Page 49 of Redeemed

“Are you okay?” she asks from where she’s curled up in bed with her laptop. “You look like you’ve been crying.”

“I’m fine.” I toss my worn leather jacket onto its hook. My heart pangs at the reminder that Xander got it for me. It feels stupid to think of him, but all three boys have been on my mind. Halloween is the day we fell apart, after all.

“Are you sure?” Athelia asks.

I collapse into my desk chair. “Had a panic attack, I guess. Came out of nowhere.”

Athelia’s face falls. “Haven—”

“I’m fine. Managed to calm myself down quicker than normal.”

Closing her laptop, she looks me over, her eyebrows drawn together. “Are you gonna be okay to go out tonight? We can stay in if you want. Watch a couple movies, binge Halloween candy, not have to worry about getting all dressed up.”

“We’re going out.”

“Haven—”

“We’re going out.We both need this, Thelia. I just want a night where I don’t have to deal with all the bullshit that comes along with being me.”

With a sigh, Athelia nods. She’s in the same boat as I am. The guys she befriended freshman year have turned into her worst nightmare. The difference is, I know why my boys abandoned me. I fucked up and hurt them, and there’s a part of me that thinks I deserve what they do to me. But with Athelia? She has no idea why Wesley, Cal, and Kellan randomly turned on her one day.

“It’ll be fun,” I tell her. “We need a little of that.”

“We do,” she agrees quietly.

There’s a Halloween party happening at some old house in town. According to all the rumors, some woman murdered her husband in the house, and it’s always been a mystery as to why. Some people say the house is haunted, although I think that’sprobablybullshit. It’s definitely piqued my curiosity, though.

No one knows who’s hosting the party, and that only adds to the intrigue. I think it’s the perfect place to go on Halloween, and Athelia agreed when we heard about it a few days ago.

“So we’re still going?”

Athelia sighs, but then she nods. “Yeah. Yeah, we can still go.”

Haven

Intheevening,Ipull Athelia down the dark streets of Birchwood. We’re already late to the party, and I don’t want to miss it.

We’re barely two months into senior year, and it’s already turned into a nightmare. Weneedthis break, especially Athelia. I should be able to avoid Colton, Lucas, and Xander pretty easily at the party, and their presence practically guarantees Wes and his friends won’t show up.

I never did find out the reason behind Colton and Wes’s rivalry. If you ask me, it’s because their egos are too big, and there’s not enough room in this town for both of them. Normally, I couldn’t care less about their stupid rivalry, but I’m using it to our advantage today.

“We’re gonna have so much fun,” I tell Athelia, hoping to ease her remaining worry about me. “And then we can sleep in until noon tomorrow if we want to.”

With a grimace, Athelia shakes her head. “I can’t. I have an advisory meeting with Professor Kammes tomorrow morning.”

I do my best to hide my frown. “Seriously? On a Sunday morning? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Pretty early into our freshman year, Athelia started meeting with her advisor at an oddly high frequency compared to how often I met with mine. That continued into sophomore and junior year, and then into this year, as well.

I’ve asked her countless times if something is going on between the two of them, but she always denies it. I’d pry more, but it only ever results in Athelia clamming up.

“He’s just a little busy. I’m trying not to be a bother, and tomorrow morning is when he had the time.” She shivers.

“Cold?”

“Not cold,” she says quietly. “Just thinking.”

Dammit.She’s probably worried about Wes.

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