“Your brother.” Nolan knocks Austin’s arms away when the guy taps him with the back of his hand, trying to silence him. “You been to the hospital yet?”
Everyone finds somewhere else to look at—the frothing water, the beer pong match, the black sky.
“Why?” I ask, as flippantly as possible. Might even have pulled it off, if my throat hadn’t suddenly been so tight. Even the chuckle I let out is more pathetic than smug. “So I can kick him when he’s down?”
Nolan laughs, shaking his head. “Jesus, you two are something else.”
“I gotta question,” Kruger says, raising a finger. “Why’s Ezra still in charge? Like, since when do grads run things? The math just isn’t mathing.”
Austin sounds aggressively defensive. “His dad founded this frat back when he was a freshman. That makes Ezra an honorary member.”
I’m staring at nothing, willing the conversation to die a horrific death before I say something I regret. Because Kruger’s right—Ezra graduated last year but he never gave up his seat. And no one’s questioned it—at least, not out loud.
Until now.
Kruger sits with the info for a beat, then clears his throat. “I hear you, man, but isn’t Kai?—“
“You want a say on NEX matters, dude?” Nolan cuts in. “Try rushing first.”
“Yo, man, I wasn’t trying to be?—“
Thank God my phone vibrates in my hand, giving me an excuse to fade out of the argument starting up. I turned off the sound after Haven sent me that nasty fucking message earlier. Not sure why I bothered. Not like she’ll ever message me again.
But it’s not a message. It’s a new follower notification from some dude on my VibeFeed app.
@inherentvice
I tap on the profile and open the pic. It’s a selfie of a guy wearing a black hoodie with the hood up. He’s pulling the fabric over his face, obscuring everything but a sliver of his chin and mouth. Dark blue veins stand proud on the back of his large, slim hand where the sleeve has been pushed up to mid-arm.
Vain fucker probably chose the blue tint on his Patek Phillippe watch face to highlight those veins.
I don’t recognize the watch, the clothing, or what little of the guy I can see peeking out behind the hoodie.
No other jewelry, no tattoos, no background visible.
His account is private, he has no followers, and he’s only following one person.
Me.
What the fuck?
I don’t go in here often since Haven arrived back in Agony Hollow, and even less since I stopped going to the gym. I’m already following everyone in the frat, and I added Kruger the other day.
I’m about to exit the app when I get a new notification.
I open my DMs, frowning at the message.
@inherentvice
There is pleasure in the pathless woods.
I glance around at the guys in the hot tub. Austin and Nolan are talking, Kruger and the rest are zoning out to the drum and bass blaring from the bluetooth speaker.
My eyes slide back to my phone. To the tiny profile pic visible in the DM screen.
From the random message and anonymous profile pic, my first thought is a bot. Until I turn the message over in my blazed mind a few times.
It sounds…literary. And sure enough, when I Google it, a poem by Lord Byron comes up as the first result.
