Page 47 of Let the Game Begin
“Selene, are you okay?” He could tell right away that something was wrong, just from the sound of my voice. I felt like crying because all of a sudden it really hit me, what I had really done. It was too late, though.
“Jared, I’ve been telling you that we need to talk in person,” I scolded him too sharply. I was screwing this up—I shouldn’t have taken my misery out on him.
“I know…” He gave an exhausted sigh. “But between going to class and my dad needing me at the company, I never have time for other stuff,” he lamented.
So I was “other stuff” now? He was the one who was so sure we’d be back together when I went home to Detroit.
“I’m telling you that this is urgent… It can’t wait any longer. Please…” I swallowed thickly. My throat was tight and my lips were dry. I wasn’t doing well at all. I hadn’t been eating; I hadn’t slept in days, and I was corpse-pale.
“I’m going to talk to my father. I’ll try to get out to you this weekend.”
“That’s what you said last week.” I stared out the open window. The sky was gray and overcast, listless and shadowed, just how I felt that morning. A group of squawking girls entered the bathroom, so I tried to tuck myself further into the corner and go unnoticed.
“You’re freaking me out here, Selene. You know that, right?” he said softly, sounding worried. That wasn’t my intention. In fact, that was the reason I didn’t want to discuss Neil with him over the phone and was waiting for an in-person meeting.
“Let me know if you can come out this weekend, okay?” I tried to soften my tone and turned to observe the girls, who were focused on applying lipstick.
“Yes, I’ll try my best,” he promised before telling me goodbye and ending the call. I needed to get home, my head was spinning.
I dashed out of the bathroom, completely distracted until my forehead crashed into what felt like a bumpy mountain face. I was saved from falling by two strong hands that caught me just in time. I raised a hand to my aching forehead and the smell of amber and tobacco floated all around me.I glanced up and found Neil’s eyes, golden and intense as they always were.
“I’m fine.” I gathered myself, pulling away from his touch. I tried to step past him, but Neil grabbed me by the wrist and held me in place.
“You’ve been avoiding me for days. Why?”
I felt goosebumps raise up at the sound of his severe tone, and I hated myself for responding to him like that.
He was toxic.
Nothing but toxic.
“Please, Neil, not today. I don’t feel good and I just want to go home.” I tried to free myself, but he tightened his grip until my skin began to feel hot. He could have crushed the bones in my wrist if I kept fighting him. My strength was nothing compared to his.
“I’m headed home, too. I can give you a ride,” he offered flatly. But I didn’t want to be alone with him. Neil overpowered my critical-thinking abilities. When we were together, I felt lost in slow, aching need. He triggered these insane desires in my body and blurred my very identity. Spending more time with him was extremely inadvisable.
“Don’t worry about it; I’ll take an Uber.” I tugged on my arm, but it seemed he had no intention of letting me go.
I quit trying to leave with a sigh. I knew how stubborn he was and that fighting him was useless.
“I’ll remind you that we live in the same house. Avoiding me now won’t keep you from seeing me at home later,” he observed. He was right: bypassing this particular obstacle was not the solution. I stopped struggling against him, and he released my wrist and we walked down the hall together.
It occurred to me that everyone was watching us. With envy in the case of the girls; curiosity for the boys. What were they thinking about me?
Or rather, what did they think about any of Neil’s “companions”?
I avoided answering my own questions so as not to die of shame.
“Everyone’s staring at me.” I slowed my stride, suddenly self-conscious as I was hit by a wave of inadequacy.
“Ignore them,” he said, unfazed by the constant stares from all the students who passed us. Maybe he was just used to it? Well, I definitely wasn’t.
“So far I’ve been pretty anonymous at this school, and I’d like to continuewith that,” I muttered, clutching my bag against my side. I wasn’t at all capable of handling this kind of stress.
“You will—calm down,” he answered impatiently.
I came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the hallway. Even I couldn’t have explained why, I just suddenly felt like I was suffocating. Neil stopped next to me and heaved a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose as though I was wearing on his last nerve.
“Okay, okay,” he muttered to himself before turning to look at the lingering students. “Let’s see…” He breathed in sharply through his nose and examined everyone who had the misfortune to be nearby. Finally, he pointed at a dark-haired boy with thick-framed glasses before reaching out and grabbing him by the shirt collar. He dragged the boy over to him, and I flinched when I saw the boy trembling in his grip.
