Page 45 of The Devil's Saint

She hesitates for a moment before slowly backing away with an innocent smile. “I was only asking Lexy if she had a copy of Mrs. Cross’s trigonometry table.” She turns to me, her smile callous. “Isn’t that right, Lexy?”

“Right,” I reply through gritted teeth.

The mood I’m in, Georgina should count herself lucky Colton came when he did.

“Not to worry. I’ll catch up with you later, Lexy,” she says, flicking her blonde hair off her shoulder before walking away. Hair I’d love to rip from the root and hear her screams.

If she comes at me again, I’m going for her throat. I don’t give two shits who’s watching. Considering Saint gets away with murder in this school, I highly doubt Mr. Wyatt is going to do anything to the stepdaughter of the academy’s biggest money donor and family member of one of the school’s original founders.

“What was all that about?” he queries, watching Georgina walk off with her group of followers.

I slot my key into the locker, securing it. “Why, so you can run back to Saint and tell him?”

Colton’s brows furrowed deeply. “Hey, I’m on your side. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”

I laugh inwardly. He’s worried about me? As if.

“I don’t need you to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

Turning, I walk away from him but stop when I see Jordin by her locker down the hall. She waves, but I don’t return the sentiment. Securing my bag on my shoulder, I walk in the opposite direction.

I don’t need this shit today. Maybe my mom was right about me coming back to school.

Chapter Twenty

Everydaybeginsthesame way. I wake up thinking of ways to make me forget what happened. I’ve read countless books, meditated, and cleansed every room in the house with sage. Even tried some yoga. Nothing I do makes any difference. It’s always there, niggling away at me. The tiny life I didn’t get to meet. The screams of people in pain, dying at my feet. It’s eating me up from the inside. That’s why I wanted to go back to school. To focus on something else and block out the noises that have invaded my every thought. Then Saint had to go and ruin it. Not to mention the overwhelming guilt in my stomach at how I treated Jordin yesterday. It was written all over her face. She’s just as broken up about all this as I am.

Swallowing hard, I sit up against the headboard and scroll through the list of unanswered messages, tears stinging as I read through each one.

She really didn’t know.

Pulling up my contacts list, I scroll until I find the name I’m looking for.

Hey.

The speech bubbles immediately pop up on the screen to let me know the other person is typing.

JORDIN: Hey. How are you? I’ve missed you.

I’ve missed you too. Sorry I ignored you yesterday.

JORDIN: Can we talk? You’re my best friend, Lexy. I don’t want to lose you.

Knowing I don’t want to lose her friendship, I type a reply and hit send.

Lunchtime at our usual spot?

JORDIN: I’ll bring the lattes x.

I laugh, not realizing I’m crying until a big fat teardrop splashes onto the phone screen. I need to find a way to let go of the echoes of what’s been lost and hope that someday, I’ll find a way to rebuild from the ruins. This seems like the best place to start.

??Deal xx

Chapter Twenty-One

Iswallowthenervesthat dance in the pit of my belly.

Jordin’s my best friend. I shouldn’t be nervous. Then again, what if Saint lied to me? What if they knew all about it all along, and she’s only asked me here to rub it in my face about stealing my boyfriend?

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