My ears are throbbing.
Cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. My palms. I feel the clamminess wash over me, feel myself going pale.
Shit—
“I think I’m going to go home,” I say, cutting Bonnie off mid-sentence.
Bonnie says something, her voice concerned as she rises to her feet alongside me.
I can’t feel my face, can’t tell what my knees are doing, if I’m standing or if I’m falling.
Shit.
Shit. Shit.Shit.
Why is he here?
“Andi, whoa, wait—”
I force breath into my lungs as Bonnie reaches for my arm, and I straighten in front of her. “Sorry, just feeling that gummy that Mads gave me earlier,” I lie.
“Okay, well, you can at least let us call James—”
I have my phone out. “I already called a car. I’m fine. Really, Bon.”
Bonnie’s eyes narrow like she knows I’m lying; however, she doesn’t press it. “Ah… okay. Okay, I guess… I guess we’ll see you tomorrow? Are you sure you don’t want me to get Reed?”
“No,” I say fast, the mention of my brother sobering me quickly into panic instead of outright fear. “Oh, hell no.No.” A nervous laugh leaves me. “God, no.”
I manage to get away from her with a kiss on the cheek, and as I make my way to the stairs, I think maybe I’ve managed to avoid him. Maybe I can get away without a fight. Maybe—
“Andersyn?”
Jesus, mother fucking, goddamn christ.
How is he so fucking fast?
I hesitate for too long. If I’d just pretended not to hear him, I might have made it down the stairs. I might be in the car that’s already pulling up. I might be free on my way to the new house that he doesn’t know about.
“Andersyn Matthews,” he repeats. “That’s you, isn’t it?”
I slowly turn, plastering a tight-lipped smile on my face. “Adam Vanderhall,” I say through my clenched jaw.
Adam Vanderhall, my ex-boyfriend.
He grins his fake, charming smile and opens his arms wide like he expects to hug me.
I step out of his reach with narrowed eyes.
He hasn’t changed at all. His blonde hair is still cut tight on the sides, though now he has it swept back like some graduate fresh out of prep school. I still don’t understand how I was ever attracted to this prick. Possibly some deep-seated desire to be on the arm of the town’s ‘good boy’ who everyone loves and respects. Who everyone believes to be the epitome of all that is right in this world.
Only to find out that the only thing he’s good at is lying.
“How did you get up here?” I ask instead.
He balks. “Don’t be hostile, Andi. There are cameras everywhere. Be a good girl and give your old friend a hug,” he says through his teeth.
“I’d rather break my neck throwing myself down these stairs,” I say, feeling my heels hit the edge.
