid who came here.

A layover to a new life.

I guess I’m kind of jealous in a way.

I want a new life, too.

Though I know my ideas have to be way different than any other of the lemmings here, I know that I’d do just fine outside of these walls without a family.Besides,I think as I glance down the hall and let my eyes rest on Karter,I can’t leave while she’s still stuck here.

I snicker when I see the bored look on her face, causing Mrs. Jessop to stop short and turn around to glare at me. Jasper nudges me with a frantic look in his eyes and jerks his head imperceptibly in her direction.

Even though I wouldn’t consider us friends, in any sense of the word, one of us making her look bad on the honorary walk out of here gets us all in trouble.

I press my fist to my mouth and fake a cough a few times, feigning having a scratchy throat. She nods, tilts her nose up, then continues walking the twins toward the front door of the home.

“That was close,” Jasper says under his breath as he leans toward me and grins.

“Fuck off. And don’t ever touch me again unless you want me to beat the shit out of you,” I snarl at him as I take it upon myself to disband the group of lemmings watching the twins disappear outside.

As I walk by Karter, I glance down at her and nod. In response, she rubs her forehead with a hand, extending her middle finger.

I grin.

Karter has always made my blood boil in both good and bad ways. And her sweet, little flirtations have made it easier for me to stick it out here and wait for her.

Whether she knows it or not, theonlyreason I almost make a scene when these weird people come looking for kids—because either Mom is dried up or Dad can’t get hard—is because I won’t leave her behind.

In the past year, she seems to have given up on seeing her bestie again, too. It’s been interesting and inspiring to watch her grow into her own person without that Enya girl around. She spent two years being sad about it, and just recently, she’s started to busy herself with trying out different things and becoming her own person.

In a weird way, I’m kind of proud of her.

Maybe she finally realizes that she doesn’t need someone to be a great person; that being alone isn’t a weakness, but a strength that can mold her into something so much more than she ever knew she could be.

Even though she keeps me at bay physically, emotionally I can tell that I’m finally starting to force cracks in that armor of hers.

I’m almost all the way back to my bedroom door when I feel a tug on the back of my shirt. I grind my teeth instantly as I come to an abrupt stop, turn, and glare at whoever the hell thought it would be a good idea to keep me from blocking out the rest of the bullshit celebration.

And then I arch an eyebrow and smirk.

I look down at Karter, who’s looking up at me uncertainly. She tucks her hair behind her ears, begins to fidget with her hands, before placing them on her hips.

“Wanna go outside?” she asks, uneasily.

“What?”

The shock in my tone is obvious enough that her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink, but she does her best to brush it off and asks again, “Do you want to go outside?”

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