Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108721 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Aries taunts, echoing my thoughts.
“Sure, keep on telling yourself that. Like we don’t see you avoiding us. Drew’s busy, too, but even he still makes time to hang out,” Lee mutters.
A sliver of guilt cuts across my chest. Okay, so I haven’t been a great friend, but I’ve got a lot of shit going on, and I can’t fathom burdening them with any of it. They couldn’t help me even if I was willing to accept their help. I’m not dumb; sometimes you have to fight the battle on your own.
“Did you come here to berate me, as well, or are you going to tell me what this official business is?”
Lee smirks and cuts across the kitchen, acting like I invited him in. He pulls out a stool across from me and plops down on it.
“Sure, of course. Come in, have a seat.”
“Shut up.” Lee snorts. “We've been planning all the senior activities for The Mill, including this year's annual hunt. It feels wrong that you aren't actively a part of things. Every time we need your help or opinion on something, you’re nowhere to be found.”
I look down at the bowl of food for a moment, and when I feel I’ve got my emotions in check, I look back up. “Not sure if you noticed, but I have shit going on. You're lucky I've been making it to practice. Where's Drew?”
“Inside your sister.” Aries smirks, knowing full well his comment will make me lose my shit. I clench my hand into a fist, ready to punch the smugness off his face.
Lee snickers, and I shift my glare to him. “He can stop fucking for five minutes and plan something.” Filled with irrational anger, I scoop up another bite of blueberry oatmeal and shove it into my mouth.
Lee huffs. “No worries, we have your help now.”
“What do you need my help for? You act like this is your first year putting the event on. It’s the same thing but with a slight difference. Send the invites out, buy the alcohol, come up with new rules, and show the fuck up when it’s time to start.”
This earns me an affronted look from Lee. “You say all of this like you didn't spend months planning who to send out invites to last year.”
I don't have the time or patience for this. With a long sigh, I shake my head. “If it’s of such importance, then send them out to the same people as last year and move on. I don’t have the time to do this right now.”
Aries hops up on the counter next to Lee and snags a banana out of a nearby bowl of fruit.
Lee glares between us. “It’s not that easy.”
Aries peels the banana while speaking. “It’s the biggest event we hold, and it’s our senior year. The last one before they send us out into the great unknown. We need to end the year with a bang. The whole night needs to be unique, an unforgettable experience, per se.”
“We aren’t Disneyland. Isn’t it enough they get to live out their sexual fantasies for a night?”
Lee shakes his head at me, his gaze pressing like he’s trying to look deep inside me. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong,” I grind out.
“Why are you lying? I thought we were friends?”
“Yeah, you’ve never been a good liar.” Aries frowns. “How can we help you if we don’t know what’s going on?”
“If I needed help, I’d ask, but since I didn’t, I think that means I don’t need help.”
“Yes, you do. You’re here, but not. No one can get you to show up for anything. I mean, I guess you did show up for your date with Bel, but you were late, which isn’t like you.” Lee rubs his chin as if he’s pondering something, “Oh, actually, no. Sorry. You were in attendance at Pound of Flesh. Weird how you can travel overseas to attend some obscure flesh market, but you can’t make it to The Mill meetings or answer the fucking phone when your best friends call you.”
I really don't want to have this conversation right now, or ever, for that matter. My friends sort of know what's been going on in my life since my grandfather died, but they don't know the gritty details. They don’t know how much I’m struggling or what I’m willing to sacrifice to be free of this noose tied around my neck.
I’m not ignoring them by choice, and I’m not attending events for fun. I need to get Sidorov to take over so I can slip into oblivion without question. How the fuck can I explain to them that the only reason I went to Pound of Flesh was so that I could meet with Sidorov? In what way could they help me escape this shit show?