“And you love it.”
She rolls her eyes but doesn’t deny it.
I take the cigar back, inhale deep, and blow out three perfect smoke rings. They drift upward in slow, ghostly halos.
Vivian watches them with something like jealousy.
Then she leans in, voice dropping.
“Maybe,” she says, “but I’m not that stupid, Leo.”
Something in her tone makes my spine stiffen.
“You think I want to talk?” she whispers. “Please. I’m not risking shit for your scholarship girl.”
My jaw tics. “Don’t call her that.”
“Sheisthat,” Vivian snaps. “And she’s gone now. Good. She never belonged here.”
I stare at her, trying not to break the cue stick across the table.
Vivian tosses her hair. “You belong with one of us.”
“No,” I say flatly. “I don’t.”
“Yes,” she counters, eyes blazing with the ugly truth she thinks is gospel. “Everyone knows it. Even your mother knows it. Even Jade knew it.”
My grip tightens.
“Dating her?” She continues, shrugging like she’s bored, like she’s discussing stocks. “That was just you rebelling. Playing pretend with a girl who can’t afford to breathe our air.”
She leans closer, lips almost brushing my ear.
“But this is our system, Leo.”
Ice slides down my spine.
“And you,” she whispers, “better get back in line.”
Something snaps inside me.
My fingers go white around the pool cue.
My heart goes cold.
Not broken.
Not bruised.
Cold.
I turn my head just enough to meet her gaze.
“You think I’m yours?” I say quietly. “You think any of this is mine?”
She smirks. “It is, whether you want it or not.”
“No,” I say. “Not anymore.”
