“Understandable. Your body’s been through the wringer. You got a proper scar?”
I turned in my chair and showed her my thigh. “This big,” I said, using my thumb and pointer and pressed both fingers against my black jeans.
“It’ll fade.”
“I’m not worried about it.” At this point, I was a walking scar. Down to nothing, I’d looked like I’d been put through a wood chipper.
Ms. Chandler advised the class to complete the lessons on the board and work quietly, and as soon as she sat in her desk and pulled out her phone, light chatter picked up around the room. Ms. Chandler never cared, as long as she wasn’t bothered.
“You can come tomorrow,” Tyler continued in a low whisper after she scooted her desk closer and her blonde hair rolled off her shoulders shielding her face. “The woods. We got a bottle.” Her brows wiggled, and her smile turned wicked. Bria had a bad influence on her. “Bring Ollie, too.”
“I don’t know … I’ll talk to him.” I’d finally regained their forgiveness. Although, Bria’s I was still working on, but at least they were talking to me again.
“It’ll be fine. We’re all cool. Bria was the one who wanted me to invite you.”
I raised a brow. “No shit?” Maybe I didn’t have to work as hard as I thought.
“Seriously.”
“Whose all going?”
“Bria, Jude, Jake, umm … Gwen and maybe Maddie, I’m not sure.”
An involuntary groan left me.
“Maddie isn’t so bad once you accept the fact she’s an attention whore,” Tyler explained.
“Yeah, Okay.” Ollie would smash the idea ten-fold, but if I were going, he’d go.
Tyler’s grin beamed back at me before she faced forward again, returning to the lesson at hand.
There were no bells at Dolor. The teacher dismissed you, and once Ms. Chandler did, we collected our things and bee-lined for the door—Tyler not straying far from my side.
“You still in a three-way-relationship?” I asked, caring too much about the two girls who quickly shoved me to the side when things turned for the worst. Perhaps Sociopath Mia had turned into a softy. After everything the two girls had been through, the last thing I wanted for them was heartache. Another rip into their already fragile organ.
At the corner of my eye, her expression froze as she contemplated her next words. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not what it looks like.”
I placed a hand over her arm to stop her mid-stride, and Tyler turned to face me with water in her eyes. “Explain it to me then,” I insisted. Tyler’s gaze bounced around as a herd of students walked passed us in the hallway. “Has he hurt you?”
Tyler’s eyes returned to mine and the expression defrosted. “God no, Mia. It’s just that … Oh, fuck, I don’t know. I think—
“Ty! What are you doing?” Bria interrupted, linking an arm in Tyler’s. “Jude’s waiting for us.” It took a moment for Bria to acknowledge my presence and Tyler shook the moment away, forcing a faux smile. “You healing up okay?” Bria asked me with a frown. “Heard you put up quite a struggle, yeah? Could’ve been a lot worse.”
I threw my hand in the air. “You know me. I don’t go down without a fight.”
“That’s right,” Ollie’s voice rang behind me in my ear. He pressed a kiss over the top of my head before pinning himself against my back, and I dropped my chin to my chest to conceal the effect he had over me. “You ready?”
I nodded as Bria shifted in place before saying, “You both coming tomorrow?”
“No,” Ollie said the same time I released, “Yes.”
“Maybe,” Ollie caved.
“We’ll be there,” I confirmed, not meaning to defy him. I needed this. I needed to make right with these people and show them that I wasn’t someone to distrust. Leaving Dolor with no bad blood was the least I could do—starting with this rather stupid get-together.
Bria flashed a pleased smile and moved her eyes to Ollie who stood tall behind me. “Tomorrow after breakfast then.”
The bitter December temperatures bit through my thin black jeans as Ollie and I walked down the hill and toward the woods. Leaves crunched beneath my combat boots while Ollie blew hot air into our linked hands. “It’s so frustrating,” Ollie continued and shook his head, “For what they did to you. Nothing good can come out of everyone being together. Nothing good ever comes out of it.”
