Page 202 of Call the Shots
“Bear—Bear.” Fridge tried to stop me, and I shook him off. “You can’t do this, you can’tfightyour brother?—”
“Stepbrother,” I corrected.
“It’s not fighting time!” Nick interjected. “Everyone’s out for lunch! The streets are packed! If anything, kick his asstonight.We’ll help!”
“Please, Bear, this is a bad idea,” Montoya urged.
I stalled in the gardens separating the main roads of campus and glanced at three of my closest friends. They had my best intentions at heart, and they cared about me. “Yeah.” I nodded. “You’re right.”
“Thank you,” Fridge muttered. “I thought you were actually going to do it.”
“You scared me,” Montoya admitted.
“If I did it now…it’d be stupid. And reckless.”
Fridge breathed out in relief. “Yeah, you’re finally?—”
My eyes slid to the side entrance of the student center, and I broke into a sprint, arms pumping at my sides. The guys yelled, their sneakers heavy on the pathway, but they weren’t quick enough. I threw open the door and locked it behind me.
“No, Bear!” Montoya banged on the glass. “Bear!”
I had maybe ten seconds on them, there were other entrances. I raced up the south staircase, two steps at a time, sprinting to the housing department. I stumbled to a stop at the front desk receptionist, mentally crossing my fingers Xavier was there at all.
“Hey!” I panted and she gazed at me, quizzical. “I’m looking for Xavier Lisco-Hodges.”
“Um…let me call him?—”
“Family emergency. Mom’s in the hospital. I’m his stepbrother.”
“He has a brother?” She blinked. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. Um…he’s in room one-oh-four with the housing board, past the water station?—”
In a flash, I was gone. Students hurried out of my way while I ran down the hall. I wasn’t even nervous. Everything had been leading up to this point, I just didn’t realize it. I threw open the door and closed it behind me, locking it for good measure.
Xavier was in the middle of a PowerPoint presentation, the kind that called for a nice tie and chinos. It must’ve beenimportant. Across the room, I could see his eyebrow twitch. “Bear, not today?—”
“Youhurther.”
Everyone around the table turned to look at me. Xavier froze, clicker in hand.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t give a shit about the stuff you did to me. I figured—you’re a twenty-one-year-old dipshit, maybe you’ll grow out of it.” I pointed towards Roman Villa without taking my eyes off him. “But the psycho shit you’ve done toJune?—”
He paled. “Bear?—”
“Kicked her out of her fucking house, out of her organization, spread lies about her. I saw that bullshit email you sent about the STD awareness workshops, dropping all those fucking hints connected to her. You ripped up her fucking garden—” I stopped myself, breathing hard. “She had a pregnancy scare and had to call King because you wouldn’t make the drive!”
Xavier wet his lips. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about?—”
“I used to wonder how big of a fucking idiot you are. She had an eating disorder, and you didn’t realize how bad it was? How stupid can you be?” I narrowed my eyes. “But that’s the wrong way of thinking, isn’t it? I’ve seen June’s bad days. The headaches, how tired she gets, how she sees herself—you sick fuck, you got off on that! Youwanther to have an eating disorder! You want herweakandhelplessbecause it makes you feel good!”
“What?” A woman in a blazer stared at Xavier. “Xavier?”
I raised my voice. “I’ve been wishing—I’ve been fucking hoping—that you could apologize and we could somehow move past it because we’re family, but you know what? I don’t want you to get a redemption arc. Maybe it’s selfish, maybe it’d bebetter for her if she could forgive you, but you don’t deserve her forgiveness! I don’t want younearher!”
“I don’t know who this guy is!” Xavier said wildly.
“I told you what would happen if you didn’t leave her alone,” I warned. “So come outside. I’m beating the fuck out of you in front of everybody on campus.”
Silence.
