Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 113923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Now, I’m standing by the fire, listening to Tate lay out some thought experiment that’s hurting my tipsy brain.
“Wait. I don’t get it. If there are boats coming to the island, why can’t I get on one and sail home to safety?”
“Because that’s not the point!” Tate’s blue eyes convey pure exasperation.
“But I’ve essentially been rescued,” I argue. “So why can’t I get on a boat? I’d way rather do that than pick between Cooper and a bunch of supplies without having access to either boat.”
“But that’s the actual dilemma! Not how you’re going to get off the island. You have to choose.”
“I choose the boats!”
Tate looks like he wants to murder me, which is confusing, because I think the answer to this deserted island thing is stupidly simple.
“You know what?” He lets out a breath, then grins, his dimples making an appearance. “You’re lucky you’re cute, Mac. Because you suck at thought experiments.”
“Aww.” I pat his arm. “You’re cute too, Tater-Tot.”
“I hate you,” he sighs.
Nah, he doesn’t. It’s taken time, but I think I’ve finally settled into my place in Cooper’s life. No longer the square peg. Not just his life—ours.
“I’m cold,” I announce.
“Seriously?” Tate points to the raging bonfire in front of us.
“Just because there’s a fire doesn’t mean it’s not February,” I say stubbornly.
I leave him at the firepit and make my way toward the house to get a sweater. Just as I reach the back steps, I catch my name and turn to answer before realizing it’s Heidi talking to someone on the upstairs deck. I tilt my head back. Through the gaps in the slats, I make out Heidi’s blonde head and Alana’s red one, along with the faces of a few other girls I don’t know. I’m about to climb the first step when Heidi’s next words stop me.
“I can forgive her for being dumb, but she’s so painfully boring,” Heidi says, laughing. “And Cooper’s no fun at all anymore. All he wants to do is pretend they’re married. He hardly ever comes out anymore.”
Little waves of anger ripple through me. This shit. Every time. Not once have I stopped Cooper from hanging out with Heidi or asked him not to invite her somewhere, because I can at least tolerate her for his sake. Why she’s so committed to not giving me the same courtesy, I don’t understand. Instead, it’s always dirty looks and passive-aggressive bullshit. And, apparently, trash-talking behind my back.
“I still don’t know how she bought Cooper acting like he never met that guy.” Heidi laughs again, smug now. “I mean, wake up and smell the conspiracy, right?”
Wait, what?
Is she talking about Preston?
“I’d feel sorry for her if she wasn’t so gullible.”
Screw Heidi. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Still, I’d rather know what other bile she’s been spewing behind my back, so I hug the shadows as I creep up the steps, keeping bodies between myself and Heidi, hiding among the other people lingering on the stairs talking.
“Okay, but it’s been long enough,” another girl says. “He must be into her, don’t you think?”
“What does it matter?” Heidi offers that dismissive shrug she does. “Eventually she’s got to figure out he’s been lying to her from the start. That he only got with her as a means for revenge.”
“Leave them alone,” Alana says. “You promised to let it go.”
I stop dead. Did I hear her right? Because that sounded suspiciously like confirmation.
What else could it mean?
“What?” There’s a coy note in Heidi’s tone.
I’m barely three feet away now. So close I’m shaking.
“I didn’t say I was going to tell her. Not on purpose, anyway.”
My heart thumps erratically against my ribs. Alana is standing right there, mouth shut. Not disputing Heidi’s version of events.
Which means, if I’ve read it right, Cooper has been lying to me since the moment we met.
Worse, he lied when I confronted him directly. He lied to my face. And he made all his friends—our friends, I thought—go along with the lies. Evan. Steph. Alana.
I feel small, like I could fall right through the space between the deck boards. Utterly humiliated. Who else knew about it? Have they all been laughing at me behind my back this entire time? Poor, dumb clone.
“Go on, then,” I say, charging forward to confront the group. “Don’t wait for word to get around, for something to slip—why don’t you tell me to my face, Heidi?”
Alana has the decency to look contrite. Heidi, however, doesn’t even pretend to hide her smirk.
Seriously, this girl makes me want to boob-punch her. I’ve tried with her. I really have. Make conversation. Be civil. Give her time. But no matter how much or how little I give, she’s flatly refused to budge from her total contempt. Now I understand why—she and I weren’t in an uneasy truce, but a cold war to which I was oblivious. That was my mistake.