“Stop lying!”
“Oh Myles, what did you do?” one of the guys says. They smile and snicker, but it doesn’t ease my mood. If anything, his friends boil my blood even more. They are the same people who made my life a living nightmare after Myles was arrested.
“I know you’re seeing her. She told me—”
“Stop it already,” he says. “Nothing’s going on. Stop overreacting and relax.”
Did he really have the audacity to tell me to relax? My jaw falls to the floor. “Relax?”
His fist hits the table and his eyes meet mine, sending a shiver down my spine. “Yes, Emma! Relax! Are you capable of that? I went three years without hearing your irritating voice, and it wasn’t nearly long enough!”
I grab his flavored water and dump it over his head before I have time to think.
“Emma!” he yells, mouth falling open. His shoulders tighten and he freezes with horror on his face. Water coats his face and his lashes. The back of his hair is dry while droplets drip from his curls in the front.
My eyes widen, and my heart beats fast as everyone watches without saying a word. I’m still holding the bottle as we stare at each other.
Myles’s lip twitches and his nostrils flare.
It’s been years, but somehow I can still read his actions like an open book. All the times we played together rush back, and the way I can see the wheels turning in his head tells me he won’t let me get away with dousing him in the face.
“No, don’t,” I whisper, stepping away.
He snaps at my voice, jumping up from the table.
I run.
But he’s too quick.
I make it all of three feet away before his hands wrap around my waist.
I shriek. “Don’t you dare!”
He spins me around with a sour expression and fire in his eyes, and lifts me into the air. He throws me over his shoulder despite my flailing arms and legs.
“Put me down!” My hair falls into my face as I continue to beat my fists into his back.
He doesn’t stop. He keeps walking, determined and unwavering, with his arms over my legs, locking me in place like a rag doll. I don’t remember him being this strong. I can’t break free.
“I’m serious, Myles! Put me down!”
He walks out of the cafeteria.
“Where are you taking me?” I yell.
“To touch grass!”
I slap his shoulder and gasp. “You jerk!”
He rounds the corner of the hallway and roughly sets me down on my feet. “I’m the jerk?” He points at himself. “You’re the one off in la la land, spewing nonsense like you’re high.”
I fumble to sweep my hair out of my face to clear my view. “I’m not high. You’re going to hurt Mallory and I’m trying to stop you.”
He holds up his hands, curling in his fingers by his face. “Do you hear yourself? You sound like you’ve completely lost it.”
“I’m just trying to figure out the truth.”
“I already told you.” He inches closer. “There’s nothing going on.”
