What I need is a better, closer job, but that would mean having to apply to jobs in Royal City, and I highly doubt I’ll get hired for those?—
Ping.
Apparently, my mother left me a voicemail. I have no desire to listen to another one from her. However, I must be a glutton for punishment since I pressplay, anyway, as I flop down onto my bed.
“Hey, sweetie,”she says.“I was just calling to see where you are. I’d like to get together soon and talk about some stuff. I think you might be ignoring me, and I’m guessing it’s because I borrowed that money, but honey, I needed it for bills. You shouldn’t have ever hid it from me. And you got out of jail, anyway, so I don’t get what the big deal is.”She sighs.“Can you please call me back? Maybe we can get together after youwork on Friday? You’re still working Friday shifts, right? Let me know. Love you.”
My fingers curl around the phone for many different reasons, one being how she blamed me for her taking my money. But that’s not the worst part. No, the worst part is the giant red flag laced in her words—her eagerness to know if I work on Friday.
I’m not positive, but either she wants to make a sporadic visit to blindside me, or she’s attempting to get my location for someone else, like Drew and his gang.
“Shit.” I sit up and press the heel of my hand to my forehead as my mind begins to spin.
Not a ton of people are aware that I work at that café, so I wasn’t too concerned about going to work. Now, I’m freaking the hell out, because I have to work. But if I go, I could end up getting caught by Drew and his friend, and then what? I don’t know for certain, but it won’t be good.
The only silver lining is that my boss already let me switch my schedule to Saturday and Sunday, something my mother isn’t aware of. Still, I need to look into getting another job.
Shaking my head, I lie back down on my bed and stare up at the pretty ceiling. Everything is so beautiful, pristine, and nice, to the point of near perfect. Light, that’s what I think of when I look around at my surroundings. And yet, my life is clouded with darkness, proof that I can take myself out of northside, but I can’t take northside out of myself, even if I desperately want to.
CHAPTER 13
MADDISON
I feel defeatedfor the rest of the day. Like broke-the-hell-down-on-the-side-of-the-road-with-no-money-in-the-rain-with-a-stalker-lurking-the-bushes kind of broke the hell down.
I’m an expert at feeling like this, so I manage to get through my other class for the day. But then I return to my dorm with a plan on grabbing my snacks, locking myself in the room, and cranking up the most depressing music I can find. So, basically, just going all emo. When I enter the dorm, however, Wren and Lily are lounging on the sofa, chatting about classes and tryouts for something.
“Hey, girl,” Lily greets me as I walk in and bump the door shut. “I heard a rumor about you today.”
“I heard it, too,” Wren states with her attention glued to her phone. “It was juicy gossip, too, and if I didn’t know you, I’d probably blog about it.”
“You blog?” I ask as I drop my bag, and it hits the floor with a heavythud.
“She does. And she has a whole gossip column called ‘The Crown News.’” Lily has her knees tucked under her as she faces me. “Some magazine companies have even tried to get her to sell out, but my girl is all about being indie.”
“I don’t want any restrictions on what I write.” She starts texting on her phone. “Plus, just for the record, the only reason I got offered any jobs is because my mother is one of the editors atGlittering and Royal Magazine, so it’s really not that impressive.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, babe,” Lily says as she puts her hair into a high ponytail. “You’re an amazing writer and collector of all gossip here.”
Wren shrugs, her fingers moving across the screen. “Am I?”
Lily frowns at her friend, but Wren is too distracted by her phone to notice.
I slump down in a chair. “What was the gossip you heard about me?”
Wren pushes a few more buttons. “That you and River were seen vibing in class today.”
Lily stretches her legs out. “I heard it was in the hallway.”
They both then look at me.
“We weren’t vibing,” I clarify. “We just talked.”
“During class?” Wren asks.
“No, before and after. And then in the hallway for like two minutes.” I sigh as I lean back in the chair and rest my head back, staring up at the ceiling. “I know he’s betrothed and everything. We were just talking, so I don’t get why everyone’s making a big deal of it.”
“Because River rarely talks to anyone.” Wren is the one to answer. “So, seeing him talking to you is like seeing a unicorn.”
