Page 197 of Wicked Brutal

“That’s what I can’t fucking find.”

Xander hasn’t said anything. I glance at him. He’s staring at Marianne. Not Victor. Marianne. Penny notices too. Her fingers find his.

Xander’s jaw tightens. “People don’t notice it while it’s happening.” Nobody speaks. He keeps looking at the picture. “They notice after. Then suddenly everybody remembers shit. She stopped coming around. Stopped answering. Stopped doing something she always did.” Penny leans into him. Xander finally looks at me. “Stop looking at pictures. Ask the people in them.”

Kaiden nods. “Our parents.”

“Exactly.”

“My mom will remember,” Penny says.

“So will mine,” Kaiden says.

Iz nods toward my phone. “My dad’s probably already asking around.”

“Arthur’s asking questions he can use,” I say. “I’m talking about the shit nobody thought mattered enough to remember.”

Penny takes the phone again. She scrolls. Stops. Goes backward. Then forward. Her brows pull together. “There’s something about these later ones.”

I lean closer. “What?”

A voice behind us cuts through the conversation. “Move.”

Iz doesn’t look up. “No.”

Kaiden exhales through his nose. Cat looks toward the voice. I already know. Bella stands at the end of the bench with two girls behind her. Iz has one leg stretched far enough across the walkway to be irritating. She could go around. He could move. Neither is going to happen.

Bella looks down at his leg. Then at him. “Move, Isaac.”

He keeps his attention on Penny’s phone. “Go around, Isabella.”

“Move your fucking leg.”

“No.”

“Are you so desperate for attention you’ve resorted to becoming furniture?”

That gets his eyes up. “No. I just enjoy watching you discover the universe doesn’t rearrange itself because you wrinkle your nose at it.”

Bella smiles. Cold. “Cute. Did your therapist teach you that?” Iz’s expression doesn’t move. Penny’s does. Bella sees it. Of course she fucking does. “Or was that your mother?”

Iz stands. Fast. The two girls behind Bella take a step back. Bella doesn’t. Not even an inch. Iz looks down at her. “You want my attention that badly, spoiled bitch, you could’ve just asked.”

Bella laughs. “You mistake disgust for interest a lot. Probably explains your romantic history.”

Penny goes still. There it is. Iz’s eyes turn flat. “Probably explains yours too.”

“Mine’s considerably more interesting.”

“I know. Half the school got the press release.”

Cat mutters, “Jesus.”

Bella’s eyes flash. “At least people show up for mine.”

Iz steps closer. “So that’s the metric? How many people watch?” Bella’s smile slips. Barely. He sees it. “Is that why you need an audience for everything, Isabella? Because if nobody’s watching, you’re not sure you exist?”

Her face goes cold. “Careful. You might accidentally say something intelligent and ruin your reputation.”