“And what the fuck should I do about it? I told you the other day that there would be consequences, but you didn’t listen to me! What the fuck is in your head—” James bit his lip before continuing.
He cursed, fully realizing the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
“Look, I didn’t want you to worry, you know? That fucking bitch has gotten herself in more trouble in a few days than what we already had!” spat James angrily.
“You don’t want to tell me everything because you’re afraid of worrying me? Do you realize what you’re saying?”
They started circling each other like two wild animals.
“What do you want to know, Will? That their expressions changed when I told them the gun wasn’t mine? That they want to hold on to it to blackmail me and link me to a murder I never committed?”
I ran both hands deeper through my hair.
If only William hadn’t impulsively called them that night.
“Or maybe there was never any murder at all,” finished James.
“Wait, are you serious?”
“I don’t know. I have a feeling that they didn’t end up doing it. Those two talk a lot, but they don’t finish anything. We should’ve done it instead of calling them.”
“We should’ve done it? Now you want to blame me because I called them to save your ass?” yelled Will, going up against James.
“You saved my ass, William? How dare you say something like that to me?”
“You’re one to talk! You’re the one who couldn’t even pull a fucking trigger!” Will was almost shouting.
Great. We’d just crossed the line.
Even William noticed it, so much so that he tried to put a hand on James’s shoulder.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—” He pulled back.
“I don’t care.”
Right at that moment, I noticed a figure walk out of the main entrance of the school.
I recognized her blond hair. Great, just the person we needed in this situation.
I saw Will take his eyes off James to shoot her a look.
“That one’s gonna get us all killed. I already know it,” complained James between clenched teeth. But Will was too absorbed in one of his harebrained ideas.
“Okay, we gotta go to Austin’s house. Now.”
I don’t know if it was the sight of June slowly walking toward us, but something must’ve led him to think that.
“What a shitty idea, Will,” roared James, bowing his head. He stared at the car wheels like he wanted to avoid June White’s gaze.
“James. Easy,” I reprimanded him.
“What? I shouldn’t say that it’s a fucking awful idea?”
“Yeah, but you can say it in another way,” I added, trying to make him see reason.
“Oh, right, poor William! We always treat him with kid gloves even when he spews bullshit, right?”
Maybe it was her presence, but tensions were running at a fever pitch again.
