James turned, and focused on me. “No. Please tell me this is a nightmare.”
“Chill. I’ll explain later.” William cut him off, as if his words alone could calm James down.
James grabbed his arm. “Did you tell her? Did your little girlfriend force you to tell her fucking everything?”
“Why are you still freaking out? I didn’t tell her anything!” William struggled and broke free of his grasp.
“Why the fuck did you tell her?”
“I didn’t, cut it out!”
I saw William take a deep breath before whispering quietly, “She already knew.”
I would’ve appreciated if James talked quietly, too, because what he said then was, as usual, horrific.
“Is the idea of getting laid enough for you to betray me?”
“Cut it out,” growled William, coming a half inch away from James’s nose.
James tilted his chin up. “I’m the one who should cut it out? She doesn’t give a fuck about you, Will.”
I wanted to scream that it wasn’t true, but Jackson shot me an exasperated look.
“As expected, they’re about to fight. Happy?” He sometimes reminded me of my mom, with how harsh he could be.
“Do you think this is my fault?” I exclaimed, stretching out my arms dispiritedly.
“Jax, gimme the keys. I’ll be back soon,” said William, scampering away from me.
“Will? Where are you going?”
I turned around to follow him, my head spinning. Up until that point, I still had no idea where we were. Screams and noise were coming from everywhere. It reeked of tobacco, alcohol, and danger. We seemed to be at the local haunt for convicts.
“Come on, what the fuck is it to you if she came?”
Jackson handed James a vape pen to calm him down, but he looked too wired to pay attention to him.
“Jackson, do you ever fucking understand me?” He turned, staring, darkly at me. “Will fucked up.”
I couldn’t hold back any longer. “It’s not his fault. He didn’t tell me.” Judging by the disdainful look on his face, I would’ve been better off shutting up. But shutting up wasn’t my strong suit.
“Shut your fucking mouth.”
He vaped nervously, not caring about how the smoke irritated my eyes.
“William did it for me. I asked him to. I practically cornered him into it. You can’t be upset with him.”
“No, in fact I’m upset with you. Stay the hell away from me,” he said, turning around to go back to his friends.
It occurred to me that Jackson had disappeared and Will hadn’t come back yet. I was completely alone.
“Hey, sweetheart, I’ve never seen you around here. Wanna go for a ride?” A guy with red cheeks exhaled his heavy breath all over me.
“Huh?” I asked, looking for an escape.
I clung to my hoodie in an attempt to shrink myself so much that I’d be invisible, but unfortunately, it didn’t work.
The guy got really close to me, reeking so badly of tequila that it made me nauseated.
