Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 74457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“I guess you wouldn’t, since that’s not what you two are doing.”
I sucked in a breath and tried not to panic. He might not know.
“What am I doing out here?”
“You killed Dannis Silver. You and Jarrod.”
Okay, he definitely knew.
I didn’t know how to respond to that. Deny it? Run away? Kick him in the crotch and scream?
Instead, I threw my hands up, because I was freaking tired of pretending. “And so the hell what? You’re not supposed to know that.”
His face twitched. “I thought you’d deny it.”
“I’m not going to. You clearly read the texts. Do you know why we did it?”
“I have some guesses.”
“Dannis Silver deserved what he got. I don’t think Jarrod would’ve helped me otherwise.”
Calvin stared at me with those disconcerting eyes. He was handsome, but seemed so empty.
“That first night you came to Addler’s. You asked him to do it then, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” I had no clue how he’d figured this all out, but I was impressed.
“That’s why you two were sneaking off. There’s no tutoring. I never thought there was. Only I figured he was fucking you.”
“Not fucking me.”
Not yet at least.
“You convinced Jarrod to murder a man for you.” Calvin tilted his head. “I’ll admit, that’s pretty fucked up and twisted. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
I blinked a few times. “I’m not sure how to take that.”
“Take it however you want. I always pegged you for a quiet, pissed off little emo girl. Hot, but not worth the trouble. I figured you were using Jarrod for something, but this is so much more than I ever could’ve guessed.”
“I’m not using him,” I said angrily and at the same time I wondered.
“I don’t care.”
“What are you going to do to me?” I took a step back.
He didn’t move.
“Nothing.”
I opened my mouth, tried to speak, and had to gather myself before I finally said, “Then why did you bring me out here?”
“Because I want you to understand something.” He talked like we were having a conversation over lunch about stocks. My hands fidgeted with my jeans and I shifted from foot to foot. Too much nervous energy. “I love Jarrod. I love all my friends. I’m not the kind of person that goes halfway. I won’t turn you into the police and certainly won’t tell anyone your little secret, but only because I care about what happens to Jarrod.”
“I care too.”
He ignored that and stepped forward. “I don’t care about what happens to you. So be careful what you do. If you fuck with him, if you hurt him—”
“I’m not going to.”
“—If you do, I will make sure you don’t breathe long to savor the victory.”
I let out a breath through my nose. “So you brought me here to threaten me.”
“I brought you here to let you know that you and he aren’t as careful as you think you are. If I figured it out, you think that detective won’t?”
I felt a shiver down my spine. “How do you know about her?”
“You’re really clueless.” He shook his head, his lips curling in disgust. “Hear what I’m saying. Be careful and don’t do something we’ll both regret.”
With that, he pulled his hood back up and walked toward campus.
“Wait a second,” I called after him. “You can’t just walk away.”
He didn’t pause and didn’t walk back.
He’d said what he came to say, and he was done.
That asshole. He dragged me out here to threaten me, and for what? Nothing changed, and now I was terrified he’d do something to get me thrown in jail.
But if he wanted to do that, it made no sense to bring me here and tell me what he knew.
If he wanted to turn me in or to blackmail me, he could’ve done it from a comfortable distance.
No, this was just to show me that he had power over me.
And now I knew not to fuck with him.
I trudged back to Wawa. My bike was still leaning against the wall. I grabbed it and walked it toward the road then began the long, freezing ride back, my mind spinning with thoughts of Calvin, trying to parse out what the hell just happened—and what it means for me and Jarrod.
22
Cora
I met Jarrod in the library in his corner the next day. He sat at the table with his legs outstretched and his hands behind his head.
I dropped my books on the table in front of him.
He looked up, eyebrows raised.
“Calvin knows.”
He tilted his head. “Excuse me?”
I filled him in on the night before.
I had agonized over whether I should tell Jarrod or not. The whole ride back, the wind turning my poor pink cheeks into wind-torn ground beef, I imagined all the terrible things that might happen.
But once I arrived in my clean and cozy bed, I realized Calvin never told me not to say anything to Jarrod.