Still Jaded

  focused on something else, someone else. Grace.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  As we crouched in the bushes and crept forward, Denton poked me in the side. "Ow! Don't do that," I hissed at him over my shoulder.

  I had enough problems getting all the girls under control around him. I didn't need him to draw more attention. They'd all gone into hyper-swooning alert when Denton had gotten out of the car. After the hundredth picture and thousandth hug, or so it seemed, we'd finally gotten the show on the road.

  He grinned and huddled closer to me. "I feel like we're in some show like Buffy the Slayer or whatever that name was. Should I have a pokey stick?"

  "We're breaking into a house, not—who?"

  "It was on the CW. Don't you watch those shows? Mena loved them."

  "Shhh!"

  I dug my elbow into his side. "Be quiet. If I'm shushed by one more person, I'm going to take it out on you. I hate being shushed."

  "You hate being told anything."

  "Same thing."

  "Not really, but…" At my glare, he sighed. "I can't believe you never watched those shows. I was offered a part, but I had another project. My agent made me turn it down. It's too bad. It turned out to be a—"

  "Why are you talking so much? Shut up!"

  He frowned. "Never mind."

  The group scurried forward around some bushes and through a few hedges. Two girls went up a tree. Denton followed close behind and whispered again, "Corrigan told me to talk. He said to never shut up, despite what you would say. He said it helps distract you. This is the new you."

  I pushed him back. "Corrigan was messing with you. He knew I'd probably punch you."

  "What?" Denton stood upright. "That—you guys are not nice. Mena was right. And you think it's funny. You guys are cruel."

  I jerked him back down. "Chill. You're acting like a girl. It was a prank, bucko. Take it with a grin and get him back. Corrigan might like you a little more if you did."

  A few of the girls shot around the backyard. I knew they'd be entering through the backdoor, if it had been left unlocked. A moment later they came back, and Carolina approached where we were hidden. She slipped around our bush and knelt beside us. "All the doors are locked."

  "Windows?" I asked.

  Carolina shook her head. "You talk like you've broken into a house before. Do you know how? We won't judge, but none of us know how to do it without actually breaking a window. Cadence seems like the type to have an alarm system. We don't want cops coming. Do you think you could do something?"

  "I usually get lucky with an open door. I don't know what to tell you. Corrigan could get in there, but not me." At her look, I added, "And I'm not calling him. No way."

  Denton nudged me with his shoulder.

  "Stop." I shoved him back.

  He bent his head so he was almost resting his chin on my shoulder. Then he grinned. "What did I hear before? Something about a locally grown gangster?"

  I groaned, "We are not calling Hoodum. Hell no."

  "Why not? Mena talked about him like he was your personal crime lord. I bet he'd help you."

  I rotated so I could fully glare at him. "I am not calling Hoodum. Yes, he'd help, but he'd call Corrigan. By the way, when he asked you to watch me, did he say anything about keeping me at home?"

  Denton started to shake his head and then a thought flashed over his face. He closed his mouth instead.

  "That's what I thought. Corrigan wouldn't want me here. You don't want to see him pissed off. Contrary to most opinions, he is not pretty in those moments."

  "Why'd you come then?"

  "I was going crazy in that fortress." I rolled my eyes because I knew Denton was thinking about how I'd asked to stay home. I had lied to myself. I needed to do something else besides hiding. It was slowly suffocating me.

  "Sheldon, please? We need to get in there—"

  Someone yelled in a whisper, "Carolina! A basement window is open."

  "Shut up!" she whispered back, just as loud.

  A girl scooted into our small circle. She opened her mouth, eager to spill the beans, but stopped as she saw Denton staring back at her. A seductive gleam came over her and she curved her mouth into a flirtatious smile.

  Carolina nudged her.

  The girl started, then remembered why she had come. "Oh right." She flashed a sheepish grin. "It's a really small window. We're going to need the smallest girl to go in there, and she can unlock the doors for us."

  "Who would know the inside of their house? We don't want someone getting lost."

  "I do." Then I grimaced. Why had I said that?

  "You do?" Carolina looked surprised. "You're not small, but you're slender. Beth, could she fit through the window?"

  The girl's eyes raked me up and down. "I think so. I bet she could. Yes, she could!"

  Denton clamped a hand on my arm. "She's not doing it."

  "What?"

  Carolina shot us a look. "Sheldon offered."

  "No!" Then he looked at me. "You think I'm going to let you go into some house alone? No way, and especially if you say Corrigan is as scary as you say, but not just because of him. What if someone's in there? You do have someone to be concerned about, remember?"

  Carolina looked between us and then asked, "Well…?"

  I sighed. He was right. Corrigan would be furious. "Someone else will have to go."

  "I'll go!" the little girl piped up. "I'm small. I'm not scared."

  I narrowed my eyes. She might not have meant to insult me, but her words came off twisted. However, Denton was right. But I wasn't scared.

  It was decided, so I waited with Denton breathing down my back as the girl went inside. It wasn't long before she found the back door and unlocked it for everyone else. When they started going inside, I followed behind. I didn't care what the other girls were doing. I wanted to see Grace's room. Carolina pointed it out in the hallway. It was in a back corner. It could've been easily overlooked. It was fitting to how Grace was as a person, easily overlooked and in the corner.

  Entering the room, I stopped in awe. I'd never been in her room before. I'd never even been in her home before. There were pictures everywhere. Her brother, whom I'd forgotten about, smiled back at me from poses in his graduation gown. He was with girls, his buddies, and their family. She framed a few of the two of them by her bed. The other pictures were of me, Bryce, Corrigan. One was tucked in the corner of her mirror. It was her and me, just the two of us. I remembered the night it was taken. One of Grace's friends had a bonfire. I hadn't wanted to go. Neither had Corrigan or Bryce, but we all went. It was the week before we left for Spain.

  "You look happy in those pictures," Denton noted.

  I turned, hearing an inflection in his tone. Something flashed in his eyes before he covered it up and gestured to the picture. "It's hard to believe that you'd been stalked by that guy and everything. In all the pictures, you look happy."

  I traced one of the pictures and smiled to myself. "Yeah. I was…"

  "Do you miss him?"

  "Marcus?!" I whirled to him.

  Denton smirked and pointed to the photograph. "Bryce. Do you miss him?"

  I realized that I'd been holding a picture of the two of us. "I do."

  "You still love him?"

  "I haven't—" I cut myself off and swallowed back the pain. But I couldn't hide from the truth any longer. So I whispered to myself, for myself, "I never stopped."

  Denton stepped close and took the picture from my hand. "What about Corrigan? You two seem close."

  My eyes snapped to his. My heart started pumping. "What are you doing?"

  Denton wore a rueful expression. "What's going on with you two? He's been staying with you this whole time, right?"

  "Are you seriously asking me if I'm with Corrigan? You don't think I'm going to date you, do you?" I narrowed my eyes and waited for his reaction. It came, but he masked it and turned away. Again. My eyes didn't move from his tense shoulders or how he
stood tall and rigid. Then I pressed, "Why are you here tonight? What do you really want from me?"

  He didn't move. He didn't say a word for awhile. Then he sighed as his shoulders hunched down. "What's the right answer? What answer do you want to hear? Because I don't think you want to hear the truth."

  He told me everything in that answer.

  A knot formed in my stomach, and I wrung out, "Most people are smart. They stay away from me. You should be smart, Denton. Smarter."

  His eyes clung to mine, searching for a deeper meaning in my answer, but there wasn't any. I meant what I said. He should've stayed away. Those who get too close ended up hurt.

  Then we heard a girl shriek in the background, "They're here!"

  Chaos erupted. Girls were running everywhere. They were yelling, throwing things. Then it was silent for a minute. Denton and I stared at each other. I knew my breaths weren't coming easy and wondered if he had the same problem.

  Then Leah poked her head in the room. "You might want to get out there. It's going to get ugly."

  Nobody needed to ask me twice.

  I followed behind, aware of how Denton paused in the room as if he wasn't going to follow, but he did a second later. Reluctantly.

  When I reached the living room, I saw why Leah had squeaked. Cadence stood inside the front doorway with her girls spread out over the front lawn. Carolina squared off against her, folded her arms, and looked irritated at their interruption.

  Narrowing my eyes, I watched Carolina closely. The girl was good. She appeared cool and confident as she looked down her nose at whoever was in front of her. When I looked at Cadence, I saw it was working. She was seething.

  Then Cadence saw me and exploded. "You did this! You turned them against us."

  "Right. This was all me. I orchestrated an entire sorority house against yours. I had nothing to do with the rivalry that's been going for how long?" My sarcasm was thick.

  "She didn't do a damn thing and you know it." Carolina stepped in. She lifted her chin and managed to look down her nose at the girl even more. Her eyes sparked, but her voice was calm. "You caught us. Call the cops if you'd like, but don't forget what your house did to ours a year ago."

  "That was sheep," Cadence sputtered.

  "What about Sarah? We have it on tape." Carolina bared her teeth. She looked capable of anything, like she could murder someone and brush her teeth while standing over the dead body.

  Cadence paled.

  "You don't have that on tape. You're bluffing." One of the other girls stepped forward. Grace jerked as she brushed past her.

  Carolina turned her gaze on her. "Try me."

  Cadence grabbed the girl's arm. "Trista, don't. Let me handle this."

  She glared back at her leader. "You aren't doing anything. She's totally lying and you know it. There's no way she could have…" She trailed off when she saw something in Cadence's eyes. "Oh god no. Tell me they don't."

  Carolina interjected, "The room you set up to humiliate Sarah was a sex room. The fraternity had video recording the entire thing. We got the tape, sweetheart." She drawled the last word. It ran off her tongue, like honey melting in the mouth.

  I was impressed.

  Grace twitched, and my eyes zoomed in on her. She gulped with her eyes skirting between all the girls. That's when I stepped forward. "Don't piss your pants, Grace."

  Cadence and the other one snapped their gazes to me. So did Carolina, who held up her hand. "Sheldon. Don't."

  I knew I was supposed to fall in line. She was deemed the spokesperson, but not for me. No one spoke for me. I wasn't one of her sorority girls. I was there for one person and one person only.

  She was in my cross hairs.

  With my eyes narrowed, I baited her, "Come on, Grace. What are you going to do?"

  Confusion flashed in her eyes so I clarified, "Are you going to hide behind them? You told me off last time. Do it again. Gain some more respect. Come on, Grace."

  She was paralyzed. Panic had taken over.

  I stepped forward so that we were face to face. That's when I angled my body so she couldn't see her leader anymore. I cut Cadence off from Grace's line of sight. I shouldn't have brought my personal drama amidst the house against house business, but I didn't care. I wasn't a part of any house.

  "I was in your room, Grace. It's the only reason I came tonight. I wanted to see what it looked like, what you kept close, what you treasured enough to be the last thing you see every night. Pictures say a lot. Pictures of Bryce and of your brother. You haven't mentioned your brother since high school. I know you guys were close. Why'd you stop talking about him?"

  "Shut up," Grace whispered between clenched teeth. Her arms started trembling. "Stop it, Sheldon. You're not like this."

  I got in her face. "Yes, I am. Or have you forgotten? This is who I am. When you're my friend, I'll do anything for you. When you're not—screw you. When you turn your back, when you push me too far—you should know more than anyone what I can do."

  "Sheldon." Denton touched my arm.

  I swung away and ignored the wariness in his voice.

  For the first time, Grace looked me in the eyes. She paled even more. "I do know you, Sheldon. I know that you hold yourself responsible for what happened in high school, but you didn't do it. It wasn't your fault that Corrigan got stabbed or those girls were killed. And," her eyes flitted to Denton and back, "you didn't put Mena in the hospital. She did that to herself."

  "That's not what I'm talking about. You turned your back on me."

  She started looking around, but no one was going to step in. I felt it in the room. I had her where I wanted her. "Come on, Grace. Don't hide anymore. You never did before."

  Cadence averted her eyes. The other Zeta girls looked away. Grace was alone, and she knew it.

  I lowered my voice to a smooth whisper, "You pretended to be this strong nerdy Christian girl. You pretended to be so self-righteous, like you knew something more than I did. Like you were protected by something stronger because of your religion. It was a joke, wasn't it? You crumbled the first opportunity you got. The first chance you got for something resembling popularity and that power; you threw me aside like I was trash. What kind of Christian are you? You aren't acting out what you preach. You used me, Grace. You used me to better your social status. I gave you more power and you thought you had a chance at more, so there I went. You're too stupid to realize one thing."

  Grace started to crumbled. Tears ran down her cheeks. She kept sniffling with her eyes downcast. She had nowhere to look. No one was coming to her rescue. She had to stand on her own, but she wasn't built like that. They taught her to use others, so that they stood for her.

  No more, bitch.

  "You forgot who I was. If I could rule our school, what makes you think I can't rule our college? You really do not know me. I've got what you crave. People respect me because I fight for what I believe in. You're a coward, and you're crumbling right in front of me. No one will respect you."

  Denton touched my arm. "She's had enough."

  "She's had enough when I'm done with her!" I whipped back at him. "Back off."

  He looked at me for a moment and then held up his hands before he stepped back.

  I looked back at Grace. "You think I'm bad? Wait till I sic Corrigan on you. He was worse than me. Remember?"

  I started to turn, but then I heard her whimper behind me,